Timbuk2 Showdown Laptop Backpack

Absolutely love this backpack, of all the packs I've owned over the years (and I do my research before buying one thoroughly) I have to say that this is my favorite by far. Timbuk2 has made an awesome all around backpack.I travel frequently and use it everyday going to class and back, as well as riding my street bike and it fits great. Has some good reflective material on it as well that helps it to stick out while riding/walking at night. After several months of use, 7 days a week and several trips with it stuffed to the seams, it still looks and feels brand new. It can fit my MacBook Pro Retina 13" perfectly with a protective sleeve on for more protection. Inside main compartment can hold several notebooks, folders and a book or two just fine, and has convenient organization pockets inside for pens/loose smaller items. Outside zipper pockets are genius and perfect from holding everything from extra battery packs/chargers, Mac charging cable + extension, bike tire pump + 17 part multi-tool, glasses, etc. Loops on the outside allow you to use a carabiner to attach more junk to the outside and the straps used for this are thick and well attached and can take some weight. Same goes for the shoulder straps, great construction overall w/ removable chest buckle + bottle opener as per Timbuk2.One thing I would say could use an improvement on this bag would be the side water bottle elastic carrier. It still works fine (with my KOR Vida bottle), but sometimes I worry about it popping out as it's not a very deep pocket.Overall, highly recommend this backpack for just about anything you could use it for.

PROS• Very well built. Double stitching on integral areas.• Very comfortable. Doesn't seem to warm your back too much.• 3 organizational pouches makes it easy to access specific things.• Thick padding on the laptop compartment against the backside.CONS• Doesn't fit all 15'' laptops due to it's cradle preventing your laptop from making contact to the bottom of the backpack. So it's basically about 2'' from the bottom of the backpack, and it's just nothing in between. Bad design IMO. They should've just insulated the bottom with some type of a foam. You must have a low profile (slim) laptop to be comfortably able to take your laptop in and out. I have a ASUS ROG GL551 and it barely fits. I also tried my wife's Lenovo Thinkpad and it didn't even fit at all.• Zipper stutters a bit. Maybe because it's still new.• Small opening on the two small pouches on the right.MISCELLANEOUS• It's really not white; It's more of a light grey/silver. The zipper liner on the laptop compartment is more of a gold/bronze rather than yellowish. To me, it's more of a PRO than CON; to each is own.• Smaller (width) than expected. My wife uses the Timbuk2 Uptown which fits 15'' also, and fits her Lenovo just fine with some allowances. Again, this could be a PRO to someone.Overall, It's a great backpack... For the price I paid for. I was able to purchase this back pack for only $58. I would not buy this over that price due to that fact that it doesn't fit all 15" Laptop. But if you a have a low profile 15" like a Macbook, then you should be good.

What's good? Appears really well constructed. Looks good. Fits well. Outer compartments are thoughtful.What's missing? 1) The bottom right pocket is large enough, but the opening isn't. I can't even fit my kindle paperwhite in there (no case). And if I COULD, rest assured it would be a nightmare to get out. An extra half-inch on that zipper would have been extremely useful. This also means if you have a small book you want in there that is as wide as a paperwhite, it won't fit. The pocket is tall and wide enough, but the zipper opening is not. The pocket isn't useless, but it's extremely limited. 2) There's no side handle/strap to comfortably allow for horizontal carrying. You can only vertically hand hold the bag. 3) The nylon handle for vertical carrying should have been padded like the shoulder straps. 4) The main compartments have adequate volume, but suffer from not having another elastic pocket. It's like having a large fridge without a shelf. If you want to put a jacket in there, it has to go on top of your books. That means to access books, you have to first remove your jacket or vice versa. You can imagine other scenarios that become a little annoying.Those things aside, it's a great bag, but it doesn't warrant a 5-star review imo. If there were only one issue, it would get 4 stars. There are too many limitations for me to give it that. I would look forward to the next iteration.