My primary use of this bag is for daily transport of laptop and note pads from home to the office...plus walking to different buildings on our office campus. Here are my pros/cons and a few notes:
PROS:
Great looking bag: I am a fan of OGIO products so I'm a little biased...but they put out great looking bags that combine form and function wonderfully. Chic enough but still professional to walk into meetings with it over my shoulders.
Lightweight: My bag (fully loaded) probably weighs no more than 7lbs...majority coming from laptop (3.5lbs) and a full Kleen Canteen (22oz KK fits just fine)
Plenty of pockets: pockets for USB peripherals, powercord, mouse, tablet, PC, notepads, iPod...all easily accessible. I like that there is a pocket for music player with a port for the headphones to keep your iPod dry on wet days.
Comfort: the strap is nice and wide and makes for a comfortable bag when walking around. Minor drawback is that the shoulder pad isn't as padded as other brands (STM specifically)
CONS:
Lift handle: like many other posts, the lift handle is in a WIERD spot. It sits not centrally on the flap, but rather a bit more on the body side. you can still lift the bag, but just make sure the flap is snapped shut. I've lifted it once by the handle only to have some of my contents fall out of the bag.
NEUTRAL:
TSA feature: I've yet to travel with this bag so I can't tell you if this is makes a difference.
Overall, I'm very happy with this bag...it's not perfect but I think I'd be hard pressed to find one that is (price, features, comfort, looks, etc).
I'm a college student, and I was looking for a messenger bag that I could use for school. I just wanted a decent, small-ish bag that has a laptop compartment, some organizational features, and decent strap since I bike. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase, and below is a very long, detailed review of why so.
The reasons why I did not go with, say, a Chrome bag or a Timbuk2 are price and Velcro. Those bags, especially Chrome bags, are much more expensive. (Though rightfully so, if I may add.) Those other bags also use Velcro as a method to close the flap, something I'm not fond of personally. Velcro is very loud, and it tends to slowly tear up the surrounding area over time.
One quick note, the S version of this bag does not come with the deluxe strap that Ogio features in its product video/third photo with the man in orange. That is present in the M and L versions of this bag. The video does show that the Pagoda S comes with a standard strap. But the product description can be a bit ambiguous, and it only tells you in the video for a few seconds. You can somewhat see the standard strap in the other two photos. The standard strap works fine though, and it does come with removable padding that is fairly comfortable. The bag fits snugly on me (I'm a skinny guy for reference), which is a plus because my previous messenger bag had too long of a strap to ride comfortably with.
That said, if you bike a lot for commuting, I would suggest one of those other bags or at least the larger versions of this bag for the assumingly more comfortable deluxe strap. Those other brands do have better features for bikers, such as reflective straps or cross straps for better weight distribution. But I personally did not need those other features, and the fit is comfortable enough for my biking experience to be fine.
This bag also has more design features for travelers than bikers, given the TSA friendly laptop compartment and the Pullman handle port. I have not had the time to test those out, but these features do stick out relative to other messenger bags I've seen. Definitely something to consider if you are a frequent traveler.
I like the separate laptop compartment. You do not need to open up the main flap in order to access it. You open it from the back of the bag. The padding for it is nice, and there is some degree of padding on the bottom. Not a lot, but more so than most other bags which tend to ignore padding the bottom. I don't see the dimensions listed here on Amazon, but the official site says the laptop compartment is 15"H x 10"W x 1.5"D.
The organization panel in the front is decent, but it could be better. More specifically, I'm half confused as to the purpose of the three "card holders" in the middle. I suppose they can fit business cards and gum. Maybe a subway card or such. But I imagine if you carry business cards, you would use a personal business card holder. I feel like that space could have been used better, but it is a minor gripe. For dimension reference, the pocket on the left does fit a portable hard drive comfortably, and the pocket on the right fits a scientific calculator with depth to spare, though definitely not a graphing one. A glasses case for the right pocket is pushing it. I am being conservative though, as I do not like over-packing a bag to where it starts bulging.
The water bottle holder is decent. It definitely seems like it was made to hold those 500mL disposable water bottles. Height wise, it goes up just past where the label would typically be placed on the bottle. It is extremely tight, which is a good thing because it prevents the bottle from falling out constantly. (A problem I have with other bags, including an Ogio backpack I also own.) That said, you'll probably have trouble trying to fit anything larger. Taller, perhaps. I actually already have a bit of trouble trying to get a regular water bottle in there because it is so tight.
