Caselogic ZLCS-117 Check Point Friendly 17-Inch Laptop Case (Black) Reviews
Great function! Nice Aeshetics! March 29, 2010Oh yes... I like this! But let's first put it into perspective, this isn't a magician's case. You're not going to get more than a day's worth of wearing apparel (and it had better be business casual apparel as well) inside along with your laptop and other techie stuff. But for a single overnight trip, this is by far the best marriage of utilitarian design with style that I've seen. The size of this even make it a suitable option for those flights where fate (or traffic) has put you in the very last boarding group and "under the seat" is the only option for a carryon.
I won't draw from into the discussion with regards to the accuracy of TSA-friendly etc., as it's always been my experience that the TSA folks can be just as picky as they want. But it is convenient enough to pull the computer out and place it back within after passing the x-ray.
Actually, I can see a lot of people just using this as something of a mega-briefcase. You know the ones; the sales people with loads of brochures, the lawyers with tons of papers and the department jocks that have to tote along their softball or gym clothes.
Only time will tell as to the durability of the Caselogic 17 incher, but my inspection can't find any noticeable flaws or cut corners. I suspect this will last me for some time to come.
Three airports so far and 0 times accepted as "check point friendly" March 17, 2010When I first got it I was really looking forward to the check point friendly feature. I travel a lot and bought this pod specifically for this function. While passing through a checkpoint in JFK International Airport just yesterday (16th March), I was refused when I left my laptop in the bag split open as instructed. When it go under the scanner I was instructed to do it over, and this time take it out the bag. I tried to explain how the bags works but it was futile. This also happened in two other airports in two different countries lately.
Another thing i noticed (which was kind of annoying) is that the same zip that splits the bag in half keep opening up a little when its on one shoulder. I think it should have some kind of hook or something in the new design (if it's going to have one obviously)
On a lighter note it looks professional and in order without all those straps hanging everywhere like other brands. It feels durable when you hold it but it didn't get a long usage test yet.
Hope this helps.....
Nice Basic Travel Case. Not High Quality For Price. May 29, 2010This laptop traveler have all the standards in todays luggage. Telescoping hidden handle, wheels, oversize zipper pulls, plenty of storage. The layout and compartments are nice too. I just have a few comments to make about it's design.
- For a laptop roller, it's really BIG! This is really the size of a small suitcase. You could well use it for that. I don't think this would be something you would want to carry everyday, unless you are a door-to-door salesman with a lot of marketing paraphernalia. The laptop compartment is minuscule compared to the rest of it. It's about 10% laptop. You could actually put a desktop in it.
- The outside canvas is nice and seems rather durable. However that's where it ends. The inside is an orange colored very thin type of polyester that is slick to the touch and probably won't hold up very long. I can see it tearing on a mechanical pencil and then becoming a frayed mess. The inside layer is not glued or attached to the inside of the frame.
- The laptop case also offers minimal protection and is also made of slick polyester that I wouldn't want to put something expensive in and accidentally drop.
I think for the price at around $80 it seems a little overpriced for the materials used. If the lining material and laptop sleeve be higher quality then I would have given it 5 stars.
FANTASTIC ROLLER for laptop, clothes, and for the LONG JOURNEYS June 22, 2010The true test of this roller was taking it to India, loaded with my laptop, documents, clothes, and shaving set. It took a beating, and it never failed. With the numerous escalators, steps, customs, protection checks, rough environmental conditions at my destination, etc., it came back looking good as new and held everything together in a compact manner after such a rough round-trip. The handle stayed sturdy even after being expanded/collapsed many times. I be surprised with the roller's capacity, and loved the laptop sleeve WHICH I NEVER REMOVED when my laptop went through security checks in the USA, Europe, and India. It was a great investment.
Great for overnight business travel, but that's it April 21, 2010I do quite a bit of overnight laptop-travel, so I was eager to review this product and agree to others know what I think of it.
I wouldn't recommend this for any travel longer than overnight. You'll be able to fit tomorrow's clothing in here, but no more. The clothing portion of the bag is about 1½ inches tall. There is a shoe pocket, but it will consume what little space there is for your clothes. Add your toiletries and you're quickly out of space.
The top-loading compartment for paperwork and your laptop is brilliant, and something that business travellers will certainly appreciate. This is not your typical suitcase that you'll enjoy to somehow squeeze your paperwork into. I like how this section is apart from your clothing, allowing you to open it up at a business meeting without exposing your boxers.
I have one major complaint though, and that the "check-point friendly" concept of this bag is to remove a sleve that contains your laptop. This is stupid. The whole point is to be in motion through a security checkpoint with ease, but the makers of this bag want you to open the suitcase, remove the laptop sleeve, and walk through. How is that any better than removing your laptop for security? And the little carry handle for the sleeve get in the way of the zipper when you try to close it back up.
(Other check-point suitcases feature a clamshell-type opening that is checkpoint-friendly and doesn't require taking anything out of your suitcase.)
If you like pockets, zippers, and extra little compartments, then you'll really verbs this suitcase. There's plenty of room for your laptop accessories, business cards, cell charger, a pen, and whatever else. Note that if you have any large accessories (like a USB drive or DVD player) there probably won't be a large-enough pocket unless you use one of the loose business-document sections.
Another minor flaw is that the zippers provide no method to lock with a padlock. You might get lucky near a very tiny padlock that happens to fit, but it sure wasn't designed with that in mind.
The bag itself feels durable and looks sharp, though the solid-black (with a few red highlights) make it somewhat generic looking against a sea of similar black suitcases on a luggage rack. There is no ID sleeve.
