Wenger Ibex 17 inch Laptop Backpack, Men's and Women's Laptop Bag, Black/Gray/Blue

I have a great hiking backpack that I’ve used for years, even when traveling. It’s so comfy but, it isn’t made for carrying electronics. If I put my tablet or laptop in there, I have to use a hard case to prevent bending which takes up precious space. So, I’d wear my backpack and then carry a computer tote. But, old hands and a blown disc in my back no longer like that arrangement. So, I started on the hunt for a laptop backpack to use when traveling. I went through a lot of them! I use a MacBook Pro 16” which is a problem right there since so many laptop packs were sized for 15.3” and smaller. Just too much of a squash. Then I tried bags for 17” but they’re just too long for my 5’4” height. The KAKA was the best of them but had enough negatives, including length, that I kept looking.Well, my search is over. This pack is just what I was looking for. My son suggested Wenger packs - he’s a huge fan of their durability and engineering. He’s right - this is a great pack. It fits my laptop just fine but is still the right length for my height, stopping above my butt rather than bumping it. It doesn’t have the venting that my hiking pack has, but that’s not really the purpose of this bag. It’s for carrying my laptop, tablet, phone, and assorted other junk that needs to be with me on the plane. So, here’s my lowdown on the bag:Cons:- Side mesh pockets are tight and shallow, but they’re that way on so many bags. I could put a small umbrella in there or perhaps an 8-12 oz bottle of water or soda but not much more. They most definitely won’t hold either my tall stainless water bottle or my 30-oz travel mug (even though its tall and narrow). That’s fine. I always use a carabiner clip for my drinking bottle anyway.- No baggage sleeve across the back for sitting on top of a wheelie bag. There are two handles on top, and the one closest to the back is clearly sized for that function. Problem is that doesn’t keep the back from slipping down or to the side when you’re pulling everything through the airport. Since I always wear my pack, even when pulling a wheelie bag, it’s not a big deal to me.Pros:- Bi-directional zippers on all the compartments! I was so used to that with my hiking pack, I expected it for laptop bags. Not so. Most had bi-directional zips on the laptop compartment only. But I don’t want to have to open the whole flap to get into a compartment and risk things falling out. I like positioning the two pulls at the top of each compartment so I can just open the top. This bag does that.- Stand-up function. The middle compartment has a fold-down, padded base that provides the bag with a solid bottom to stand on. Even loaded up, the bag stands nicely next to me, ready for me to grab and go or reach in to retrieve something.- Dedicated, padded laptop compartment that rests at your back. I love that the laptop compartment is just for my laptop and tablet. It’s not lie-flat, which I actually didn’t want anyway. It’s full depth and just large enough to hold my laptop in a deep pocket (in it’s Thule case - always use a case when traveling), my 12.9” iPad in another pocket, plus charger and wire bag for adapters and such. There’s a small zippered mesh pocket above the tablet pocket for small things like adapters or phone chargers you might want to be able to grab on the go. Best part is I don’t need to unload half the other stuff in the compartment to get to my laptop when going through TSA. So easy!- Three other compartments for storing and organizing stuff. The next one toward the front from the laptop compartment is full depth, has a storage pocket inside for papers or things you want to keep flat, and can hold a pair of (my) shoes and a couple changes of clothes (probably one pair of shoes and one change of clothes for men’s shoes). Simple for the stuff you’re not likely to need access to until you get where you’re going. I also use this when I travel for teaching workshops. This is a perfect size for holding handouts and other papers that will be needed.- A 3/4ths high compartment next has a full depth mesh pocket against the back side that zips across the top. There’s a good amount of space in here as well for snacks, toiletries, more clothes, or more tech gear. Or, when I’m teaching, it holds my supplies like tape, pens, and other stuff for participants.- A 1/2 high compartment on the front with an organizer for pens, phone, cards (credit or business), passport, a zipper compartment on the back, and just enough room for those things you want to be able to grab quickly.- One smallish pocket on top between the laptop compartment and the compartment in front. It’s actually pretty deep and padded. Good for sunglasses and other smallish things. This is where I keep my phone, so it’s handy and protected. I also keep my passport in the slip in pocket that’s just inside.- Straps are padded and comfortable. They also don’t stick up around my ears like some backpack straps do. They’re set just right so that the top of the bag sits at your shoulder blades. There are also two handles - a rubberized, padded one that is really comfy for carrying, and a regular one that is actually for looping over the handle of a wheelie bag (see cons above).- Two mesh bottle holders - one on each side (see cons above). I rarely use these, although they can be nice for tucking a candy bar in when you’re dashing out of the airport shop. Above each pocket is a zipper that opens into a tiny compartment on the side of the bag. I like these for Metro cards and for slipping my ID in while negotiating check-in and ID checkpoints without needing to take my pack all the way off. I use one for things like that and the other to stash a little cash for small necessities. They’re not big enough for a phone, though, but that’s not an issue or priority for me.So, there you have it. I’m loving this bag! It’s comfortable, carries what I need for traveling, and does a really good job of protecting my laptop, tablet, and phone. It easily fits in overhead bins, including those smaller regional jets. If it’s not too stuffed, it also fits under the seat in front of me. The stand-up feature makes it easy to pull out and access during flights. Plus, I have a nice footrest without having to worry about hurting my laptop or tablet. All in all, this is the bag I’ve been looking for.

