Targus Drifter II Laptop Backpack, Black/Gray – Backpack for Men for Business and Travel, Durable Water-Resistant Material, Fits up to 17" Laptops (TSB239US)

This is a great backpack for its longevity, quality build, size, and design. -Build/Longevity: I have owned this backpack for three years. In those three years I have used this backpack everyday to go to and from school (five days a week with a laptop and books in it), for hiking, and for travel. I travel a lot and use budget airlines, which means carry-on and no checked luggage (to save money). This thing has survived the clothes, toiletries, books, electronics, and the rigors of air travel (being stuffed under seats, in the overhead, in trunks, out in the woods, etc.). -Size/Design: I own a 17.3 inch laptop (Vaio VPCF2290x) and it fits with room to spare. The pockets are great for storing many different types of things: books, clothes, groceries, tools, etc. -Quality: I have put this backpack through its paces and it has never let me down. Heavy loads, outdoors (hiking, beach, etc.), planes, and so on. This thing laughs at 5 liters of liquid (I had to carry groceries in this). -Comfort: the pads on the back are a nice touch and the straps don't dig into your shoulders even when fully loaded. -Self-Repair: After three years you would expect things to experience some wear and tear. There are only three parts of this backpack that have experienced significant wear and tear and it was negligible on it doing its job. I have included pictures: the plastic part of the handle broke in two; part of the seam came undone on one of the straps; It came apart where two parts are joined on one of the straps. It was an easy repair job: needle and thread. Overall this is a very durable backpack and I would highly recommend it.

If you are looking for a backpack that offers utility and ample storage, while also being sturdy and well-made, this is it. I was initially looking at a sleek all-black Swissgear backpack, but upon reading its reviews found that the craftmanship was lacking. This backpack definitely outranks most of the sleeker designs you are finding right now, I assure you. Perhaps it doesn't exactly fit the aesthetic you are going for, but if you are someone like me who values quality and longevity, this is the correct choice. Aesthetics be d*mned, I just want something that is going to LAST. So far, this is living up to that expectation.

After 17 years of daily use, mostly in a marine environment, it was time to replace my trusty Targus Drifter II laptop backpack. I couldn’t be happier to find an exact replacement here on Amazon. Sturdy would be an understatement in describing this backpack. It has so many pockets, you will probably forget a few of them. Thick padding on the back and shoulder straps make it extremely comfortable. The computer pocket is nicely padded and is a full pocket, not just a padded divider like in most packs. The padded hidden pocket at the small of the back is perfect for your most valued items. I doubt a thief could access it while worn. A plush lined pocket at the top of the back is great for delicate items. I keep a hard drive, flash drives, and card readers in mine. The reinforced carry handle is bullet proof. I’ve had handles tear off in days on other backpacks. This one is vinyl covered aircraft cable and never failed. I hope to retire in less than 17 years and not need another laptop bag or I would buy another one for backup. I highly recommend this pack and that you get one before they are gone. From their website, I don’t believe Targus makes the Drifter II anymore. This maybe the last backpack you need. I know it will be mine

I bought this bag a little over a year ago now (as a work bag so it gets a lot of use) and there is enough wear and tear (more tear than wear) that I now need to replace it. If I knew how to sew or knew someone that could I could no doubt get my bag repaired with ease and use it for several more years but I don’t so that’s not an option for me. I don’t want to get too long winded with this review but I’ll try and hit all the main points. #1 Large freaking bag. Tons of usable space. Great use of mini inner pockets (usually at the top of main pockets) to take advantage of those wasted upper areas that usually just holds air. Best combination of laptop compartment, main compartment, front compartments that I’ve found in any bag thus far. #2 Comfortable to carry. Good straps (although that’s where the ‘tear’ eventually took place). The elastic actually really helps to keep them from ‘digging’ into your shoulders. The handle is tough and well anchored. I have used the handle to move my bag around, fully loaded, and for over a year it’s held nicely, just a little cracking in the plastic. For future improvements on this I’d suggest going to a more malleable rubber with cable reinforcement or a sturdier metal handle. #3 It looks good. At the least it is not an ugly bag. #4 My only con is the middle pocket. The pocket between the main compartment and the front ‘pen’ pocket. I’ve found this pocket to be fairly worthless since it directly competes for the space used by the main compartment. It would almost serve better to cut the material out between the two pockets and use the zipper as a smaller access for the main compartment…or just do what I have and not use it. Either way. I guess if you want to add to the con pile I’ll talk about the wear and tear. So, on my bag the stitching on the shoulder straps is giving up the goose. The fabric is fine and if I can find someone that knows how to do it I’ll see if they’ll stitch this bad boy up again. One of the metal eye hole grommets has popped out, big deal. The picture of the circle of melt is due to a stovetop accident….don’t ask. It didn’t go all the way through and that was about 2 months after I got the back so it’s still plenty sturdy. All that said, I took some pictures to try and give a good idea of all the freaking pockets this bag has and some idea of where the wear and tear is likely to occur over time. Oh, and one picture to the Drifter II next to the Oakley Kitchen Sink and all the stuff I put in each to compare. I ultimately sent the Oakley back and ordered another Drifter II. Enjoy!

