Targus - 15.6� Sport Backpack

This is a nice bag - I am on my second one. Under rough daily use, the first one lasted about 7-8 years. It still worked well but was starting to look a little frayed. Construction seems to be pretty solid on the latest version, although slightly less solid than the last one.The bag is big. For my purposes almost too big as it temps me to carry a lot of junk around that I do not need. If you like a lot of compartments for organization, it is also nicely set up (although again, sometimes I get lost and forget I have something with me hidden away in some compartment.If you are on the fence about buying it, I would say take the dive. It is a good bag for the money.

I bought the first (?) generation of this bag when I found myself working a project that took me to the UK frequently. It's a good mobile office -- carries laptop & accessories, papers, books etc. and is comfortable to haul around and quite durable. This version is a notable improvement on the first, with more small outer compartments for organizing smaller items and *two* expandable mesh pockets for water bottles etc. Zippers are reliable and have overlarge pulls, laptop sleeve is well padded, well done throughout.It doesn't exactly look like a businessman's backpack; if you're concerned about 'professional image', it might not be for you.

I bought this bag for the new 2011 15" MBP. It fit my needs perfectly. Big enough for the MBP and my notebooks and book for class. It was great until 3 days ago. The zipper began getting stuck. At first I thought it was the zipper getting stuck with the fabric, like all other zippers do. Upon inspection, I found that the zipper tracks have quite big gaps and now the actual zipper has came off the track and is now useless. I can only close the biggest bag in one direction now. It sucks that I can't return this or get an exchange as my 30 days expired a few days ago. It was a great product, while it lasted. I'm not too happy with this purchase as it's only a little over a month old and the zipper has already failed.

Since the detail page for this item is screwed up: this is a review of the Sport Backpack Black with Grey Accents TSB212I've been using this backpack for the last 8 years. I commute daily by motorcycle, and this is how I haul my laptop and other junk between home and work. It has also traveled the world with me as my carry-on "personal item". It has carried multiple laptops at the same time (it barely fits a 17" laptop, a 15" fits with lots of room), been filled with all manner of other junk, and hasn't ever complained about how I've treated it. For me, this is the perfect laptop backpack. I finally had to retire my old bag, not due to wear and tear, but because my dog decided the zipper looked like a fun thing to chew off. I was incredibly glad to find out that the same model was still available, and immediately re-ordered it.Small note: in the photos, there appears to be a cell phone holder clipped to one of the straps. I remember the holder coming with my first version (I removed it because I didn't want it), but the version I just re-ordered didn't come with it.Best laptop backpack ever.

Having been a staunch fan of Targus products with the purchase of my first Targus laptop backpack in 2001, I'm sorry to say that the Targus Sport Backpack Case is a pale shadow of the quality I had come to expect from this company.The first bag I ever bought was also a sport backpack. It was rugged, well made, and absolutely protected my computer. And it was backed up with a lifetime warranty against flaws or defects that I never had to call in because the bag was so well made. I had that bag for close to ten years and only recently had to replace it because two locking clips were broken (my own fault. I rolled over them with my chair) and the zipper lost its ability to stay zipped -- the fate of all zippers over time, it would seem. I put that bag through its paces over those ten years, and took it with me virtually every day of the year, be it by car, bus bike, train, or plane. That's something for a company to take pride in and something I gladly told any friend or acquaintance who was shopping for a laptop bag. "Go with Targus. It's a great bag," I used to say.Not any longer. The model I have now was purchased in August 2011 to replace my 10-year-old warhorse, and the first thing I noticed taking it out of the bag was that it was considerably lighter. Normally, this might be a good thing when one considers having to lug a laptop around. But it's not such a positive when the lightness is the result not of new space-age materials that reduce weight, yet maintain the same level of protection for your computer, but rather because Targus chose to go with thinner, cheaper, generally flimsier materials. The foam shell that protects the laptop is thinner. The padding that used to be in the base of the bag no longer exists. The stiff board backing that added additional protection to the laptop while simultaneously helping the bag to not collapse on itself when the laptop was taken out, is also gone. Even the zippers are of a lower quality, being more akin of the kind of zipper you'd find in a generic backpack purchased at Wal-Mart than with the sturdy zippers that part and parcel of Targus' earlier bags.Eleven months after purchasing this bag, I'm already seeing stress tears in the shoulder straps, an internal separation of the sewing seam between two compartments, and one of the pull-tabs attached to a zipper has worked loose (I had to reconnect it myself with craft glue). After but 11 months, I'm seeing wear and tear on this bag that I didn't see in my previous Targus bag after even 5 years of continuous use.¡¡¡¡Okay, yeah, I've got a lifetime warranty, so theoretically, I should be able to just get it repaired or replaced. But after my last experience with a Targus backpack, why should I have to? Why should I have to go through the hassle of having it shipped back to the United States (at my expense) so that Targus can honor its warranty, then have it shipped back out to me in Japan via a third party (at my expense)?Long story short, there is very little that is actually remarkable about the Targus laptop backpack anymore. It's an average backpack sold at an above-average price based on a reputation that is no longer warranted.Here's what I'm seeing with the current Targus business model: Sure, the company still has its lifetime warranty. But what the company is doing - and I'm seeing this trend from a number of manufacturers lately - is gambling that it's still cheaper to simply replace a bunch of poorly made bags than to stick with its earlier business model, which was to make high quality bags that they didn't need to be replaced, at least not within the first year of purchase.It's not a whole lot unlike how some auto manufacturers factor consumer demands for compensation into the price of their product vehicle and determine that it's cheaper to simply not fix the problem. No, wait. It's *exactly* like that.Yes, I could call in my warranty. But again, why should I have to? Instead, I'm just not going to buy Targus anymore. And I'm not going to recommend it any more. For the same money, I can get a better product from another company that still takes pride in its work.

Well I was disappointed with this bag. I replaced an older version of this bag with this one after many years of service.While the pockets and storage are the same which I love and the bag holds a lot, the quality has suffered greatly. The material is overall thinner. The shoulder straps are less padded. The handle is not as robust. The bag has a smell to it that has failed to fade yet. Some two way zippers were replaced with one way zippers. Even the key holder is more flimsy. I think Targus went a little too far with cost cutting and I have my doubts that this bag will last as long as it's predecessor. If I could give half stars I would give it a 3.5 but despite the poor quality I'll give it a 4 since it is a great bag in terms of storage and organization.