Ebags Professional Weekender Carry-On Backpack for Travel & Business - TSA Friendly - Fits 18" Laptop - (Heathered Graphite)

Just received my eBags TLS Weekender and my initial impression is that it's a very well built and well designed bag. I glad I finally found a really good bag that can serve as a backpack and a "professional" work bag by hiding the backpack straps and attaching the included shoulder strap. Went back and forth for a few days trying to decide between the TLS Slim Laptop bag and the TLS Weekender. I eventually decided on the weekender. I read some of the reviews on eBags site and was shocked to learn that there is a company out there that actually reads the reviews of their products, makes changes based on those reviews and if they can make improvements for existing owners they do free of charge. One customer commented that the bag should have a sternum strap. Instead of ignoring the customer or making a change for the next model and making people pay for another bag, they started including a sternum strap on new bags and offered a free one for existing customers who called customer service. In today's world customer service like this is very hard to find. Because of examples like this and the superb quality of their produce eBags may have just added a lifelong customer.PROS:1. Tons of compartments. If you can't fit everything you need to carry with you in this bag you need to consider carrying less. You can't fit more than 2-3 changes of clothes (depending on what you bring/how you pack), but that should be sufficient for a weekend or overnight trip. Perfect for the traveling professional.2. The quality of the build. From the zippers to the material everything is top notch.3. Dedicated pockets for a laptop and an iPad. For those wondering what sizes you can fit. I was able to fit my 15" MacBook Pro (2013 model) in the laptop storage and had some extra room. You may be able to fit a 17" laptop, but those are becoming more and more rare. In the iPad compartment I was able to fit my iPad Pro and my iPad Air. It's a little tight getting the Pro through the zippered opening, but it fits.4. Looks. It looks really good. It is perfect for business or for personal use. As I mention in the "Cons" it is a little big however. The ability to carry it as a backpack (more comfortable) or as a professional "briefcase" when the situation dictates is one of my favorite features. It's like having a set of pajamas that can convert into a suit. This is something so simple that many other companies do not include. They want you to buy a backpack and a work bag. Not eBags.5. Looks like it will be easy to take through security with the TSA compliant laptop storage.CONS:1. Not really a con, but there are a ton of storage compartments. It's going to be hard to remember where I put everything when my ADD is in full gear.2. It's a little big. I am not the tallest person (5'8") so the bag looks a little big on me. I compared it to one of my Ogio backpacks and they are about the same size except I can fit more, and better organized, in the TLS. Again, not really a "con" but if you're looking for a bag that isn't big you should check out the eBags TLS Slim Laptop bag. It is a smaller version of this bag. It isn't as well suited to carry clothes in addition to work material.3. I'm not a big fan of logos on my cloths or bags and the eBags logo is a little large for my taste and against the grey material it kind of stands out. While I do like the grey color I am going to return the grey bag and get the black one. I would like to see the logo a little smaller on future versions.All in all this is a superb bag. Yes it's a little big, but with the amount of stuff you can fit in it I would have expected it to be much bigger than it actually is. I like this bag so much that I actually ordered the TLS Slim Laptop bag to have for days when I don't need to bring as much stuff.

I'm absolutely in love with this bag. I bought it for a weekend trip, on which it proved itself splendid, comfortable to lug around with all my stuff in it even at the end of the second day AND it let me breeze through airport check-in without a second glance from the officer. (Rightly so -- the Weekender fits snugly under a plane seat so you should be able to take it on board as a cabin bag.)I read all the reviews before buying and upon receiving the bag I immediately checked how strongly the shoulder straps are sewed on. I'n mot saying that it won't need some additional stitches over time (a big bag bears heavy loads after all!) but it's been a month and it's still as good as new. And I do use it every day as my commuter backpack -- laptop, raincoat, books/notes, plus the daily/weekly groceries and whatnot. Have I already said how much stuff goes in there? There must be some magic involved. Let me also mention the small compartments in the front - no more fishing for small items! Another huge plus for those who use public transport frequently that wallets can be put into the back compartment so no one can pick them out of the bag.Plus, it has style. Finally, a 30 liter backpack that doesn't actually look like a 30 liter backpack, even loaded! Oh yes, it is BIG - I'm 175 cm tall and this bag peeks out over my shoulder when I'm wearing it. But I find one big and comfortable bag much better than several small bags and totes hanging from everywhere.Fully worth the price, I can recommend it to everyone.