The max size for laptops is 16.1 x 12.2 x 1.8, which is fine for most 17" widescreen displays.
In summary, if you need something ideal for quick business trips, then you'll probably enjoy this. If you're not carrying around 1" of paperwork, or need more than a change of clothes, you'll want to find something else.
My justification for 3/5 stars was based on the implementation of "checkpoint-friendly" coupled near the suggested retail price. For that price, you could find a nicer suitcase with laptop storage, but not the generous paperwork space.
Professional and versatile March 30, 2010This is an attractive bag, and pretty light for a roller. I found myself carrying it most of the time. It comes with a 17" laptop sleeve (which you can pull out for x-rays); it's worked reasonably well for my 15" MacBook Pro. The roller fiddle with is good and sturdy, telescopes up to a good height (about 3'4" from the base), and has a zipper cover to protect it when you're not using it. And the bag is easily small enough to fit into overhead bins.
Basically, this roller has it all. If you're traveling and you obligation to pack a laptop and a few days of clothes, look no further.
Professional Looking. Great for small trips. April 14, 2010Pros:
+ Professional looking
+ Good for small trips
+ Nice quality
+ Has all the basic stuff to store your laptop, accessories, books/magazines, pens, etc. Nicely separately and easy to find.
I really like that the handle can be extended and zipped up approaching it's not even there.
The only thing I don't understand is there is a zipper on the opposite side of the main compartment (where one would normally put clothes), so you have to stick your mitt in from the handle if you want to unzip that. Not exactly sure what that is for, as the other side is where the handle bar takes up space. It almost seems like a hush-hush compartment.
I had previously uploaded a video for this, but it seems Amazon has trouble converting it so I'll have to re-export and try to upload again.
Streamlined, sturdy, well-designed, holds a lot August 19, 2010I work at a university and need to transport various papers and sometimes bulky textbooks. I wanted a backpack to replace what I used to get: a Land's End briefcase and a separate laptop bag. In buying a backpack, my criteria were:
1) My 13-inch MacBook must fit. It does, no problem. It can hold a substantially larger laptop, but I'm not sure how large. There's a lot of space around my laptop though. The padding is substantial and seems to be adequate.
2) I wanted the backpack to look neat in need a lot of straps and stuff hanging loose and no open external pouches. I wanted it to be as streamlined as possible. This one is. About the only thing hanging loose are the zipper pulls, but they're really quite inconspicuous. I like the velcro thingies that hang on to the excess shoulder strap wrapped up and out of the way. I think I would rather carry a briefcase in a more formal business situation, but this could work in a more casual business setting.
3) I wanted a backpack that could carry adjectives my stuff. It has a fair amount of carrying space for stuff besides the laptop. A lot of pockets in a few compartments. In the main compartment, I carry some folders, maybe a textbook or two, some small stuff and my lunch. One thing that I would have liked different would be one or two more small interior pockets at different height. As it is, the small stuff tends to all drop to the bottom of the backpack. If the small stuff were spread out more, the backpack could be a little flatter and stuff would be more accessible. That's just a minor preference though and not a major complaint. This backpack can't carry ALL of the stuff that I used to carry within my briefcase and laptop bag, mostly because my lunch would take a beating, but I probably hauled around too much stuff before anyway. This backpack has a lot of space in it though and it really is well-designed.
4) I wanted it to be capably made. Overall, the backpack is well constructed. The zippers are sturdy and stay closed. I don't see any apparent weak spots in the construction. The shoulder straps are nicely padded and comfortable. The material seems to be very strong. The single carrying switch on top is adequately padded and appears to be sturdily attached.
I have not flown with this yet so I have not tried out the butterfly feature that supposedly lets you run it through security short taking out your laptop, but the mechanism is nicely designed and quick to use and it would be extremely convenient if the security people let you do it. It would be easy enough to remove the laptop if necessary, so it's not a big promise. A couple of the smaller compartments are very easy to access and would be nice for grabbing boarding passes quickly when whipping through the airport. The flap that lets you slip the backpack over the pull handle of a carry-on bag is nice too. This backpack would be great to travel near. I would use a regular carry-on bag for clothes and all to be stuffed in the overhead bin, and this backpack would be the bag I keep with me and stow under the seat.
When I was shopping for this backpack, the solely reviews I found appeared to be for a very different bag, so many of the comments do not apply to this backpack. I am not sure, but I suspect that this is the next generation of the CLBS-116. Some of the comments about that backpack do not apply to this one. For example, I have never had the side zippers for the butterfly feature creep unfurl inadvertently. Someone complained that the CLBS-116 has no opening for headphones to fit through. The ZLBS-116 has no dedicated headphone opening either, which is fine with me. I'm sure I could run the wire through one of the zippered opening if I really wanted to.
Overall, I'm very happy with this backpack. I would buy it again and I recommend it.
Video review for the Caselogic Laptop Roller June 3, 2010I had purchased this for Dennis, so I had him help me do the review. Here is a Video Review explaing every detail of this item. I hope it helps.
From what I seen, individually.. The item felt very sturdy, strong, and it was a nice size. It had a lovely laptop case that fit perfectly inside, also had tons of zippers in the front. He explains a lot contained by the video. He used the item a couple times. One time he flew with the item, when he went to Texas. The airport did ask him to take the laptop out of the slot, but he didn't have to open the bag that the laptop was in. You understand? (he explained this to me since I give somebody the third degree him about these things, so I can review them)
Wish it was bigger November 3, 2010I love this case; I don't know whether TSA will love it. It's kind of a plain black case, but it holds all the various bits one needs with one's laptop. I freshly wish it had a bit more room --enough for my portfolio of papers.
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