TargusTargus 15.6" Spruce EcoSmart Checkpoint Friendly Backpack, Made From Recycled Bottles, Durable, TSA Friendly, 27L (TBB013US)

Absolutely top notch backpack. I’m ordering a replacement after 12 years of almost daily use. This bag used to come to school with me every day and has since travelled all around the world with me for work. I’m replacing the bag because two of the zippers are now starting to split—probably due to the years of overloading!This bag is ideal for daily school/university/commuter use, with ample room for a laptop (or two), stationary, a packed lunch, extra layers, and more. It can also comfortably hold all you need for a long weekend away and makes an ideal cabin bag or day bag while travelling. All this is while remaining simple and sleek enough when not fully packed to not look out of place in the office.

It took me ages to find a bag that I liked - I went through hundreds of reviews for loads of backpacks. It's not easy finding a good product when there's always someone that's hated it, so you move to the next one and hours is wasted searching.I needed a backpack for Uni to hold my MacBook Pro (2014) in a soft case. In this case, I also have my Wacom graphics tablet, pen and cable, so it makes it fairly thick. I also needed the backpack to have plenty of pockets for the laptop charger, xbox one controller, a battery back for charging my phone, external harddrive, other cables, books, pens, the Master MX wireless mouse and usb sticks. I also wanted it to be not too big and quite light, as the weight will build up with all that stuff being carried around each day.I managed to filter my search EVENTUALLY down to 2 backpacks, so I gave up and bought both so I could see for myself. The other bag was the 'Fubevod Laptop Backpack 15.6 Waterproof', which was a damn good bag, with blinking loads of pockets, but I went with the Targus, because it was a little lighter, smaller and the pockets were easier to access. The laptop section of the Fubevod was behind the shoulder straps which made it a little annoying to easily access - would be more protected that way, but I don't feel I need to worry about that. It was also classed as waterproof, which was another bonus, but this Targus scored more points in easy access, weight and size.It's not easy to choose products these days, especially if you read reviews and want to make sure you're getting value for money and it's going to do everything you want it too, so hopefully this review has helped at least 1 other.One last point to make: I've had the bag for a couple of months now after owning my previous backpack for about 10 years, till the zips finally broke off, so I'm hoping this bag will last me a good number of years to come and so far the zips and material all seem well made and I'm still happy with it.Another point to make! I don't put my MBP in the laptop section with the velcro fastening, as it doesn't fit in there, since I'm using a case too, so it goes in front of it and my laptop charger goes in there. My large wireless mouse goes in the small zipped pocket in the front section where it easily fits with usb sticks etc. There are 2 pockets at the bottom of the main front pocket for my Xbox one pad and battery pack. Books and cables go in the second compartment and the third compartment holds my laptop and charger. I put my earphones case in 1 of the side pockets and my wallet in the small outside front pocket. All done.

This is THE best bag I've ever owned. I bought this for my third year as an Undergraduate student. I had to commute for an hour each way, every day to get to University, as well as then get to work afterwards. This thing is still going strong with only minor wear and tear on the shoulder straps which takes the form of rubbing wear and some slight misshaping from the weight they support - nothing major really.A summary of main features:• The bottle holder easily holds a 30cm circumference bottle.• The laptop holder easily takes my 15inch macbook pro with a thick laptop case.• The multitude of pockets have a lovely lining which fills me with confidence in wet and windy weather, as well as being able to withstand light impact from hustle and bustle of a commute.• Shoulder strap adjustment is very easy and the back padding fits my back perfectly.• Third pocket from the front gets most use (stores laptop charger, books, deodorant, and occasionally some food) and shows no signs of wear at all.• With the laptop in, the main compartment (fourth from the front) has little room for much else but can easily fit in an A4 pad of paper or a folded waterproof top.• The outer material feels similar to the synthetic motorbike gear such as gortex or other similar stuff - rugged and tough but light.Some reviews state that the bag doesn't feel like it could take much of an impact on the bottom, and I would have to agree but I ALWAYS put my laptop in a nice thick case anyway so it's not a big deal. The bag does tend to want to fall forward when placed on the floor, which is a mild inconvenience at worst.Just to put it in perspective, I've had this bag a while and it still feels and looks as good as when it was first purchased. The first bag I used for Uni was severely beaten and almost useless after the first year - it was a hiking backpack!

I am not disappointed. Generally happy