I’ve been travelling a lot recently. I don’t mind travelling but I do hate having to lug my laptop around on public transport. It makes me too wide to get down the aisle on the train and the bag is too big to fit neatly under the seat on the bus. As for the underground – let’s not go there. Bags and the tube really don’t mix.
This weekend I was on a mission to find a better bag, a backpack. I spent some time browsing Shiny Shiny and while there’s loads of great stuff, there weren’t that many backpacks. So I ended up on Tottenham Court Road and got one from Gultronics. Independent electronics shops really are a male empire, but the guy was very helpful and even told me there was space for a pair of shoes. He’s obviously never tried to fit high heels into any kind of small space without damaging them or the bag.
As laptop bags go, the one I bought is fine. Fabric rather than leather, and with zips that might give up the ghost in a year or so. I doubt it will wear well, but it will do.
I did a weight test: old bag versus new bag. Actually, there isn’t much difference, a pound or so maybe. But as the backpack version means I can distribute the weight more evenly, it is much better to carry around. And my hands are free to do other things, like put my ticket through the tube barriers, instead of trying to lift the bag over the turnstile.
Shiny Shiny is doing a great job of bringing some visibility to girl’s gadgets, but sadly it also just highlights that there really isn’t that much breadth in the ranges some companies produce. I’ve ended up with a black backpack. As I’ve said, it’s fine. But why can’t Cath Kidston make something I’d actually enjoy using?
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