Kensington Contour Pro Notebook Case

I've been using the my Contour Pro since mid June of 2004. I've mainly used it on my college campus, and I must say it's been great. I can easily fit my laptop, and books. In fact the pocket at the end of the bag (which is curved) is perfect for books! My only complaint would be for a longer strap so you could wield the bag across your chest (for 6' guys it feels awkward).

Great deal at ~60USD.

I have had this case for over 2 years, with light use (mostly when I travel). My 17" HP Pavilion zd7133 is a desktop replacement, thus, a heavy laptop.

Pros:

1) Lots of pockets and sleeves for cables, gadgets, and paperwork.

2) Nice shoulder strap

3) Case-within-a-case is nice. You can use the smaller case to go to a wifi cafe for web surfing. It has a handle and zipper.

4) Good as a carry-on bag on plane trips.

Cons:

1) The rubber zipper pulls break after light use. Now it is very hard to use the zippers that don't have pulls on them.

2) No good place to put the power brick. The brick makes the case very thick.

3) No wheels

4) The small padded sleeve won't work with a 17" laptop. Toss it or give it away.

I'm not sure there is a better 17" laptop bag. Some hotshot designer needs to invent one that can handle the power brick while mainting a somewhat slim profile.

For non-business users, a padded computer backpack might be a better choice.

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When I first received my carrying case, I was impressed. It seemed quite durable (tough fabric and hard contour padded back) then proved otherwise...

I _DO NOT_ recommend using this case if you have a large and heavy notebook (as are all 17" notebooks).

After a few months the padded shoulder strap which I thought was comfortable ended up ripping at the ends (where the pressure is when worn on the shoulder). Then I contacted customer service to get the strap replaced. While I'm waiting for a new strap I started to carry it everyday to work by the handles...then, yup...it broke!

Customer service needs serious improvement. I've opened so many support tickets with them but because of the language barrier (India of course), it was not a pleasant experience. I eventually got them to give me a refund.

I would give this a 5 out of 5 if they only improved the design: make the bag REALLY able to support the weight of a 17" laptop, huge power brick and books...otherwise, look elsewhere.

Especially one that has a sturdy shoulder strap and handles!

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UPDATE: I've had the bag for about 1 year. Two of the zippers have completely broken off. Completely unacceptable. I would change my rating to 1 star, if I could.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I've had the bag for about a week. It is one of the more sturdy-feeling bags I've come across -the computer is extremely well protected inside multiple nested padded compartments. We'll see how well it actually holds up over time. It has a nice bag-within-bag design, so the computer can be safely transported (around campus, say) using just the inner bag, without the weight of the full bag. Lots of other little storage pouches, etc, and enough room for some books or large files. But don't expect to carry your computer AND several large textbooks... I don't think they would all fit. Nevertheless, this is probably as large a bag as anyone would want to carry on a daily basis.

The downside: This bag is heavy and large. It puts a strain on the shoulder when carried loaded for more than a minute or two. Also, the inner computer sleeve is presumably designed to hold 15"-15.4" notebooks, but even with the elastic sides on the inner sleeve, it is an extremely tight fit for my 15.4" Inspiron 6000. Maybe it will loosen up over time. (I could dispense with the inner sleeve since it is detachable, but then the computer would slide around in the larger compartment, which I want to avoid. So I squeeze into the sleeve as best I can.)

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I ordered this as a replacement for my existing contour pro 17. The picture looks right, but the product shipped is far, far inferior and is missing a whole compartment.

There used to be a separate top loading compartment for the laptop and included an additional sleeve. This one combines both compartments into one and omits the sleeve. I was very disappointed. If Kensington is going to create a different bag, then give it a different product number and a different name like Contour 17 AMATEUR!