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from Houston, TX on 11/2/2009
Comments about Tamrac Tamrac 5550 Adventure 10 Photo/Laptop Backpack for SLR Camera with Flash, Accessories & 17" Laptop, Gray/Black:
Excellent bag, especially for travel.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
Comments about Tamrac Tamrac 5550 Adventure 10 Photo/Laptop Backpack for SLR Camera with Flash, Accessories & 17" Laptop, Gray/Black:
I got one of these about a year ago and have been using it almost daily ever since. It went with me to the Philippines and to Calgary, Canada. The size is great, I can fit a MacBook Pro 17" with a hard shell and a padded sleeve in the laptop pocket. The laptop can be retrieved through a side zipper for passing through airport security without having to open up any other part of the bag.
The top section of the bag is the size of a small day pack and is very good for holding a lot of miscellaneous stuff like a light jacket, some food, headphones, and other little things you might want to keep close while traveling. Not so great for document-sized things, but those could probably go in with the laptop.
The bottom section is designed with a front-opening flap that can be accessed easily without bothering any other part of the pack. Padding seems nice and sturdy on the outside, much firmer than the internal padding.
After using this pack daily for almost a year, I've seen very little if any signs of wear and tear. Build quality is very good, and you need it for this kind of weight. Lesser packs would simply collapse where this one seems to holds its shape quite well over time.
The only drawback is also its main virtue: It's huge, and huge means heavy if you fill it to capacity like I do. This is a transporter pack, not a day pack. For trekking around town with just a camera I recommend getting a smaller bag like the Adorama Slinger. To carry a ton of stuff from one place to another, get one of these. It even fits in overhead bins on the plane, despite its size, in either a sideways or straight-in orientation. Usually fits turned on its side also. This is pretty much the upper size limit of what you can take as a carry-on, and most smaller packs won't have much room for a 17" notebook like this does.