Synergy 16 Inch Laptop Backpack, Black/Grey

I'm doing my review as in the market for a replacement. Was surprised to see this model still listed and Amazon had noted I bought it in.... 2008!!! I bought this back when it was originally called Swissgear (see photos of labels). I knew it was now Wenger and have to say have seen these in Costco and I would say they aren't built as robustly as the original Swissgear. For the purpose of the review however, it's based on my Swissgear experience. So I've well had my money's worth from it. This daysack for work has travelled to many places in Europe, Canada, and the US. Cannot fault it bar the fact I lose things in it as it has so much storage. To the point when moving back from Canada to the UK, I had both my personal and work laptops in it among everything else. I have used this for work trips away. If it's been a couple of days I have enough space to get everything in it. Work clothes, leisure clothes, trainers, wash kit, laptop etc. It's been great and easy to access the different compartments. Especially the top pocket which is next to the grip handle for passports, flight tickets etc. I have carried a fair bit of weight in this daysack and it's always been comfortable. Plenty padding on the back areas with a supportive chest strap. So why I am getting a new laptop daysack? Well the one I have is almost 18 years old and it's a bit bruised and battered looking now. Nothing failed bar the tear in the rip stop material around the top pocket adjacent to the grip handle. All zips stayed secure, the seat of the bag remained robust and no other material anywhere split, plus the straps maintained its 100% integrity. The latest model of this looks slightly different to what I have now. Maybe change in supplier for materials or so. Eitherway, due to this lasting almost 18 years, I shall be buying another Swissgear (now Wenger) laptop daysack that suits my current needs. Thank you Swissgear for designing and building a robust/bomb proof laptop bag!

I travel for the odd 2 days and when I do I carry my laptop (and the usual collections of wires and plugs) along with a neat shirt folder (got from smartpack) and a sponge bag. To do this I use a back pack into which I can fit everything. Having had my last Samsonite one stolen (they don't make it anymore) I was looking for something that I could use for this purpose. My HP 15.6" laptop needed to fit in. This back pack is perfect. My laptop fits (but only just). The laptop section is raised off the base inside so the bag dimensions are not a good guide. My laptop is 37.9cm wide and it fits but anything larger that 38cm won't. It is 25cm deep and there is plenty of room. It is 4cm high and you could easily fit one in that was deeper. I sometimes have to carry two laptops and I can fit a second one in the same section at the back of the bag. There or a couple of day books etc. There is a netting section at the top of this area that takes the power brick and leads well. It sits above any day books/papers you might have in here. Next there is a really neat pocket in the top for quick access. This pocket is quite large and is useful when flying to put in passport or anything you want easy access to on the flight. It is 18cm deep and about 25 cm wide. So you could fit a portable DVD player in there. There is a pocket for an ipod with an exit whole for the leads. Next is the main storage section. A big open area that is at least 15cm deep. It has a pocket on the back to put paper in (about 1/3 of the overall depth but if you don't use it it collapses flat. This section has a stiffened floor that gives the bag its stand-up behaviour. It can be raised to allow the bag to collapse more. I can fit my shirt packer and my sponge bag in here with papers easily. next comes a smaller and slender general purpose pocket (about 2/3 of the depth of the bag). The a smaller pocket for pens, and all manner of things. There is even a swiss army knife pocket (not much use on a plane these days). I put my passport pens, boarding pass, etc in here. Finally there is a further small pouch on the front. As if this wasn't enough behind the netting pouches for water bottles etc on each side, are 2 small vertical zip top pockets. Again I can fit a power brick in one of these if I am carrying more than one laptop. Overall the storage is very well thought out and useful. The zips run very smooth. But comfort has been considered as well. The main carry handle is a steel cable riveted to the bag and it does withstand the bag being loaded up. The main shoulder straps are wide and padded very well. This with the padded back, the lumber padding, the air gap down the back to ensure you stay cool and the perfect weight distribution makes this a very comfortable bag to wear, even on top of a suit. When you stand it down is stays upright, even with pockets hanging open. As I use this for business I didn't want it to look like I was about to climb a mountain and this bag doesn't have draw strings and clips all over it. I have not yet found anything that is bad about this bag.

Item arrived on time and as described. Lovely rucksack! Great quality! Slightly larger than I was expecting but apart from that it is perfect. Zips all work well, loads of pockets and plenty of room to carry what you need. Straps are comfy and handle works well. Nice material, holds up well in the rain. I would recommend, thank you.

