Jason Dunn
07-20-2006, 04:00 PM
The <a href="http://www.roadwired.com/store/Product.cfm?categoryid=1&Productid=88">RoadWired Skooba Satchel</a> is the best laptop bag I've ever owned, but it wasn't quite big enough to fit my 17" screen laptop. So when RoadWired told me they were coming out with a bigger version designed for 17" screen laptops, <a href="http://www.roadwired.com/store/Product.cfm?categoryid=1&Productid=97">dubbed the Skooba Seventeen+</a>, I was immediately very interested. Here's a photo Quick Look at what this bag has to offer and my impressions after using it for a few weeks.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-001.JPG" /><br /><br />Design-wise, the Skooba Seventeen+ has much in common with it's smaller sibling, the regular Skooba: it has a modern, appealing design, made of ballistic nylon. It's extremely durable, while still being quite light at 48 ounces. By comparison, the RoadWired MegaMedia bag I have is 5 pounds when empty (to be fair though, it's a bigger bag with more storage). It has an extremely comfortable shoulder strap, and slings easily over the shoulder (even when carrying a heavy 17" laptop). The front grey stripe is neoprene; unfortunately the bag is only available in the one colour for the fashion-conscious among you. I imagine we'll see more colours offered if this bag is a hot seller. The bag sells for $119.95 USD <a href="http://www.roadwired.com/store/Product.cfm?categoryid=1&Productid=97">direct from RoadWired</a>. Now let's get on to the pictures!<br /><!><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-002.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 2: The bag has over 20 total pockets and compartments. This is the inside of the front pouch and where most of the smaller storage compartments are. The inside of the flap has a zippered mesh pouch that's perfect for a wallet, travel documents, and a phone. There's a small slot for a business card in case you lose the bag. The other part of the front pouch has two velcro-flapped pouches, and four narrow sleeves for pens. I'd prefer to see two of those pen sleeves be removed and replaced with small pouches for memory cards or something similar. Who needs to carry four pens with them? The velcro flapped pouches are of a good size. The larger of the two is big enough to fit several CD cases, or an optical drive from a laptop. I typically use it to carry my Zen Vision:M player and a few cables. The smaller of the two pouches is still big enough for my iGo Juice AC adaptor and cables. Lastly, there's a clip for keys. <a href="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-002big.JPG">Here's a high-resolution version of the photo above</a> with more detail.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-003.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 3: The front-most pouch is a simple affair, closed by velcro, and if the main front pouch is jam-packed, this pouch doesn't have much room for expansion. It's good for paperwork, but not much else.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-004.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 4: This is where the Skooba Seventeen+ differs from its smaller sibling, the regular Skooba. The Seventeen+ has three velcro-based pouches, good for small electronics such as digital cameras, digital audio players, etc. I use one of the pouches to carry a wireless mouse for my laptop.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-005.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 5: The interior mesh pouches are perfect for cables or paperback books.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-006.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 6: I didn't find this space especially useful, but you could put a a magazine or paperwork in it. It's open at the top and does not seal.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-007.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 7: Here's where we see some clever design. RoadWired uses two zippers to expand or contract the zone where the laptop is held. In my case the 17" Fujitsu notebook didn't need the zippers open, so it was a nice, snug fit (they are open for illustration purposes only). There's a clip over the top of this area to keep your laptop in place even if the bag is opened and tipped upside down. RoadWired is confident this bag will fit all 17" laptops: the internal pouch will handle laptops in size up to 16.5"L x 11.75"H x 3.25"W.</i><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-008.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 8: A close-up of the zippers that expand or contract the main laptop storage area.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-009.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 9: Unlike every other RoadWired bag I've owned, my big 17" laptop slides in and out of the bag easily, without requiring any force. That's a very good thing.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-010.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 10: The interior of the laptop zone featured RoadWired's "secret sauce": the Air Square™ protection system. I haven't dropped my laptop in the bag to test it, but the system looks like it would certainly help protect a laptop.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-011.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 11: There's a zippered flap that opens up and reveals a mesh web perfect for a water bottle, a can of pop, etc. I didn't have one handy, so let's pretend that can of compressed air is drinkable, ok? ;-)</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-012.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 12: The back of the back has a zippered pouch that I use to carry magazines or other paperwork, and a luggage strap (secured by velcro) that you slide over the carrying handle of rolling luggage.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/dmt/2006/roadwired-skooba-17+-013.JPG" /><br /><i>Figure 13: My one and only complaint about this bag was the fact that the the left zipper on the main front compartment would snag almost every time I opened it. Because that's the compartment I acessed the most while traveling, it quickly became irritating. It was snagging on some excess fabric, and my first attempt to trim it with scissors resulted in quite the mess (ballistic nylon doesn't cut cleanly). When I swtiched to my Swiss Army knife scissors, I cleaned it up easily - and no more snags. I contacted RoadWired about this, and they had never heard of the problem with any of their other bags. They even went through some of their stock looking for the problem and didn't find anything. Since I've never had this problem with any other RoadWired bag, I think this was just a one-off problem and unlikely to be an indicator of what other Skooba Seventeen+ bags will be like.</i><br /><br />All in all, the Skoboa Seventeen+ is a fantastic bag - it's tough, offers great protection for my gear, and most importantly it's big enough for my huge laptop. I never thought I'd leave my RoadWired MegaMedia bag at home, but the Skooba 17+ has just replaced it. Now all I need is them to create a Skooba Ten+ for my little Fujitsu P7020D laptop!<br /><br /><i>Jason Dunn owns and operates <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com">Thoughts Media Inc.</a>, a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, his sometimes obedient dog, and he really enjoys getting new laptop bags. Perhaps a bit too much...</i>