Traveler 2.0

Best Laptop Backpacks: Mobile Edge ScanFast

As part of my never-ending quest for the best laptop backpack, I traveled last week with Mobile Edge's new ScanFast (list price $100).

The backpack is part of Mobile Edge's new line of checkpoint-friendly laptop bags, designed so you don't have to remove your laptop as you pass through an airport security checkpoint.

I prefer to use a backpack for my carry-on bag. I'd rather carry the weight of a laptop and other stuff on my back than on my shoulders or in my hands. The Mobile Edge backpack appears to be one of the few of its kind on the market. 

It's not a thing of beauty, however, lacking the class of a Tumi or Briggs & Riley bag. But it's also less expensive than typical bags from those companies. I wish Mobile Edge had found a way to add an exterior water bottle pocket. A strap for securing the backpack over the telescoping handle of a wheeled bag would be nice, too. But the designers of checkpoint-friendly bags face more constraints than those of traditional laptop bags, so these omissions are understandable.

In its favor, the ScanFast backpack has plenty of pockets. It's affordable. And it eliminated one step--having to remove my laptop--during the security screening process, which I appreciate. Overall, I recommend the backpack for frequent flyers who'd like a new laptop backpack.

Best Laptop Bags: Watertight Roll-Aboard for Laptop, Other Gear

The Pelican 1510 LOC is one of the more unusual wheeled carry-on bags I've seen. It's fairly rugged, with a hard-shell exterior that claims to be watertight and crush proof.

The interior features two removable pouches. One is clearly designed for accessories--power cords, cables, and such. The other is for a small-medium-sized laptop. Both pouches affix to the bag's inside lid with Velcro.

Because of its hard shell, those who tend to overpack (meaning: me) would probably feel constrained by this bag. At $232, it's a bit pricey, too. However, I could see using the Pelican 1510 LOC to safely transport a variety of gear, such as laptop, projector, portable printer, camera equipment, and accessories.

Sailing Through Security with a Checkpoint-Friendly Laptop Bag

Checkpoint-friendly laptop bags--are they an essential accessory for travelers or a gimmick?

A little of both, perhaps. Checkpoint-friendly bags are designed to allow travelers to pass through airport security checkpoints without having to remove their laptops from their bags. The bags are designed in such a way that keeps the laptop in its own compartment or sleeve, with nothing (such as buckles or pockets) to prevent the security X-ray scanner from getting a clear image of the laptop. The Transportation Security Administration announced it would allow the use of such bags at airports beginning Aug. 16.

Pushing the envelope a bit, I passed through a security checkpoint at San Francisco International on Aug. 12 with Aerovation's Checkpoint-Friendly Laptop Bag ($130). The two-person company claims their bag is the first of its kind on the market, and I've seen no evidence to the contrary.

The bag worked as promised. I placed it flat on the X-ray scanner conveyor belt, as shown in the company's online video (see below). I was not questioned, wanded, frisked, folded, spindled, or mutilated by any security personnel as a result. No eyebrows were raised. In fact, the TSA officials were far more interested in two travelers in line before me, with bulging, matching Abercrombie & Fitch bags in which a young man was pictured exposing a hairy armpit. "You'll have to check those bags," a TSA official told the travelers. Whether this was because the travelers had exceeded their carry-on limit, or their bags had exceeded the boundaries of taste and decency, was not clear. 

At any rate, the Aerovation bag spared me from having to remove my MacBook Air and place it in one of those gray plastic buckets. Given that I already had to remove my jacket, shoes, and belt buckle while simultaneously holding onto my driver's license and boarding pass, I welcomed the relief. So if you're a frequent traveler looking to minimize the steps required to pass through airport security, this bag is worth the cost. If you travel only occasionally and have a laptop bag you love, a checkpoint-friendly laptop bag might not be worth your money.

A 'Bullet-Resistant' Laptop Backpack

Just learned of the 'bullet-resistant' backpack from MJ Safety Solutions. The product's makers claim the backpack offers protection from gun and knife attacks. The $195 backpack--which includes a padded laptop compartment--was created to protect students in the post-Columbine era.

I find this product ingenious and exploitative, comforting and discomforting, all at the same time. Take a look at the company's YouTube video below. What's your opinion of this product?

Best Laptop Backpacks

Today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) rates five laptop backpacks. The Journal's Overall Favorite and Best Value pick: eBags' Downloader Laptop Backpack ($45). "Tons of storage space without being bulky," said one of the Journal's testers, of the eBags backpack.

I'll add one laptop backpack for your consideration: Codi's new Sling-Pak. The black bag with red accents borrows a bit of its design look from Tumi. And at $148 it's expensive. But I've been using the bag for several weeks now, and I like its compact size, multiple pockets, asymmetrical design touches, and built-in padded laptop compartment.

Runaway Laptop Bag

A wheeled laptop bag with just two wheels is so 2006. A new generation of four-wheeled bags is emerging, with wheels that spin 360 degrees. Supposedly, the advantage is that a 'spinner' four-wheeled bag is easier to maneuver, particularly down the narrow aisles of an airplane coach cabin.

I tested Samsonite's four-wheeled iMobile 360 laptop bag on a recent cross-country flight, to see if it truly made life on the road easier for laptop toters. You can read my review of the bag in my Mobile Computing column for PC World. And take a look at the video below, to see what happened when I purposely lost control of the Samsonite bag at the top of a steep hill in my San Francisco neighborhood.