This bag has tons of different pockets that can hold virtually anything you might need to lug along with your laptop. A few very minor quibbles so far, bearing in mind that I've just received the bag and haven't tried putting it through its paces yet: - If your laptop is smaller than 17 inches, the 17 inch model of the bag may turn out to be a bit too large. My 14.5 inch machine slides down pretty far, and almost gets lost in the bag. Perhaps the 16-inch model might be a bit better, but an inch wouldn't make that much difference. So if you have a smaller laptop, this one might be overkill. - There's not a perfect place to keep the essential bulky corded items (power and mouse). There's plenty of *room* for it, but the smaller zipper compartments would be very lumpy with the cord brick, and if I keep them in the larger main compartments (the one with the laptop or the other main one), the cords etc. will fall to the bottom and I'd have to stick my whole arm in there to get at them. There is a smallish mesh zipper compartment at the top of the laptop section, which just holds the cord and mouse, though I'm concerned that this will not hold up long term. - There are metal grommets in several places on the front of the nag. When I first noticed them I thought they were for ventilation or something. Nope, they don't appear to do anything beyond being decorative. No harm, it just looked a little odd. - There's a key clip inside one of the smaller compartments. Which is nice, but there's no additional length to the clip, it's right against the seam. So you can't fish out and use your keys without detaching them. My older bag had the key clip attached by a ribbon - still not long enough to *use* the keys, but I could at least retrieve them and have a bit more room to do the detaching. With this bag, you have to open the zipper and stick your hand inside. - On my old bag, the webbing straps you can use to adjust the strap length had plastic finger loops at the ends - easier to grasp when tightening the bag while it is on your back. This one has the webbing, but the loop is just a loop of webbing. A bit more trouble to stick fingers in for a better grasp. - The straps themselves are a little stiff-feeling. They might be a bit irritating for some people especially those who will be loading the bag down with a lot of books, and hauling it through airports or while walking longer distances. I'm tall and broad-shouldered so they seem OK for me, but then I'm going to be using this for car commuting. - The very front has a zipper that leads to a narrow and surprisingly deep compartment. If you have large hands, your hand will just barely fit inside there. I'm not entirely sure would that compartment would be good for, storage-wise, because things could get lost down there. Glasses, perhaps, though there's a nice fleece-lined pocket at the top between the two large compartments that would better for those. The good: This thing will hold everything you could possibly need unless you're lugging entire sets of the Encyclopedia Brittanica. The second large compartment (the one without the laptop sleeve) seems like it could hold a 5-6 inch stack of stuff - certainly enough to handle a full day at college or a change of clothes if you're traveling. There's a fold-down flap that helps hold that space open. Side compartments should hold smallish bottles of water, there are even zipper compartments that might hold a small umbrella. Same problem as that narrow front zipper compartment though: don't put anything in there that might drop down and be hard to retrieve. The padding feels pretty good across the back. There's a nifty "hidden" zipper compartment along the back padding which could hold some small things. I wouldn't suggest putting things like glasses in there (the pressure of the bag might break them), but for emergency cash or even a small wallet, it would to nicely. The front zipper area looks to be just the right size for an iPad or other tablet. I haven't tried this yet - I don't have an iPad, but my Nook Color fits there nicely.

Excellent pack that protects laptops and can carry a surprisingly large amount of stuff easily. I often carry two laptops in this bag - a smaller one in the padded pouch, and a larger one towards the back pad. I've yet to damage either device while using this bag. The number of pockets and features is really impressive, and makes organizing for day trips or outdoor events easy. The heavy-duty upper lift strap is super helpful too. I'm really happy for the quality for the price I paid.

So far I really like this bag. I often carry two laptops and they fit comfortably. Lots of pockets. The straps feel rugged. I got about 20 years out of my last targus bag so I’m hopeful about this one.

I purchased my Targus Drifter II backpack just before an airline trip to attend to some financial affairs after my mom's death. I did not want to check any luggage, and I anticipated that I would use this backpack for day (possibly overnight) trips on my motorcycle or bicycle as well. I have a 17" laptop that I use for all my work that I needed to carry along on these trips. I am 6'1" tall, so the longer bags are not a problem for me. For the current trip I needed a bag that would hold my computer, charger, adapter cables for my small printer carried in another under-the-seat gym bag, bunch of paperwork, suit for the funeral, 1 weeks clothing, dress shoes, tablet PC, etc. This bag was packed to the gills, and weighed nearly 70 lbs when filled, but performed admirably. There was very ample room for the 17" HP laptop, extra space for paperwork in that compartment, and then a larger middle compartment for my suit, clothes, and more paperwork. There are 2 mesh zippered compartments hanging from the top of the bag in each of these two larger compartments that I used for pens, highlighters, keys, and other small items. In addition there separate nice felt lined zippered compartment with top access that is perfect for charger blocks, computer cables, etc. that would otherwise have been empty space as stuff in the other compartments sinks to the bottom of the bag. Numerous back pockets provide additional space for smaller items such as my 7" tablet PC, business cards, more pens, etc. On both sides of the bag are a zippered long pocket and mesh sleeve, where I kept hair brush, comb, fabric grocery bag. The mesh sleeves could hold drink bottles. A discretely placed zippered compartment for money and other important documents was placed behind the the kidney pad in the back. I found this bag comfortable for carrying the entire 70 lb load with both shoulder straps in place, and possible with only one strap for short carries. I predict that even for longer outside carries, the 4 back pads with vent spaces in between will help keep my back cool. I expect it to be perfect for its intended motorcycle, bicycle, and hiking uses, and it performed flawlessly during my funeral trip. My cousin was amazed at all the things I was able to bring in these two carry-ons. I did notice that several times I heard occasional little pops as I lifted this 70 lbs to my shoulder, which I assume were stressed stitches in the shoulder pads, but nothing came loose, and I admit I had overstuffed this bag for that trip. I agree that if you do NOT intend to carry your 17" laptop, the bag could use some more ribbing to help it maintain its shape, but with the laptop to provide rigidity, (as I'm sure it was designed) it was perfect.