Like women with shoes, geeks can never have too many gadget bags.
Over the last few days I’ve been testing out the Ultimateaddons netbook bag from Ultimate Netbook. Its a 700gm bag with a split, padded central area and additional front and rear pockets.
Click for bigger images or here for full gallery.
I’ve tested it with a Medion Akoya Mini (Aka MSI Wind) which is 260mm wide (10.2 inches) and it fits snugly. Anything wider than 270mm could be a problem but that’s enough for almost every netbook with a 10.2 inch screen. I’ve also tested it with a Fujitsu U820, U20 power bank (recommended, also from Ultimate Netbook) and threw in all my normal bits and pieces. Total weight will all that kit (over 10 hours of computing!) was just 2.6kg. It makes a perfect conference and coffee-shop bag.
I checked out all the seams and zips and it seems very well built. Strong materials, good zips, magnetic flap. The central pocket is well padded and the shoulder strap is comfortable. In terms of styling its pretty good too.
The best thing about it though is the price. Under 20 pounds for a well built bag makes it a must-have in my opinion. Shame that it only comes in the khaki colour. I’m sure black, red and blue colour would go down well.
Ultimate Netbooks are in the UK and can ship Europe-wide. More details about the Ultimateaddons 8.9-10.2 Netbook Shoulder Bag Case can be found on their website.
New article: Test – Ultimateaddons Netbook Bag. http://cli.gs/5HAhg3
Hi, really good thing (and price).
Does it handle Netbook well, with power adapter and few gadgets (digital camera, mobile phone)?
I mean all that big power wires.
The german shop http://www.taschenkaufhaus.de might interest you as well.
They are not specialized in gadget bags only, but they’re offering a huge selection of all different kinds of bags.
The website offers also a bag finder (for notebooks and cameras), where you can enter the dimesions of your gadget.
Thanks Suchus. Looks like a great site.
Steve
Who is that with her behind against your back? :)
Random sexy italian woman!
Ironically I was just looking at some bags yesterday at this store, but a lot smaller than this, I want COMPACT (as always) :)
Chippy did you ever consider the modeling industry? : P
Wow I want one of these bags.
Er, no; And you can see why!
I personally am rather fond of the Maxpedition products.
I have a Colossus versipack and a Sitka gearslinger.
The Colossus is big enough for my Samsung Q1 Ultra, and I think it would fit most 7″ and 8.9″/9″ netbooks as well. It’ll will certainly hold the various MIDs I’ve seen (I used to put my N810 in it, inside of a pelican case with foam liner). However, it’s not big enough for any of the 10″ netbooks I’ve seen. So, I decided to upgrade just in case I had to have a 10″, or if I wanted to put in a little more gear and accessories (for example, it can carry the Samsung Q1 Ultra, but not the USB keyboard for it). I was otherwise quite happy with the Colossus (except that it doesn’t have a comfortable hand handle, like some of their other bags do).
The Sitka is what I upgraded to. It definitely has room for a lot of extras. I carry the Q1U in one pocket, the Q1U’s USB keyboard in the rear-most pocket (the one that can be used for a camel-pack water resevior), a rain poncho (just in case), a wool scarf (just in case), the Q1U’s charger, a selection of USB cables, a charger cable for my G1, the pelican case that used to carry my N810 (but now carries a USB hard drive, for syncing my work/home/mobile data), my umbrella, various reference books and note pads, etc. The small pouch at the top of the bag has a portable USB hub, and various other things I “might” need. And, really, I haven’t even begun to push the limits of the bag.
I had also added the Anemone Pouch to one of the ends of the Colossus’ carry straps, to use it as a cell phone pouch … but I wound up never needing it. That does, however, bring up one of the things I love about Maxpedition products: they use military ALICE gear straps for attachments. So, if you see a small pocket/pouch/organizer product that you like, and you just wish its features were available on some other bag, it’s often just as simple as buying some ALICE clips/straps and attaching the smaller product to the bigger one. The current straps for that, that they sell, are called “TacTie” straps. They come in two lengths, and they’re a lot easier to work with than the hard plastic MALICE clips.
And, that process is exactly what I did with my Sitka. The Sitka bag doesn’t directly have anything I’d call a really useful place to secure pens and pencils. But, the E.D.C. Pocket Organizer does. So I bought one, and attached it to the outer pocket cover of the Sitka. Now I have a really nice selection of pen/pencil/etc. loops on my Sitka bag. I also attached the UFBS to the single channel of ALICE straps to use for securing my collapsible umbrella. Between the poncho, umbrella, scarf, cap, and gloves, I’m pretty well covered for rain, surprise cold snaps (not really likely this time of year, but it did happen here 3 months ago). And the poncho and umbrella will help protect the gear inside the bag if that happens.
The only real downside is that maxpedition gear can be a bit expensive. But, it’s also rather well constructed. The gear is intended to be used for rugged outdoor/hunting/etc. use, or for use by armed couriers and military contractors. These aren’t school book bags, they’re combat ready gear. That should be more than sturdy enough for commute warriors like me :-)
Colossus:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=4&idproduct=379
Sitka:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=2&idproduct=926
Anemone:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=7&idproduct=170
E.D.C Pocket Organizer:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=14&idproduct=961
UFBS Sheath:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=9&idproduct=238
I like the bag, good looking and compact. I only wish you could be able to sling it over one should much like a small backpack and rather than the side carry mode.
Hrm. I submitted a long reply about some other gadget bags, that I bought specifically for my tablets and netbooks … and the system says I can’t re-submit it because it already was submitted, but it isn’t showing up, either.
It was marked as spam for some reason. I’ve released it now.
Steve
Understandable. The long list of URLs at the end probably looked suspicious :-}
Thanks for releasing it!
Seems nice, but the issue that I take with a bag like this is that it LOOKS like a gadget bag. It’s not necessarily a bad thing style-wise, but it is if you ever plan on going out somewhere that is less than friendly with it.
My old gadget bag (should fit up to an 8.9″/9″ netbook):
Maxpedition Colossus:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=4&idproduct=379
My new gadget bag (bought so that I can get a 10″ netbook):
Maxpedition Sitka:
http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=2&idproduct=926
I loves them. Highly recommend them for use as gadget bags. And, they’re quite rugged (they’re designed to be used by armed couriers and military contractors, using military ALICE gear attachment points so you add accessories to them; I added a couple things to my Sitka for organizer pockets and a sheath/holster for my mini-umbrella)
[I had a longer version of this post, but it appears to have been eaten by the system; if it shows up later, sorry for the duplicated info]
I forked out £50 on my last notebook bag, its perfect for carrying around my R2H + everything else! It’s no where as small as this but works perfectly for my needs.
Its called the Vertigo and is sold by a company in the US-
http://www.sfbags.com/
Theres a review of the one I got on my site-
http://recommendmeapc.co.uk/?p=719
Hi we have the same netbook messenger bag in black in a couple of weeks.
We are getting great feedback from customers and seeing some really good reviews on the web about the netbook messenger bag.
We are always looking for feedback from our customers to help improve our products.
http://www.ultimate-netbook.co.uk/Universal-Accessories/UniversalNetBookBags/Ultimateaddons-89102-Netbook-Messenger-Bag-Black___1072.htm
@PearceSmithwick I tested this netbook bag. was good. http://bit.ly/FK3kG
I bought the bag.
Stitching on strap gave way after about a dozen uses!!