Targus Laptop Messenger Bag Review

Targus recently sent a laptop messenger bag my way to try out.

Given that I recently got an Aspire One netbook for Christmas as a gift from my brother, I was delighted to try out one of the new messenger bags. I hadn’t purchased a carrying case for mine yet, so this was a great idea for me.

I’ve carried it around for a couple of weeks now, stuffing in my netbook, notebooks, pens, and smaller gadgets like my cell phone and PDA and the cords needed to power them.

The bag itself has a great outer shell material. There’s several pockets both inside and out. I love the magnet feature, much better than the Velcro closures you see on many bags of this type. I like the solid click of the magnets when they attach, so I know it is closed. I hate being in a quiet room with a lot of people, like a library, and the noisy sound Velcro makes. The magnets totally work well in replacement. One slight wish is that the magnets could be a tad bit stronger. More for my “feeling secured” rather than actual practicality. I want have to tug a little to open my bag.

The outer material feels great and the padding within the walls of the bag makes me feel more secure about what I am carrying. If I drop this on the floor with my netbook, I feel my netbook has added protection to it. I can plop it on the floor or table and not worry about the ding.

I love the color, the red one is the one I got. Targus offers different colors for different bags but the red is fitting with this particular model.

Some things I thought the bag was missing was a bit more extra room for notebooks. There was room but I felt like the material was less “giving” if I wanted to stuff some books. I felt like I was stretching it a bit with a couple notebooks and a folder. However, if you just use a small notebook and carry around your laptop or netbook with this case, there should be plenty of room. Plus extra pockets for notes and pens and other small gadgets.

As I was carrying it around, my shoulder felt the weight. I think it needs an additional shoulder pad. I see this on other Targus bags and maybe they could add that to this bag. Still, it wasn’t too bad, just slightly uncomfortable. The extra padding with a shoulder pad on the strap would fix that quickly.

In all, it would be a great purchase. Stuff your laptop into your backpack or a purse? Not sure about that but this Targus bag totally works.

Thanks Targus for sending me a great product.