This bag is perfectly designed for my needs as a consultant who works from a home office and off-site work locations. I wanted something to replace my laptop briefcase and my bike saddle bags (I try to bike in the city as my primary transportation). The various pockets are easily accessed and allow me to define specific places for items, so they are always where I expect them to be (Chargers, headphones, usb, security pass, pen, wireless mouse). I generally need to carry a laptop, notebook, and occasionally a large quantity of paper documents. The bag is large enough for my needs, and not too large for daily use. I considered the Slim version, and I am glad I went with the Weekender as I do sometimes need the full capacity. I have done one overnight work trip with the bag and was able to pack everything I need into it. The bag appears to be well made and built to last, it is functionally perfect for my needs, and it looks very nice.UPDATE just over a year in: I had one of the zipper pulls come off the bag. There were two pulls on the zipper - so the bag still closed, but it was somewhat inconvenient. I contacted ebags, thinking they may be able to provide a replacement pull and I could take it somewhere to be repaired. I was pleasantly surprised that the damage was covered by warranty and they ended up sending me a replacement bag. I just wanted to give them credit for going beyond my expectations on the warranty. Still very happy with the bag - it is the most functional work bag I have ever had.

Overall the bag is nice. I have been using this bag weekly for back and forth to the office and light travel (1 -2 night) for two years. It holds my laptop, rocketbook notepad, external HD, wifi card, mouse, pens etc. well. The zippers seem to be well made and I have had no issues with them. I love the removable hard case which I store cords in.My issues with this bag are the small compartment for clothes and the bottom portion of the bag where the hard case is stored is not supported by the straps so it folds and the bag will not stand up which caused loading it an issue. I bought this backpack due to my light travel. I wanted something that would hold my laptop/business supplies and a couple of changes of clothes (minus dress shirts). Even with compression bags, I can barely fit two changes of clothes along with my gear. It turns into a "sit on the bag to zip it closed" problem. What would make this bag better is either a larger compartment or one that expands. The other issue of the bottom portion folding and not standing up causes major stress when trying to load your laptop as the bag must be held up. The straps connect to the bottom of the bag pulling this portion of the bag up even while wearing it. It makes the bag uncomfortable to wear for more than a walk from the parkinglot to your office or hotel room. Anything other than that and the bag begins to be bothersome. Overall, I like the bag but I feel that it could use an update to make it even better.

I was looking at the professional slim, and made the mistake of buying this bag because I knew I'd need to fit a laptop and cintiq 13 pro inside. I need a bag that protects the cintiq well, and I figured going one size up would give me more options. Plus I like carrying a stand for the cintiq with me so more room must be better, right? Wrong. Because the crush compartment is beneath the laptop carrying area on the 18 inch weekender model, you have to tear that sucker right out if you want to put in your 15.6+ inch laptop in with its own protective case. The raw laptop just BARELY fits in without removing the insert, but no way am I gonna have it exposed to bumps from the top like that. It's dumb that the bag advertised as having more room than the professional slim basically requires you to sacrifice the cool functionality of the bag in order to use that room. It's not elegant, and trying to put the crush compartment on the back of the pack so that it's like the professional slim means you have to really shove it in there jankily, and there is no flap to hold the open side, so it's a mess of two zippers when you want to open it. Again, this pack is not a good solution for those who like all the features of the professional slim but want more room for a larger or more laptop storage. Honestly I might get the professional slim.... a smaller bag.... in order to have more room for my laptop and still use the crush compartment! That seems backwards.