Belkin F8N051 Messenger Bag for Laptops, Macbooks and Chromebooks up to 17 inch - Brown/Blue

The case looks very smart and classy, you would feel proud taking it in to a meeting. It is well made and styled, strong fabrics on the outside and plenty of firm but soft padding inside with scratch less linings. There is a removable padded strip, secured with Velcro, along the bottom edge on top of even more padding. There are plenty of zipped and other pockets and a separate pouch for the power supply, this is an excellent idea. On the front outside is a narrow zip opening just the right size for the pouch, this keeps hard lumpy power supply and plug away from the laptop. This bag, considering its size, is very light weight.The padded strip is too narrow, and positioning it difficult to get central, and if removed makes fitting my laptop a little easier. There are no internal pockets that can hold a USB stick without the risk if them falling out, there are some suitable pockets with open tops. Permanently stitched on is a carry handle and a shoulder strap. The shoulder strap can be stored in a large Velcro fasten pocket, not convenient if you need to use that pocket for something else.My 17 inch HP DV9000 is a snug fit. By snug I imply it only just fits and is a bit awkward to get it in. If your laptop is larger than 400mm wide x 290mm deep, or 480mm on the diagonal it probably will not fit this bag, without dragging the opening over the corners of your laptop and possibly rubbing the finish off.I would like to have seen interior pockets designed to hold USB sticks securely, and a detachable shoulder strap, and a wider and longer removable padded strip.Besides the failings the bag is excellent, strong and the padding is first class. A word of warning this is a soft bag, the contents might not survive being dropped, or being crushed if heavy items were placed on top. Don't put this in the hold of an aircraft. It is perfect for carrying and getting knocked against walls and tables and people as you walk about, and being flung in the boot of your car

Shortly after setting up my new 17" Samsung Series 5 laptop, I realised that I was going to need a suitable bag in which to carry it to and from lectures, as I was heading to university in a matter of weeks. I shopped around online, and due to the size, I found it very difficult to find any bags under at least £30. I had seen this Belkin Messenger bag on other sites, but it didn't seem to be available below around £35 or £40 at least, but I liked the fairly uniform and simplistic look of the bag, and came across it here on Amazon for just over £20, which seemed too good to be true, so I snapped it up straight away without thinking twice.You really can't overstate how decent this product is; it's got more than enough storage space for absolutely anything you could possibly want or need, and it snugly holds the laptop in a softer, velvety slot in the main section (as is typical with many laptop bags). The quality of the build seems exceptional - admittedly, I've only had the bag for a matter of days, but it feels firm and durable, without sacrificing looks. On the outside, the bag is visually unassuming, in a good way, with a couple of nice sections of red trim as you can see in the pictures, but the inside really make the bag what it is. Red lining is almost exclusively used, with just one black removable cable bag to mirror the outside of it. In terms of comfort, the strap is a decent width all the way round, meaning you won't get it bunching up or twisting against your shoulder and irritating your neck. The zips are of similarly high quality and they feel sturdy and reliable, rather than other bags, where I've experienced snagging or in some cases even breaking, which is a huge disappointment. Also included is one of those rubber earphone cable holes, meaning you can tuck your music player safely inside your bag with a lower risk of theft, and the final neat feature I'll just quickly mention is that you can tuck away the shoulder strap completely inside the large outside pocket if you want you carry your laptop underarm; personally, I really like the way the strap fits, but each to their own.In terms of drawbacks, there really aren't many. My biggest gripe (and it's simply cosmetic), is that it looks like the strap is red on the outside, when in fact the pictures show the INSIDE of the strap, and the outside is the same black as the rest of the bag. Belkin are known for matching style with substance, and this really is no exception. I'd highly recommend this laptop bag - or one of the other colours in the series - for anyone with a 17-inch laptop like myself, because even at its current price of just under thirty pounds, you really can't get better without spending at least double that. It feels great, it looks great and I find this bag very hard to beat indeed.

Brought this make and model about a year ago for my 13" HP Tablet and really like it. So I got one to fit my wifes 17.5" Pavillion dv7. Took a chance because its only labeled for 17" laptops. The dv7 fits snuggly inside and the case is easily closed. It also comes with a sleeping 'type' bag for the power cables and adaptor. On the front, there a two zipped pockets both approx 15" x 10" (1 landscape and 1 portrait). 1 of these has a internal pocket for your mp3 player with ear peice access to the outside. It has a wide comfortable strap with adjustment and isnt removable. On the other side it has a full size pocket with a velcro fastener in the middle, just enough to keep it closed. Inside it has of course a pocket for the laptop with good padding for protection. Oddly there is no elastic velcro fastening strap to keep the laptop in position as on the 13" version. There are two pockets (6" x 6") and a zip pocket (12" long x 3" deep) There are a couple of other little pockets for pens and stuff. Of course there is the cables bag which is a very nice idea. The padding is good as far as padding goes as it will only protect from scatches and light knocks. If you drop it I seriously doubt your laptop would be scratched, scuffed or maybe dented but your HD, screen, DVD may well be knackered.Like I said in the begining I have been using a smaller version of this for about a year (same pocket layout but different type of strap) It has been great and hard wearing espeicially when you think that I use it about 5/6 times a day mon to fri (travel between calls) and of course using at home.Only grumble is I paid over double for the 13" version in a popular high street electrical outlet and a paper thin sleeping bag from them was £6 more.If it keeps the 17.5" as good as its protected the 13" Tablet, I will be very happy.Excellent product offering good protection with its high density foam. Highly recommended and a very good price.