Aesthetics: the orange stictching really stands out, in a bad way ( i have the whtie and black bag). The stiches don’t look particularly even, some of them are already coming apart.

Construction: I was surprised to see that other than the laptop compartment, the rest of the pockets are made from one piece of nylon, making the bag feel a bit thin. I think the contents of the bag might get wet fairly easily in the rain. The shoulder strap and handles do feel sturdy and padded. there is no way to take the sholder strap off of the bag. Also it is attached by plastic and not by metal, which could be a potential spot of wear and tear.

Organization: There is a main compartment, a laptop compartment (which claims to fit a 17″ computer, i only have a 13″), two small pockets with external zippers, and an organizer pocket on the front of the bag. The main compartment is very roomy. I can easily fit 4-6 fairly thick books (think crime and punishment size). this feature was important to me because before I had to bring two bags with me wherever I went. I read on another site that this bag is around 1800 cubic inches of capacity. The laptop compartment is adequately padded, although I think it could be a little thicker. The smaller external pockets seem to be designed for an ipod, wallet, cell phone, or something you would want easy access to. The organizer pocket is large enough to hold a file folder. It also has smaller pockets inside it. There are no pen-sized compartments and I am dissatisfied with the size and shape of the organizer. Most of the pockets seem too small to fit anything of consequence (i.e. mouse, charger cord, calculator).

The main reason I chose this particular bag is because of the price and its capacity. Both of which are good. The down side is the stiching that looks sloppy and the organization panel wasn’t thought out very well. I am contemplating returning this bag and going with the North Face Offsite. North Face products are expensive, and you do pay for the label, but I have found all of their products to be very well thought out and well built.
Rating: 3 / 5