Timbuk2 Q Laptop Backpack 2.0

This is such a great bag given our college climate in 2020. Given the hybrid campus / digital lifestyle and our minimal office trekking. The simplicity in its design to digital needs and minimal approach creates a pretty awesome experience. The only grief i have for this is a lack of water resistance. But this will be my go to company for all my bag needs in the future.

Needed a backpack that was professional and functional for a trip. Ideal.

I love Timbuk2 bags and really wanted to love this bag. The bag is high quality and has some excellent pockets and features but I found the profile just too slim for my needs. I'll be trading it in for a larger capacity bag.

The Q 2.0 is unlike most other Timbuk2 bags I have used, and that's intended as a compliment. Whereas Timbuk2 tends to prefer super-durable, minimalist sacks, this is a well-organized daypack intended for the daily commuter who wants to be able to find their stuff quickly.My first caveat about the bag is that it is small. It's fine for an office commuter or student who doesn't carry a huge number of books, but I couldn't fit a pair of size 13 shoes and a change of clothes in the bag and have much room left over for anything else.On the other hand, if you don't have my tendency to carry the entire world on your back every day, there's a lot to commend this bag. The front has a spacious accessory pocket at the bottom designed for a power supply, wallet, spare power bank, and other electronic miscellany. This is the sort of thing I'm not used to seeing on the a Timbuk2 bag, and it's very handy.In addition, there's a slim document/Kindle pocket front-center, and a larger admin pocket behind it with an organization panel for phone, pens, etc.That leaves the main compartment, which does not have a padded bottom, but does have a lightly suspended laptop pocket. Timbuk2's claim of holding a 17" laptop must be based on the assumption that people are Mac users. As a PC guy, I wouldn't be able to cram anything larger than a thin-and-light 15" into the pocket. It has no strap or zipper to secure the laptop once inside.Again, the main compartment is not spacious, but it's find for a lunch, a few books, and some miscellany.Build quality and comfort are excellent, as I would expect from Timbuk2. The back is very generously padded, and the wide straps have a mesh backing to keep them from generating too much sweat. There is no chest strap, but there is a bottle opener on the right strap for some inexplicable reason. There is the customary bike light strap, as well as a side handle for carrying the bag like a briefcase, along with a luggage pass-through on the back. I wouldn't have minded a couple more places to hook a carabiner.The interior, unfortunately, is black. At this price point, I would expect a high-contrast interior.The one water bottle pocket is barely large enough for a Dasani bottle, and is the only way in which the Q 1.0 was a better bag, in my opinion.The bag is not advertised as weatherproof, and I would not treat it as such. Consequently, I did not do any weather testing on it.Overall this is a very comfortable, well-made, small daypack that would make a great unisex purse replacement. It's fine for a bike commuter, but I'd put a rain shell over it if using it for a daily commute. There might be a few tweaks I would make for version 3.0, but it still holds up well overall for the expectations for this price point, and it's a big improvement overall over its predecessor.

This is a sleek well made bag with a tough fabric construction, smoothly operating zippers and durable shoulder straps. The zippers have rubberized tips and pull cords. I didn’t like the shoulder straps initially because they seemed too close together at the top the first few times I wore it. They felt tighter and less comfortable than typical shoulder straps. I came to appreciate the straps after realizing that despite the initial discomfort, they actually secure the backpack better to my body. They provide a firmer hold of the bag which helps prevent the straps from slipping down my arms and helps prevent the backpack from bouncing around my back.The bag is well padded, particularly the rear laptop compartment which is totally separate from the main compartment. I feel very safe carrying my laptop in the laptop compartment. It feels like it should protect my laptop in most situations aside from a very bad drop or forceful direct impact. In addition to a spacious separate laptop compartment, there is also a large center interior compartment that can be used for pretty much anything, even another laptop. This compartment contains a sleeve suitable for a tablet even with a thick heavy-duty case or keyboard case combo attached. The four remaining pockets are all on the exterior and can easily accommodate power supplies, mice, external hard drives, smartphones or any other small to moderate sized items.The laptop compartment is can comfortably fit laptops up to a 15”. Once above 15-inches, it gets a little more difficult to fit. I have a hefty 17-inch EliteBook that is my benchmark for measuring capacity. It cannot fit into the dedicated laptop compartment of this bag because it’s too thick and large. My 15-inch gaming laptop, 14-inch business laptop, 13” MacBook and 11-inch Chromebook all fit perfectly inside the laptop compartment. My EliteBook also fits inside the center compartment. The only con is that he center compartment isn’t as well padded or protective as the dedicated laptop compartment.This is a capable techie bag that can easily accommodate up to two laptops or a laptop and tablet and several accessories and peripherals while remaining sleek and stylish. The pockets are all easily accessible and provide decent storage and protection for all gear. You can tell this bag was designed primarily for techies. As someone working in the IT field, it allows me to carry all my gear in an orderly, well-organized fashion rather than just being tossed haphazardly into less suitable compartments.

I bought this because I already had the 1.0 version of this bag (this is the 2.0 version) and the 1.0 version has a design flaw - no side padding for the laptop sleeve. This 2.0 version does not fix that flaw and has the same flaw. Otherwise, it is a sweet bag.