This so far has been the best backpack I have ever purchased. And this particular brand of backpack has a small following at my local college.My friend had purchased the "pegasus" version of this backpack, which is intended for 17" laptops and is almost identical to this one.I really liked the design styles on the backpack. I appreciate when something I use every day is built with quality because the last thing I need is for it to break down. I like that the handle on the top of the bag is actually a steel cable that is bolted to the material of the bag. It's covered in a plastic sleeve and a padded handle so that it's also comfortable to lift the bag from that durable handle. That has to be the most durable handle I've ever seen. A steel cable is overkill, but I like overkill.There are pockets out the wazoo on this thing and I'm not sure if that's a bonus to you, but it's a bonus to me. Lets see if I can recount all the pockets.There's the back-most pocket which is intended for storing the laptop. There is a padded sleeve inside the backpack to which you slide your laptop into, you can then strap the laptop more securely into the sleeve using an elastic Velcro strap. This brings me to my first and only gripe about the backpack. An acquaintance of mine has an older model of this backpack and the strap for securing the laptop in the sleeve actually has a very durable plastic clip. This model uses Velcro instead of a clip. Personally I would prefer the clip since Velcro only has a limited lifetime and also likes to cling to dust and other debris, and that bothers me. Even still, I could care less. If the Velcro strap becomes a problem I'll just cut it off and do without. There is an additional mesh pocket in the rear-most laptop pocket which is seems like it's intended for pencils or something but I use it to store my full-size desktop mouse as well as a USB flash drive for use with my laptop. There is a small amount of extra room in that pocket which can be utilized for a small - medium folder or perhaps 1 large textbook or two small textbooks. It's really up to you. I use it to hold a single small textbook which I actually keep inside of a bubble-wrap envelope to protect the edges.The next pocket as you move forward is a very small ( yet cozy ) pocket. The fabric inside that pocket is a red color and it also appears padded. This pocket is intended for an mp3 player but since it's about 7 inches deep you could even put a small cdplayer in there with extra cd's. I mainly use this pocket to hold my business cards, I put them inside the small sleeve intended for the mp3 player. I also store various drugs in there for easy access (OTC). P.S. this pocket is usually very skinny when your backpack is filled to capacity since there's no room for it to expand.The next pocket as you move forward to the front of the bag is the main pocket. This pocket is massive and this is pretty much the only pocket you have for storing your school supplies other than that rearmost laptop pocket. There's a small padded flap in there that you can either put up ( to make the bag appear slimmer ) or put it down ( to widen the pocket and provide a more stable base to keep it from toppling over ) I personally cram my backpack to capacity so this flap is always down. I keep 4 1" folders in there and 3 small manilla envelops filled with paperwork. Those three together come to about 1/2 inch. And I still have room for a large textbook. If I were to put in a large textbook,( for example a biology textbook ) I would expect that this pocket would no longer be able to fit any more stuff. However inside this pocket there is a rather large mesh pocket. I have no idea what you're supposed to store in it. I leave it empty, and if your backpack was stuffed to capacity it probably wouldn't be of much use. But if your a slim backpack type student I'm sure you can make use of it for something. There is also a sleeve in the back of the main pocket which I use to hold my three manilla envelopes separate from the rest of the cavity.Moving forward from the main pocket there is a smaller sized ( cozy pocket ) I say it's cozy since I love sliding my hand into it and filling the smooth cold fabric which is thick so it appears padded. I'm not sure what you could store in this pocket. Some spare papers or another manilla envelope type object. It's a very thin pocket. More like a sleeve with a zipper top. I use this pocket to store additional drugs (OTC).Moving forward from that there's the "main utility/pencil/calculator" pouch. I'm not sure what to call it but that's where I keep my pencils erasers and whiteout. Inside of that pouch theres a zippered sleeve in which I keep my spare erasers, three-hole-punch-paper-reinforcing-stickers, and also all the warranty cards for the backpack. I use the mesh sleeve to hold my pencils and pens. (Note: there are no pencil sleeves. You know, the kind that hold like a single pencil or pen. Personally I'm kind of happy about that since I usually carry like 5 pens and two pencils.) The mesh sleeve is ideal for it since it provides room for about a dozen pen/pencils and they can all clip onto it and stay put very well. There's a clip in there you can use to store your keys, so they don't stab your leg through your inferior pocket. There's a couple of knife-holder pockets in here as well. One of them I use to store a utility-knife/needle-nose-plier. Another I use to store 4 of the fate dry-erase markers. Most the other tiny sleeves in there I leave empty since they seem to be meant for business/credit cards/ids and I don't need those since I have a wallet. P.S. this is a padded pocket as well.Moving forward one last time there's another smaller pocket which is also padded which I don't use for anything.Now on each side right and left there are two sleeve pockets. 1 zippered sleeve pocket and then over that one there's a mesh sleeve. I don't use the mesh sleeves for anything except sometimes those travel-size kleenix pouches. The zippered sleeve on the right I use to store my laptops charging cable. And the zippered sleeve on the left I use to store my Ti-84 Graphic calculator.So all in all there's 9 zippered pockets if you don't count the mesh ones and there are 11 zippered pockets if you do count the zippered mesh pockets. and many more than that if you count all the sleeves.I use to carry 2 backpacks. Now I carry 1 backpack!This purchase was extremely worth it for that reason alone.Padding out the wazoo. Pockets out the wazoo. Durable to last to... the wazoo.Highly recommended.

I have been carrying this backpack for years. I normally wear one out in about 10 years when the zippers break and things start to fray. The design is very rugged and very useful. I call this my office in a backpack or office on the go. I can fit my laptop (17" display) and portable monitor, and all the ancillary power kit and cables needed for a laptop easily, plus my lab notebook. It fits in airline overhead bins (not under the seat because I pack it too full). The handle at the top is great, nice and heavy duty and comfortable to use. The straps are comfortable as well, with lots of adjustment room. I am on number 3 (my son stole my last one for high school), so I got the new one.