I've spent hours on the internet and in a variety of stores to research the perfect backpack for my new 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina. My search ended today.
I bought a North Face Surge II (female design) in black at The North Face store. It comes in a non-female design too which basically doesn't have a label. Nobody would ever know you bought the female designed bag - if you look at it, you'd never notice. I'd have to hold this one next to a non-female bag to see the difference in strap design. It's supposed to have more shoulder strap cushion but why wouldn't a guy appreciate the cushion on the shoulder straps too?
I had a difficult time finding the right size for the laptop because I put a green-ish teal colored Incase (hard cover case) on the base and cover which I picked up at the Apple store, and I like to protect my electronics with extra padding when I carry them in a bag so I bought the black neoprene Incase zipped case at the Apple store. The space needed to fit the entire neoprene filled case was larger than a typical 15-inch backpack. I don't like to stress the corners of the computer by having to push and stretch the fabric around to get the unit to fit. Of course, if I didn't use these other cases I wouldn't have had a problem finding a backpack, but it's personal preference.
When I put the setup inside the laptop space, it slides in and out easily because the backpack has a zipper that opens across the top of the bag and continues along the side. I supposed you could say the design is for a right handed person if the bag is facing you. As an extra safety precaution, this backpack comes with a bubble-pack like roll inserted inside the bottom of the case so the laptop lands on top of the roll when you slide it into the bag. If you set your bag on the floor and forget there's a computer inside, the laptop could hit the floor quite hard on its side but not with this backpack. It's well protected and there's still a little space above the laptop as well.
If anyone is interested enough to ask for photos, I'll come back to this thread and post. I'm not sure anyone is even bothering to read this far but if you're considering a setup and having a tough time get one of these and you won't regret it.
I bought a North Face Surge II (female design) in black at The North Face store. It comes in a non-female design too which basically doesn't have a label. Nobody would ever know you bought the female designed bag - if you look at it, you'd never notice. I'd have to hold this one next to a non-female bag to see the difference in strap design. It's supposed to have more shoulder strap cushion but why wouldn't a guy appreciate the cushion on the shoulder straps too?
I had a difficult time finding the right size for the laptop because I put a green-ish teal colored Incase (hard cover case) on the base and cover which I picked up at the Apple store, and I like to protect my electronics with extra padding when I carry them in a bag so I bought the black neoprene Incase zipped case at the Apple store. The space needed to fit the entire neoprene filled case was larger than a typical 15-inch backpack. I don't like to stress the corners of the computer by having to push and stretch the fabric around to get the unit to fit. Of course, if I didn't use these other cases I wouldn't have had a problem finding a backpack, but it's personal preference.
When I put the setup inside the laptop space, it slides in and out easily because the backpack has a zipper that opens across the top of the bag and continues along the side. I supposed you could say the design is for a right handed person if the bag is facing you. As an extra safety precaution, this backpack comes with a bubble-pack like roll inserted inside the bottom of the case so the laptop lands on top of the roll when you slide it into the bag. If you set your bag on the floor and forget there's a computer inside, the laptop could hit the floor quite hard on its side but not with this backpack. It's well protected and there's still a little space above the laptop as well.
If anyone is interested enough to ask for photos, I'll come back to this thread and post. I'm not sure anyone is even bothering to read this far but if you're considering a setup and having a tough time get one of these and you won't regret it.