last week i spent 2 days in DC metro area looking for homes.
( skip the following tangent about Laptops and Laptop bags if you don’t care about that )
this is what i bought the laptop for - i was using it from the hotel and also library. granted i didn’t need a full blown gaming laptop for this, but i figured it’s better to have power you don’t need than the other way.
in the end i decided that the relevant definition of being “portable” is that a laptop can fit in a backpack that in turn can qualify as “personal item” on an airplane and fit under the airplane seat. towards that end i went to a Tumi outlet store with an accurate scale cardboard model of my laptop and also asked them to bring out a tape measure ( i forgot to take mine ) and bought a backpack that fit the laptop and also passed the external dimensions for airline under seat / personal item.
i tried cheaper brands first but only Tumi would actually fit my gaming laptop and then still fit under an airline seat according to maximum allowed dimensions. this is why i recommend you get a Razer Blade laptop instead because it is smaller and will fit into a cheaper backpack, though you will still spend more in the end because the laptop is more expensive but at least you won’t get robbed because a cheaper backpack won’t attract as much attention.
and if you get a Tumi at least don’t get one trimmed in genuine carbon fiber like mine LOL. i didn’t get robbed ( yet ) but i was so worried about getting robbed that i had to stay at a better hotel than i normally would have just out of that fear.
Carbon Fiber is just a fabric - it is normally used to impregnate epoxy to make bikes etc, but Tumi has partnered with a company that figured out a way to turn Carbon Fiber into a leather like material by using it to impregnate a soft translucent material instead of hard epoxy. It looks just like regular carbon fiber because it IS regular carbon fiber but instead of being hard and brittle it is relatively soft … feels kind of like belt leather - firmer than usual materials used to make bags, but still flexible. In this application it is obviously not functional - it’s just for style. But it is real carbon fiber, which means it still shimmers in the light like real carbon fiber does - just like how real diamond refracts light different from fake ones.
well i am not 100% sure my bag uses genuine carbon fiber because it was an outlet store and a discontinued model so i don’t even know which model it is. but the current Tumi models do use genuine carbon fiber, and the carbon on my backpack does look real, though maybe it is just good imitation.
anyway i only paid a third of what a new Tumi carbon fiber backpack costs. i actually think if you get a Tumi bag on a discount like i did then it is a pretty good value considering the way it is made. all the materials are premium inside and out and there is no skimping on padding anywhere - not laptop sleeve nor shoulder straps etc. also everything is mostly logical - with exception of some minor mistakes everything is made the way it should be made.
my official verdict is - definitely check out Tumi “outlet” ( discontinued / discount ) store and see if they have something good on sale. i wouldn’t bother going to regular Tumi store - they will charge an arm and a leg.
word of warning though - the “outlet” store does NOT have ANY of the items you see on Tumi website ! NONE. they ONLY sell discontinued items OR special cheaply made items that were made just for the outlet store. my bag was a full-quality but discontinued model at 40% off. but it was 40% off from pre-inflation price so really it was a real bargain compared to their new full-price items.
anyway, of course i didn’t fly to DC - i drove. it’s about 4 hour drive from NJ ( plus pit stops ).
the main reason i take pit stops is to wash my hands. after about an hour my hands start to get oily and i want to keep my steering wheel clean.
next up: my impressions from the trip …