This is a great general purpose rucksack that I've had for over a year now, and is so far showing no signs of wear despite fairly frequent use and quite large loads. I bought it primarily for use on handbaggage only flights to carry my laptop, accessories, some books, and clothes - you can pack an impressive amount in to it so that for flying the concern is more likely to be weight than space. The three pockets on the front are fab for keeping stuff you need to access quickly in even when the main two sections are stuffed full. The carry handle at the top is strong, well-made and comfortable to hold, and doesn't have any trouble holding up a full, heavy bag. It's a comfortable bag to walk with as the straps and back padding are good and the weight is distributed well. It's not really waterproof but it takes a significant downpour for the water to get through. I always took the precaution of wrapping my laptop in a waterproof cover but my books never got wet when walking the mile or so to and from the local station. Even in torrential rain the lining and material have soaked up most of the water and nothing inside has gotten more than a bit cold and clammy. I've used it a few times as a day pack on short hikes where it's performed fine - back gets a bit sweaty but it's comfortable and there are ample doodads around the pack to insert or attach widgets such as water bottle, light/torch, GPS, etc. I've also used it while cycling a 7 mile commute, and this is where it's been least suitable - it's just a bit on the chunky and heavy side for cycling and the centre of gravity is a bit low on the back. Plus there's no external pocket to really place a reflector or light on at the back. But again it has done just fine and is a pretty safe way to carry your laptop on a bike. Despite getting a bit muddy on the outside from time to time it brushes off very easily and the contents have never been affected. Internal pockets are also worth a mention, it's got lots of little nooks that are easy to access, nicely secured and really convenient for carrying the various cables and accessories that often go with well-used laptops! All in all an excellent and versatile bag that looks like it's going to last me a long time yet. Recommended.

Ok, let me start by explaining what I use bags for in my daily life. I'm an editor, so I carry around a laptop, an iPad, diary and a whole bunch of stuff which will be mentioned, as my review moves forward. The bag is simply stunning. It's a tough bag that has tougher zips so there's nothing to worry about there. I've owned numerous bags that have travelled around the world with me, and none of them have lasted. A simple test was going through some of the airports in the Middle East and keeping my 15" Macbook Pro, my iPods, my iPad, my ultra light work laptop, my monster headphones and numerous other stuff. As mentioned above it can hold so much stuff that I sometimes lose stuff in the bloody bag. There are 12 compartments in the bag, while that sounds great I have always worried that stuff will smash on top of each other. I'm happy to announce that nothing has ever happened to any of my stuff. An extra bonus is the iPod 'holder' in the top pocket that has space for a headphone jack to plug in. I mostly work in London so it means there's nothing in my pockets. The one thing I will say about the bag is the lack of space to lock the pockets. So a small padlock is hard, but not impossible to use. Another weird thing is how much is weights even when empty! As a 6ft 3" man, I'd recommend wearing it as high as you can when it's full, otherwise prepare for back pain. So finally, it's perfect, if you have a choice, just don't bother looking around at anything else. Just buy it.

As you might expect of something with "Swiss" in the title, this comes with a large number of useful pockets and compartments - I expect there's probably one where you can put the stones you've taken out of horses' hooves, with your Swiss Army knife. There are so many pockets, in fact, that when I first packed everything away in it, what I thought was a rational plan turned out to be useless and I spent ages opening compartments, checking to see whether there were more zipped pockets inside, checking on either side of compartment dividers, and so on to find what I was looking for - I've now evolved a better scheme so I can find what I need. The capacity of this is pretty extensive. I carry my work laptop (15" Lenovo corporate boring jobbie), my Asus EEEPad Transformer, headphones, chargers and adapters, notebook, expenses folder, and a whole lot of cables, and other things, quite happily - although the combined weight is quite significant, pack is comfortable to carry for reasonably extended distances. It also stands up straight when you put it down on the ground, which is something I consider to be quite important - with other packs, I've found that they were continually falling over with the contents falling out. This one seems very stable. Not the cheapest pack you're ever going to find, but if you are willing to pay the price, I think you'll find it value for money.

bought this one half way through uni in 2008. has travelled with me across 5 continents, multiple vacations, and has been my daily driver for uni and later work on a daily basis since 2008. maintained its usability and looks throughout. eventually a small tear started appearing under the left side of the top handle after I swung it around to put on my shoulder one day in later 2021. at the time of the tear starting, it was overloaded (both volume and weight), so not necessarily the bags fault.. for x-mas this year I will be getting a replacement one. would highly recommend. this bag has outlived 1 car, 3 iPads, 4 laptops, and a half a dozen mobile phones of mine. can fit a 2013 MacBook Pro retina 15" with ease, and with a bit of a squeeze a 17in laptop top. very well padded. most laptops up to 15 inches nowadays (smaller bezels) can actually fit in the main compartment pocket of this bag. never had anything break inside the bag (always made sure to put the laptop with its underside facing the back of the bag for extra piece of mind). its a big bag though, throughout uni it was nicknamed by my buddies as "the parachute", especially when filled to the brim with travel clothes. to give an idea, for a man in his 20s this bag would easily fit 1 pair of trousers, 1 pair of shoes, a shirt, 1-2 tops, underwear, socks, a 15inch laptop, laptop charger, phone charger and a a4 sized 1+ inch thick book all at the same time. basically you can easily travel of leisure or work over a long weekend and never need anything else. bonus fact: the outer plastic, although not advertised as such, provides a decent amount of waterproofing for the contents of the bag to remain usable if you are caught out in the rain or something for 15 mins with no umbrella.

I was given one of these many years ago at a works conference and it’s travelled with me all over the world. I decided to replace it with yet another one as I completely swear by it. It’s so versatile and has multiple pockets that are perfect for travelling. Fantastic quality, comfortable and built to last.