The access pocket on the front flap is a bit small. I can fit my wallet and my flip-phone in there just fine. I imagine a smartphone and wallet would fit just fine as well. Like I said earlier, I am conservative with my estimates. That said, the straps holding the front panel are a bit weird. You can tighten and loosen them, but they are too easy to adjust. I can hold onto the buckle with two fingers, pull slightly, and the strap would loosen. I suppose this means you can loosen them to access the front organizer contents without having to unbuckle if you wanted, but I wish it was able to retain a lot more strongly. The actual buckles themselves work fine.
The tablet holder is padded. I have a 7 inch tablet, so I cannot say how well it fits a typical 10 inch one. It does seem to be sized for the standard 10 inch tablet size, especially since it is advertised to be an iPad holder. But there is no way to close the tablet holder, if that bothers you. It does feel snug enough to where unless you open your bag up, turn it upside down, and shake it, your tablet shouldn't fall out. I have no intention of testing that, especially with a 7 inch tablet that doesn't take up the whole space. There is a large, zippered mesh pocket on the inside of the main compartment. Other than that, there is no other internal organization.
Oh, and the bag does stand on its own, even when the main compartment/laptop holder have nothing.
Would I buy this bag at its retail price of $90? No, I don't believe its worth that much. At that price, I probably would have gone with a Timbuk2. But at the cheaper price I got it for here on Amazon I say I got a good deal.
All in all, I think this is a solid bag. It is a compact bag with some good organization. It is fairly well designed, minus a few quirks. I'm happy with my decision, though only time will tell if it holds up in the long run.
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I think this bag is so great. It fits way more things than I thought it would, but it can also flatten out to be pretty small if you don't need all the space. It has a piece of material on the back through which you can hook your helmet, which is an added feature I didn't notice previously, and a great bonus for my new bike riding lifestyle. The computer pocket comfortably fits my Surface Pro with the Type Cover and a full case with room for the power cord too. This is the part that zips open to lay flat at the airport, so you don't need to remove your laptop! The padded inner pocket fits an iPad or Kindle too. There is yet ANOTHER pocket for your cell phone or iPod located on the outside top flap for easy access and about a million other little compartments and pockets for everything you would ever need. The color is really nice, it has a comfortable arm strap, and all the sizing is adjustable for shoulder strap and fasteners.
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I researched a series of laptop bags based on the following needs:
*Not too wide but not too slim. I wanted a bag built for a 13" laptop but not overly slim since I also need it to fit 1-2 books at any given time, besides the laptop.
*Internal organization, i.e. pockets and pouches.
*Pullman handle port. This was essential.
*TSA-friendly was a nice bonus but not essential.
The four I compared were the Timbuk2 Control (Medium), Timbuk2 Command (Small), STM Velo 2 (Small), and the Ogio Pagoda (Small).
The Timbuk2 Control was the smallest of the batch: 16 x 12 x 3.5. However, it was also the most slim and that ruled it out. The Timbuk2 Command was next in size: 16 x 11.4 x 5.5. Very good dimensions, TSA-friendly. But lacked much padding for the laptop and had minimal organization. It was also the most expensive of the four.
The STM Velo 2 was very attractive: not TSA-friendly but had the Pullman port and the most internal organization features. It also had a special side-loading, thick padded compartment for the laptop. It was, however, the largest of the batch: 18.5 x 14 x 6.7
Mind you, that's the *small*.
The Ogio Padoga ended up being an ideal compromise. At 17 x 11 x 5.5, it was similar in size to the Command but had better internal organization. Like the Velo 2, it had a separate, padded compartment for the laptop but unlike the Velo 2, it was TSA-friendly. Best of all, for the stone-color model, it was $60, by far the most affordable of the batch.
Now that I've gotten it in person, the only real critiques I have are very nit-picky.
1) I would have liked a more functional handle. There's only one handle and it's awkward to use it for anything but lifting the bag from it's "butterflied/TSA" mode. While I realize this is meant to be worn like a messenger bag, the other bags had better, practical handles for toting the bag around when not slung.
2) I would have liked a touch more organizational features, more like the Velo 2.
3) The separate laptop compartment takes some getting used to because it's not intuitive that, to access your laptop, you don't actually need to open the main compartment of the bag. Unlike the Timbuk2, you don't even have the option to through the main compartment or a special zipper. With the Pagoda, there's only one way to access the laptop and it's behind the main flap. I'll get used to it eventually.
That said, I'm happy with the Pagoda. Right size, right features, right price.
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This bag is great for the buy, the way it opens up to go through security saves a lot of hassel
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This was the second one we have purchased. The first one the main zipper broke after about a year. I think it was from over stuffing the pack. We really liked everything about this one so decided to take a chance and buy another one. Perfect to take on flights.
