A couple of months ago, I stopped in at my local Best Buy and went backpack hunting. The mission was to find a backpack that would hold my newly purchased Macbook. I already owned a WaterField Sleevecase but did not feel comfortable just throwing it in my existing non-laptop backpack. After a good half hour search, I walked away from Best Buy with a Targus 15.4-inch Gerney Notebook Backpack.

During my search that day, price was not an issue. I had a Best Buy gift card from my graduation, so I could have easily purchased a more expensive backpack. So, if that was the case, why did I walk away with one of the cheapest bags there? The Gerney backpack felt like a real backpack. After trying on several of the more expensive bags, they all felt like mountain-climbing bags. They were big, and weren’t easy to slip on in a moment’s notice. Besides, they felt fairly heavy considering there was nothing in them at the time. The Gerney backpack was light, easy to slip on, and felt good on my back.

Comfort

Now that it’s been couple of months since my purchase, I’m ready to give you a review. The first thing you’ll notice about this bag is it’s comfortable. Both the shoulder straps and back of the backpack are covered in a very soft, padded material. Not being an expert on bags, I don’t know what that material is; all I know is it feels good. The padding isn’t overdone either. Some bags like to really load up on the padding, which makes the backpack harder to get on and off, and can actually be uncomfortable at times. The Gerney backpack uses just the right amount, giving the perfect mix of comfort and usability.

Storage

The Gerney backpack is loaded up on compartments also, but once again it’s not overdone. Some of the bags I was looking at had more compartments than you could ever use. This bag has a number of compartments, but not to the point where you begin to forget where things are. The Gerney backpack contains a cell phone holder, music player pouch with headphone port, large main compartment, 15.4-inch notebook compartment within main compartment, pen loops, ID holder, small compartment, mesh pouch in small compartment, two mesh water bottle holders, and a mini compartment at the base of the bag. So, as you can see, there is tons of space for storing things.

The Notebook Compartment

Since this is a notebook backpack, one of the first things I looked at was the notebook compartment. The compartment is contained within the main storage area, and is surrounded by a decent layer of padding. The compartment closes with a strip of Velcro at the top, so your notebook won’t fall out of the compartment. As far as size, the area holds up to a 15.4-inch laptop and provides enough room for the laptop to be several inches thick. If you have a laptop smaller than 15-inches, I wouldn’t recommend placing it in the compartment naked. While the area is padded, it could easily slide around, which is something I wouldn’t be happy about. Since my MacBook is only 13.3-inches, I place it in there with my WaterField Sleevecase. Like I said, the compartment is several inches thick, so the compartment can handle the additional space the Sleevecase takes up. Finally, if security is an issue for you, the main compartment’s zipper contains holes for a lock. I wouldn’t recommend using it though, since that’s a dead give away for something valuable. A thief would just take the whole bag and cut out the laptop later.

The Music Player Compartment

The next area I looked at was the music player compartment. While my last several backpacks have featured areas for MP3 players and the like, they’ve always been crappy as far as usability and protection. This is not the case with the Gerney backpack. The compartment is about 6-inches deep, and 6-inches wide, so it will accommodate almost all players and their accessories. The area is heavily padded with a smooth material, guaranteeing anything you put in there will be well protected. Finally, the headphone port is perfect. The port is made of a thick rubber material cut in an X design. When not in use, the port protects the compartment from any foreign materials. When you want to use it, it’s only a matter of quickly pushing your headphone jack through the area.

The Regular Compartments

Since gadgets aren’t the only thing this backpack is designed for, I also checked out the regular storage areas. The main compartment is perfect for books. Even with my laptop stashed in the notebook area, I can still fit several textbooks and papers in the compartment without the bag looking like it will explode. I usually have about three textbooks in there (one large and two mediums), and a couple of paper notebooks with plenty of room for more. That’s my only requirement for such an area, and the Gerney backpack passes with flying colors.

The secondary storage area is great also. The secondary area is where you’ll find the ID holder, pen loops, and mesh compartment. The ID holder is fairly large, so I actually don’t use it for what it’s designed for. I place my flash drive and Apple Remote in there, to prevent them from getting lost in my bag. As far as the pen loops, what’s there to say? Pens go there so they aren’t floating around. Finally, the mesh storage and space outside the mesh area is marvelous also. There is a ton of room in both areas to place things like a graphing calculator, a laptop charger, or even a CD booklet.

Last but not least, is what I like to call the secret compartment. It’s a small compartment at the very base of the bag. While it is in plain sight, it’s perfect for storing miscellaneous cables associated with a laptop. I keep my extended power supply cabling and my mini-DVI to VGA adapter in there, and it keeps both cables from getting lost elsewhere in my bag. A small, but useful compartment.

Straight to the Point

In conclusion, I don’t think I could have picked a better backpack. The Targus Gerney Notebook Backpack is the perfect mix of comfort and usability. There is a compartment to store anything you come up with, and the compartments are good at keeping things from getting lost. The main laptop storage area does an awesome job at keeping your laptop safe, but smaller-screen laptop owners may want to consider some additional protection. If you’re in the market for a laptop backpack which is easily to throw on your back in a mad-dash to class and feels great in the process, this is the bag to get.