AAUG Reviews

by Randy Brandon ,AAUG Member

There are probably as many laptop bags as there are laptops, and laptop backpacks are almost as common. The reasons for this are numerous, but as with laptops, there is really no one size fits all

A college kid doesn’t use a backpack the same way that a field researcher does. So finding that perfect bag for your specific uses is always a tough job. There is no perfect choice. But having said that, is no reason to give up trying.

And so enter this new Contour Traveler by Kensington.

The exterior appears similar to many other brands of notebook backpacks that I had previously looked at. It has a smooth exterior finish on it material that seems like it would be fairly spill, and stain resistant which is a big plus for any case as with any use, a spill will occur no matter how careful the user is. The manual touts its waterproof bottom, and water resistant material features to keep the contents dry. Now I will admit that I did not actually immerse the case in a tub of water, but it certainly looks like it was tightly put together, and no doubt will survive most wet floor contacts as a water resistant case, but not a waterproof case as such.

Handles are a very important feature on any case, and the Contour has what they call a “Lay-flat” top handle that is a wonderful feature in that it resists becoming snagged by compartment latches, and handles. There is also an integrated luggage strap that is a stationary strap located in mid-back, and this strap can be used to drop over the handles of larger rolling luggage carriers, and is a nice little feature.

The Contour has some fairly well positioned lumbar support, along with some well placed pressure pads on the shoulder straps to prevent slippage, and increase comfort.
The entire support side is covered in a breathable mesh, which is also used to line the underside of the shoulder straps. This feature is important in warmer climates.
There are two small pockets on either side; one has a closeable mesh holder that is perfect for holding water bottles that occasionally leak! The other pocket is a fairly narrow and tight one that would probably hold a Ipod Nano, or some business cards.

There are a total of four zippers, and three are nice quality ones with metal pulls, and rubber grips. There is a small bottom pocket that is too small for most powerblocks, but would be perfect for a couple of USB cords, etc.
The second pocket is fairly roomy in size, and the zipper access allows adequate access too the entire compartment. This compartment has a panel of sewn in compartments complete with icons identifying what items they are built to hold like Ipods, cell phones,pens, and flash drives. These proved to be very handy in organizing my standard gear, but they need to make the compartments a bit deeper.

The very bottom of this same compartment also has elastic mesh pockets for larger miscellaneous items, and is topped off with a keychain holder snap.
The user could, if necessary, pack a lot of cd’s cords, etc into this compartment!

Directly above the previous compartment is a short, straight 7 inch zippered deep pocket that is perfect for taller, narrow objects.

The main compartment is where the laptop resides, and this model is designed for 15.4 inch sized laptops or smaller. I have a 13 inch black MacBook, and it fits nicely, but I just wished that they designed the pocket to shrink to fit the numerous smaller laptops a bit more snug than it currently does. The case does have ample coverage by the padding that they call “DropShield”. After the laptop is safely velcroed into the pocket, there is a lot of open space for additional gear.

In summary, this is a very nice laptop backpack. It certainly seems to have a lot of room for your laptop plus assorted goodies. I wish that they would have made the inside laptop pocket more customizable for fit. And also there needs to be a short connection with a snap link for the upper portion of the shoulder straps like is common on hiking backpacks. But it is comfortable to wear, and it is also now my new computer case.

The Contour by Kensington is a great little backpack for laptops, and after using it fairly often these past few weeks, I’ve go to say that I’m hooked.

And it even comes backed by the Kensington Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Unit stats:

• Material: Nylon, PVC for waterproof base
• Dimensions: 14.5″L X 18.0″H X 7.5″W
• Notebook compartment dimensions 14.4″L X 11.4″H X 2.0″W
• Weight: 2.6 lbs.