I really wanted to love this bag. I have been looking for a bag that fits my needs for a long time. It has to be medium-sized, be wide enough that you can carry more than just a small laptop and an iPad or Kindle inside it, and have TONS of pockets. It also has to be good-looking, sturdy, durable, and easy to use as my daily work bag. It also has to be waterproof on the outside, and easy to clean. Sadly,this one did not quite live  up to my expectations.

Let me begin by saying that this bag is really well made. It is elegant, sturdy, and very good-looking. It is comfortable to carry. Also, it is just the right size for me, not too big that it looks like I'm going on a trip (although I have used it as my carry-on bag on a recent flight, and I liked it), not so small as to be impractical. And it is wide enough that I can fit in there my iPad, power brick, sunglasses, pens, small flashlight, keys, flash drives, assorted papers/documents, iPhone, assorted cables, headphones, hardcover book (for school), and a few other things.

But. I find it has a few shortcomings. As I said before, I love bags that have lots of pockets. This one has many, but they are all inside the bag. One thing that annoys me, is that these pockets are facing toward the inside (the back) of the bag, and not the front. I don't know why, but I don't like this. I'd prefer that they were facing the front of the bag. Also, to get to them, you have to open it all the way, it does have 3 smaller zippered pockets in front, but again, you have to open the main flap, which requires you to unlatch the 2 clasps and pull to loosen the Velcro. This is not that convenient. I had a old bag that had a pass-through zipper on the top, to access the bag even when it was closed, and even though I knew this one did not have this feature, I thought I'd be okay. Nope. Not so much. I find it really annoying to have to fully open the bag just to get to my car keys. Yes, the bag does have a pocket that you can access from one side without having to fully open the bag. This is a big, deep pocket, and it would be perfect, except for the fact that when the bag is fully loaded and resting on my shoulder, reaching underneath the flap to open the zipper and access this pocket tends to be cumbersome and very tight, depending on how loaded your bag is. The more stuff you are carrying in it, the tighter it is, and the more difficult it is to access that side pocket.

This bag has a new version, one that does have the top zipper, as well as two additional pockets inside, to hold a small bottle of water and a can of soda. Had I known how annoying the lack of this top zipper would be to me, I would have gladly spent more for the newer version. Otherwise, it is a nice bag. But, as it is, I will probably use it long enough to decide that I've gotten my money's worth (say, 3 years), and then I will be definitely looking for a new bag that is closer to what I want.