Protecting your laptop computer is important business. There’s nothing worse than damaging an expensive piece of equipment. While keeping your computer secured in a bag is important to its longevity, some laptop bags provide better protection than others. In addition, a good laptop bag will go beyond mere protection and give you plenty of storage space, usability, durability and comfort.
Today our pals at Geeks.com have sent the Brenthaven Stylus III-XF Notebook Bag. I’ve had the chance to review quite a few laptop bags over the past few years, and I can safely say this bag is one of my favorites to date. It looks nice, appears to be super durable, has an insane amount of storage and comes with a price tag that can’t be beat.
Info:
Brenthaven Zero Impact Stylus III-XF 17” Laptop Case
This Brenthaven TV289ZM/A Stylis III-XF Laptop Shoulder Case is exactly what you need for your indispensable laptop. As careful as you may be with your things, it’s always better to be safe than sorry! This bag comes in a professional black color with a multitude of pockets, which are perfect for all sorts of your personal belongings from your business cards, keys, magazines, pens and CDs to your cell phone!
Features/Specifications:
General Features:
-X-Ray Friendly
-Metallic Zippers
-Pen/Pencil slots
CD/DVD media slots
-Completely PVC free!
-Extremely Lightweight
-Media Filing Compartment
-Hide-away cell phone pocket
-Jet Black Durable Nylon Exterior
-Business Card/Identification card slot
-Adjustable Mesh Padded Shoulder Strap
-Custom fit for your notebook up to 17-inches
-5-side High Density Foam Protection System
-Perfect for the commuter who seeks comfort
-The perfect combination of style and protection
-Case butterflies open for ease through airport security*
-Ergonomic Handle wrapped in leather for easy carrying
-Back pocket with 9-inch bottom zipper for wheeled case
-Front Organizer Panel with multiple pockets for accessories
-Back Slip Pocket accommodates newspapers, magazines and files
-”Zero Impact” which means Brenthaven promises to invest in Green projects
Dimensions:
-External: 13.5 x 17.5 x 4.5-inches (H x W x D, approximate)
-Internal: 11.75 x 15.25 x 1.5-inches (H x W x D, approximate)
-Weight: 2.5 lbs
Package Includes:
-Brenthaven TV289ZM/A Stylis III-XF Notebook Case
-Shoulder Strap
Price: $29.99
What’s in the box?
The laptop case is packaged in a simple plastic bag. There’s nothing fancy about it and no more that can be said.
Usage:
The first thing to note with this bag is its nylon construction. When something is made from nylon, it can go one of two ways – it’ll either be extremely cheap looking and ugly, or it’ll look like this bag. Nothing about this bag screams tacky. The stitching, rubber wrapping and other accents are all in the right places to give it the appearance of a much more expensive and classy bag, while having the strength and durability that a manufactured material like nylon can offer.
You’ll see the Brenthaven tag there on the bag connected with a simple ball chain, as well as a tag that says “X-Ray Friendly.” One of this bag’s selling points is this X-ray friendly feature, which we’ll see more of in a bit. Basically, there’s a special pocket in the bag where you can keep your laptop when going through airport X-ray security. Chances are they’ll make you take the laptop out of the bag anyway because it is protocol, so this feature somewhat puzzles me as I’m not really sure how useful it is in real life. Last summer I was in Casper, Wyoming, flying from there to Denver. The Casper airport is about the size of an average middle-class town public library. It has one waiting room, three gates, one bathroom, one baggage claim, and one security checkpoint. Even they made me take my laptop out of the bag.
From a different angle, you can see the pocket options on the front. This bag has no lack of pockets, and here is where they all begin. The pocket on the very front is a standard slip pocket.
The rounded front pocket opens up to a caddy pocket with pen holders, a cell phone holder, ID slot, little slots for USB sticks or whatever else you have, and two mesh pockets on the front inside of the flap. The cell phone pocket is also lined with what feels like a microfiber fabric to ensure your phone won’t get scratched up if you don’t have it in any other protector. There’s a lot you can do with this pocket.
On the rear of the bag, we have another big simple pocket. What’s special about this pocket is that it has another opening at the bottom, so you can go in and out both ends. This is designed for putting a luggage handle through so you don’t have to carry the bag around the airport. Of course, if you’re in Casper, Wyoming, you won’t be walking around the airport very much because it has one room, so that might not be an issue.
Where this bag truly differs from many is that it has three top-opening pockets for various uses. The first one opens to a large pocket with a divider flap. On one side of the divider, the pocket has two more pockets stitched onto the lining.
The middle pocket is the X-ray pocket. It opens all the way around the bag, allowing you to completely flatten it out. There’s a small fabric tab at the top that tells you this is the X-ray compartment.
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While you could just as well carry your laptop in either of the first two compartments, the third one is the one designed for the everyday towing of your machine. It supports up to a 17” computer. I inserted a 15.4” HP laptop and you can tell there is a slight bit of extra room in there, so it should actually be comfortable with a 17”. There are nice bumper bars on the edges of the pocket to protect your computer from side impact.
It should also be noted that each one of these pockets has about a half inch of foam on both sides. If you wanted the best protection for the top and bottom of your computer, putting it in the X-ray compartment would actually be best, because you’d have about an inch of total protection on either side. The laptop compartment, however, has those side bumpers which are very important. Regardless of where you keep anything in this bag, it’s going to be well protected as there’s a tremendous amount of padding in all the right places.
The bag also seems to have some reinforced corners for more support.
The buckles on the shoulder strap, as well as all other metal parts on the bag (zipper pulls, loops) are pretty nice and not cheap plastic. I wouldn’t have much concern with these breaking or snapping with regular use.
The strap also has a rubberized, padded portion where it rests on your shoulder. It will help stick to your clothes so the bag doesn’t slide, and is quite squishy and comfortable. It seems like something you could haul around for a while without needing to see a chiropractor.
Conclusion:
There’s absolutely a ton of room in this bag, yet it doesn’t come across overly bulky or cumbersome. There’s absolutely a lot of strength, durability and protection offered, yet it doesn’t come across as some big techno-camper’s hiking backpack with a computer stuffed inside. The best part of all is that its price tag is now down to around $29.99. Most of the time, at that price point, you’ll get a laptop bag that is either no more than a single-compartment sleeve, or a total piece of crap that will dissolve on you in two months. This bag is neither of those things, and comes highly recommended for the laptop user with tons of stuff to carry.
| PROS | CONS |
| +A million pockets +Great protection all around +Comfortable to carry +Very nice looking |
-Absolutely nothing |
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