Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...
 Best Backpack I've Ever Owned May 14, 2008
J. Donie (Cincinnati, OH USA)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
I began buying backpacks in 1980 when I went off to college, and O how they've chagned. The Maxxum is, by far, the best, most well designed pack I've ever owned. I use my pack as a combination Laptop / Camera Gear / Writing Implements / Journal / Day pack, and this bag always seems to end up with room to spare. There are SO many pockets, compartments, pouches and nifty places to put things in this bag, I've actually forgotten where I put things, thinking I'd left something at home, only to find it was just in one of the pockets I'd forgotten about.
CONSTRUCTION - tough, comfortable, practical, easy to use
FIT / WEAR - comfortable for long periods of time, distributes weight well, makes carrying more stuff a lot easier.
WHERE TO KEEP YOUR STUFF
1) LAPTOP COMPARTMENT - 2 zippers - The compartment closest to your back houses both an internal "pouch" that secures your laptop (with click-lock strap) and plenty of room for papers and notebooks. Being able to keep both my laptop and some paper notebooks in this one compartment is very handy for me. Some of my packs in the past had "laptop only" compartments that made this impossible. Good design here, for me, keeping the PC safe while keeping similar sized gear handy.
2) MAIN COMPARTMENT - 2 zippers - the largest volume compartment is in the middle of the bag. I can put a couple of small journals, some business envelopes, a pack of wet-naps (to clean up 5 year old), my 35mm sized camera and lots more in here and have room to spare. It's an awesome main storage area that's shaped in a way that gives you flexiblity not only in terms of how much stuff to carry but how you choose to orient it inside the compartment.
3) QUICK ACCESS TOP POUCH - 1 zipper - near the main grab handle on top is a small, red lined pouch that holds ... MP3 player, CD player, wallet, keys ... stuff you want quick access to near the top of the bag. FINALLY someone lined it with something other than black, making fumbling for black bits of tech toy goodness a lot easier to do. And the velcro strapped inner pocket for MP3 player or cell phone is great for protecting same if keys are in the pouch.
4) QUICK ACCESS LARGE COMPARTMENT - no zipper - I've never before had a bag that featured an "open" compartment with no zippers that was this large. Between the main compartment in the middle and the organizer compartment on the front, there's an open topped compartment that I find AWESOME for tucking my camera into when I'm shooting and walking a lot. No need to unzip or re-zip between shooting, just tuck the camera into this open topped area and I'm good to go, and able to grab it again just as quickly when the need arizes. If I hit dirt, rain or long periods with no need to shoot, I can always put it back in the main zippered storage area. Really great idea.
5) ORGANIZER COMPARTMENT - 1 zipper - The front pouch is a fairly typical organizer pouch with inner pockets for cell phones, pens, etc. Within the main zipper are a) inner red zippered area for loose bits (big enough to hold a fist full of pens and pencils), b) pouches for smaller items (cell, pens, etc.) and c) a larger main area tall and wide enough to hold business envelopes turned either direction, and about an inch to 2 inches deep, depending on how you decide to stuff it.
6) QUAD Water Pockets - the combination of 2 zippered side pockets for water AND 2 net pockets comes in quite handy. LOTS Of water or a combination of water and gear ... it works great.
7) STRAPS and BACK - well padded, easy to adjust, comfortable to wear ... awesome. Chest strap and thumb pulls on shoulder straps are a plus, though one of the thumb pull rings cracked on me, but the tab is still useful for tightening.
On a particularly busy day, I recently had the following in this bag:
15+" laptop, 2 8.5x11" notebooks, 8.5x11" envelope with pile of receipts, 2 leather journal books, 2 wetnap envelopes (about business envelope sized), AC adapter for laptop (big, bulky thing, tucked in a zippered water pocket), warm wool hat, 35mm sized digital camera with biggish lens, 10+ pens/pencils/hi-liters, wallet, keys, MP3 player, voice recorder, USB cords (3) (I forgot to mention 2 inner zipper pockets for same in the Laptop and 1 other compartment), Zagat guide, thumb drive, bottle of water and cell phone ... and there was plenty of open space to spare. The bag was HEAVY with gear, but it felt light on my back, carried easily, felt good ... it was great.
TRIM - I've never seen a company trim their bags with so much style as Swissgear does. Sure, I know there will be folks who don't appreciate their style of trim, but I love it. Like great icing on great cake.
Excellent Student Laptop Backpack July 30, 2007
Joel Dauteuil (Bethlehem, NH USA)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Well made and roomier than I expected. I would highly recommend as a student laptop backpack - mainly because it can accomodate laptop with accesories and some books/notebooks, etc. And, very comfortable to wear for extended periods.
Pros:
- well made
- good zippers - that's important
- solid brand - I've owned many Wenger products and they last
- nice support/suspension for laptop protection
- same kind of support neoprene "hammock" inside for your mp3 player and also has a hole at the top to feed through your headset/remote - very nice
- very comfortable back padding and strap system
- good organization pockets
- water bottle side pockets - a must for mobile phone.
Cons:
- nothing significant
- the fabric is thick but I would have preferred a thicker bottom layer in case you have to put it down somewhere wet.
- as I mentioned, I think this is better suited for students or for a weekend laptop bag. In my opinion, I wouldn't go into the office with it - my first choice in that respect continues to be the Samsonite "Business Casual" Executive Backpack. All around great bag - you can't go wrong (with either of these).
Swiss Gear Maxxum Notebook Computer Backpack August 10, 2006
G. Blanston (Houston, TX USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Great backpack, computer is suspended in a pocket in the middle of the pack, not against your back. BUT it is too small for my 15.4" laptop. Be sure to try before you buy.
5 Stars isn't enough! This is a great backpack September 13, 2007
John Treble (Princeton, NJ USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I replaced an old worn out backpack with this Maxxum Swiss Gear bag and now I'm the envy of the office.
The features are countless and well-thought-out.
1. Lots and lots of pockets for storage, and a nifty open pocket into which you can stuff a sweater or light jacket.
2. The laptop pocket is supported above the floor of the pack, so no worries about your precious cargo hitting the floor and cracking the case. Excellent design on that point. My Dell Latitude D610 (15.4") easily fits this pocket, so no worries there.
3. The backpack is light weight and easy to slip on. The chest strap is available if you suddenly have to run for your flight!
4. The padding against your back is brilliant! No more sweaty backs from lugging an overly clingy backpack through a hot humid airport.
5. Sturdy zippers and straps. This bad boy is very well made.
6. Style and color too. It doesn't look like a laptop backpack, so no "red flag" to thieves in airports that say "Hey, steal me!"
7. I love this feature--it has a floor support that enables the bag to stand up all by itself. No more leaning against the wall. Nice!
I am more than extremely pleased with this bag. I've contacted my local IT department and suggested it as the "defacto" standard when people ask for a laptop bag. At $53 it's a super bargain.
sooo many pockets! August 28, 2007
M. McKeever
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
i bought this pack after looking casually for several months for a backpack to carry my laptop, and eventually lots of heavy law books. i was initially priced out of this bag at Staples, and couldnt find the color i wanted anyway, but found it on Amazon for about $20 less. it has an incredible amount of compartments, pockets, slots, etc. the 'book pocket' is really roomy, easily fits a 4" binder, a 3" stack of papers, and a harry potter book. incredible. the laptop pocket is nicely padded, my 15.4" laptop is pretty snug in there though. the straps and padding on the back are a big plus. also, you can stand the pack up on the floor without support. never considered how much i would enjoy that feature. i would definitely purchase this product again for myself, and for anyone who is considering a bag for transporting a laptop and lots of school or work documents/books.
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