One of the hottest new electronic categories in recent years is the netbook computer. Small PCs, usually running low-powered processors give people the perfect portable computing solution. Unfortunately, most computer bag makers have not yet caught on to this fact and keep churning out larger notebook bags. Skooba Design has released a solution for the netbook-toting masses with their Netbook Messenger Bag.
Featuring a very small form-factor, measuring 14.5’L x 12’H x 3’D and weighing only 24.8 oz, at first glance you might think the bag was toy or a child’s bag. You would be wrong as, despite the bag’s small size, it can carry quite a number of items in its many pockets and pouches. In the main storage area, you will find a netbook storage pouch as well as a smaller pouch for your cables and AC adapters. In the netbook pouch, you can fit a netbook with a screen size of 10.1” to 10.5” inches. This bag is really designed for the smaller netbook, as larger netbooks and even small laptops will have to fit in the storage area that the two main pouches are housed in. Doing this, however, is not the way Skooba had designed the bag to be utilized and could result in unexpected events. I would like to have seen the netbook pouch be made of a stretchy neoprene material that would hold netbooks up to 13” inches in size. This extra room would have let most of the netbook marketplace use the bag comfortably.
In front of the main storage area, you will find a slightly smaller storage pocket, useful for holding CDs, small file folders, etc. And, in the front of the unit under the front flap, you will find three small storage pouches perfect for computer mice, MP3 players, phones, or any other similarly-sized devices. Along with these three device pouches is a netted pouch for cables or whatever you like along with a larger, zippered pocket for other items of interest.
Beyond this already-impressive mass of storage pockets, the bag still has some surprises in store for the user. On the front-flap of the bag you will find a small, zippered pocket useful for carrying one small electronic device such as MP3 player or small digital camera. On the side of the main storage area you will find an inconspicuous zipper leading to a pull-out water bottle pouch, and on the right side of the bag you will find a pouch useful for holding objects the size of a few pens or even a binaca tube – hey, at conventions like CES, clean breath is a MUST! Skooba even saw fit to put a thin pouch down the backside of the bag, perfect for the latest issue of your favorite geek or gaming magazine.
Being that the bag allowed me to travel with a lot of light devices, such as voice recorders and my Zune, I felt very comfortable walking around the various halls of the 2010 CES, and found everything very easily when I needed to quickly access them. We will definitely be including the Netbook Messenger Bag in all of our event coverage from here on out.
The Skooba Design Netbook Messenger Bag makes for a great place to store your small netbook computer for any need, whether it be school or even the Consumer Electronics Show where we took it. For a very economical $49.95, you will be hard-pressed to find a better bag for your small netbook computer.
*DISCLOSURE: Skooba Design sent GamingShogun.com a Netbook Messenger Bag to review for this article.
