The tough part of trying to look professional is finding the right bag. It’s especially difficult if you are a woman; do you carry a purse AND a briefcase? If you choose briefcase, do you grab a bag small enough to double as a purse, or do you keep a small bag in your desk for lunchtime errands? Personally, I hate purses, small bags, etc. My pants came with pockets for a reason! Sadly, they don’t make cargo pants for women’s suits. That’s where bags like the Mobile Edge Netbook Bag come in…
This bag is designed to hold a netbook, but it is more than roomy enough for most of my everyday items. For reference, I tend to carry the following items with me each day, or plan to be able to if needed:
-Toshiba netbook
-Amazon Kindle
-Camangi webstation
-Digital Camera
-Paper book of some sort
-Wallet
-Droid
-Chargers
photos are thumbnails; click for full size
In addition to holding a great deal of items (more on that in a bit),the Mobile Edge bag has one of my favorite things in any bag-an organizer panel. Not having a place to store pens, phone, wallet, and other random bits is a huge pain, especially when the bag is doubling as a purse-like entity. It has a neat little slot to hold a chapstick or lipstick, if you tend to carry those kinds of things. There are a few deep pockets to hold various items, and one pocket has a nice soft lining, perfect for a smartphone.
On the opposite side of the bag is the laptop sleeve. It can accommodate up to 13.3″ laptops, and in fact was pretty roomy for my 10″ netbook. I didn’t connect the dots right away, but there is an adjustable divider that can be used to create a better fit, so don’t worry if your netbook swims in the sleeve at first. Also nice is that the divided-off area creates a perfect spot to hold your charger as well. The sleeve wall is padded well, though it is open on top and held down by a strap. While the bag has an overarching zipper that protects it, if you open your bag often outdoors or in rainy conditions a second sleeve may be needed.
The middle area is devoid of any other organizational options, but it is plenty roomy for any loose items like a book, kindle, pouches, etc. While I wouldn’t put any item in their without some kind of protection, it is deep enough to hold quite a bit, but not so deep that it’s impossible to find anything. On the downside, the inside is black like the rest of the bag, so small items can still be tough to locate. A bright color for the bottom inside panel would help with this.
There are two ways to carry the bag. It has a detachable shoulder strap, with a sliding pad for extra comfort. If you don’t want to carry a bag on your shoulder (shoulder straps can wrinkle your suit!), there are hand straps as well. They are big enough you could probably carry the whole bag under one arm with them if need be. However, as simple hand straps they are great, heavily padded and very comfortable.
One bit on the front that bothered me a bit-the Mobile Edge logo is REALLY front and center. It’s fine to advertise their brand, but it is so shiny at the right angle you could blind people headed in the opposite direction!
On the front of the bag is a slash pocket with a Velcro closure, a little small for a magazine but a good size for small papers. The back has a strap to hook the bag on a luggage handle. It would have been nice to have a slash pocket on the back as well, since most of the time you aren’t going to be toting this around on luggage, and so the strap feels a bit superfluous.
Overall, it’s a very nicely made bag. It is not my taste, as it is a bit too purse-like for me, but if you need a professional briefcase that can carry a small laptop this is a well-made option. It is made of faux-leather, so it is vegan as well!
Since this bag doesn’t really fit my tastes, I’m giving it away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment explaining what you carry every day and how you’d use the bag, and I will pick one comment at random. You have until Friday, April 2nd, so get to commenting!
The Mobile Edge Women’s Netbook Bag retails for $69.99; if you don’t want to enter our contest, you can buy it here.
What I liked:
-Bag is well-c0nstructed and professional looking.
-Good set of organizer pockets.
-Lots of options on how to carry it.
-Roomy laptop sleeve.
What Needs Improvement:
-Mobile Edge logo is VERY prominent
-Could use an extra pocket on the back.
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