What's The Ultimate Multi-Laptop Bag?

huckin_fappy writes "One great bonus of my job, I can be effective anywhere I can get a broadband point. If someone have a wireless router running, even better! The downside? Hauling the gear. The hazard of the job is that I need to be running WindowsXP and Linux. I experimented with all sorts of VMWare, Bochs, Wine, etc, and none of it cuts it for my needs. So assume you find yourself lugging around 2 IBM A31P laptops everywhere, with wireless cards, power supplies, wireless mice, etc. What's the best solution? Is there a large bag out there that is designed for such a load? Or am I better with two smaller bags? If smaller, are there bags designed to attach together in bizarre ways to mke them easier to lug?"

apple

[Councilor Hart]

Don't know how fast it would be.
But I say, sell your PC-equipment and buy a powerbook with virtual pc.

Both at once?

[FooAtWFU]

You need to be running them both at once, I assume? Otherwise, why not just dual-boot?

LL Bean backpacks

[Darkness Productions]

You could always go for an LL Bean backpack. They've extremely comfortable (to me at least), have lots of padding for your back, and have a good amount of room inside the 2 main pockets. As a bonus, you get lots of other pockets to stick 'stuff' in.
LL Bean Backpack [llbean.com]

More specifics

[duffbeer703]

I don't know how you travel... but your best best is to get a good-sized targus wheeled bag... they have several models designed to hold a printer & laptop -- you'll easily fit a 2nd laptop in there.

As an added bonus, you won't have numb shoulders from lugging nearly 20 lbs of laptops & junk.

Andiamo means "let's go!"

[ross_winn]

I am a luggage snob. I ran a luggage and leather goods store for almost five years in California. The best bag ever made for your application is the 19" ErgoGrip Executive Mobile Office. Amazing construction, and tough as nails. I have the 22" version (I don't think they make that any more). One of my customes carried 3 laptops (he was a CCIE for PacBell in the mid-nineties) and raved about it. I think I sold five on his word alone.

Targus Matrix Backpack

[||Deech||]

For my money, the Matrix is a really nice pack to carry a bunch of stuff in.
It has a padded compartment for one laptop, and another compartment in front of that with a nice elastic support divider where a second laptop nests nicely. I carried my IBM thinkpad T22 and a Compaq Evo N400C and all the associated power bits, along with a full folding tool kit, a digital camera, a digital recorder, my PDA, an MP3 player, a full size set of padded bose headphones with a boom mic, my braces, and misc. geek crap (cd's, wallet, a few cards, parts, etc) all very comfortably. The pack adjusts fairly nicely and has a waist strap and nice cushy shoulder straps with a very handy case for your cellphone on the strap and a nice hole to run the cable of your headphones out of. It's got a padded pocket sized for a cdplayer as well (but I only use that for my software cds)

Oh, and it has a nice netting pocket with elastic straps for your jacket.

Hope this helps. At about $50 or so, it's not a bad backpack at all. I've been pretty happy with the quality.

Re:Backpack + Sleeves

[Techguy666]

I work in a "laptop school" and one of my responsibilities is to review and research new laptop bags on the market. (Yeah, I have a weird job description.)

You really aren't supposed to carry more than 15% of your body weight. Any more than that and your body's not going to be happy over a prolonged period of time. Two laptops, a mouse, power bricks, doodads, CDs, and a couple of hardcover manuals will load down a 160 pound man. Also, even with sleeves, laptops subjected to continually cramming into a backpack will start to show signs of wear on the LCD. The keys of your keyboard will press into the screen and leave indents.

The short of this is, a normal backpack may not be the answer for everyone. Some people may need a combination of a backpack and one of those wheelie, travel bags with the extended handles. Some may opt for a bag with rigid compartments. Some may opt for a camping backpack with the funky bracing.

Re:Backpack + Sleeves

[HughsOnFirst]

Look for a Porta Brace DC-3 Director Case with Pocket for Laptop Computer. or a DC-2 or DC-1 if you want a really big bag

I carry 2 laptops and a wireless router/access point in one all the time. Porta Brace makes cases for film crews and they know how to make great gear to carry heavy loads. They are also pretty well padded. Most film gear makes a laptop look like a happy meal toy in terms of cost.