I think I bought this bag 7 or 8 years ago...for reference, it was full priced at $129 at the time. I've used it during the school year ever since (I'm a university professor). This is what goes in on a very busy day: small laptop with soft cover, ipad with cover, iphone, chargers for all three. Lunch consisting of sandwich, apple, orange, banana and yoghurt. Bunch of pens and other small rubbish. wallet. By then it's on the heavy side (I blame the ipad). :) Pro: after eight years of use, it still looks brand new. Con: that means I can't justify a new one. The only downside is the latch coming undone as many others have noted. I see Bean never fixed this. Great bag - especially for what I paid. And STILL LOOKS NEW.
Although the black leather is drop-dead gorgeous, this messenger bag is insanely heavy even while empty, making it quite useless, at least for me. There is also a single handle which is too thick to hold easily, and so poorly placed at the back that if the contents were unbalanced, it would be quite a challenge to level it. I'm disappointed: something this poorly designed is rarely offered at LL Bean. I returned it.
I carry this case everyday to work and on business travel. The leather is soft and comfortable and the many pockets are great. It holds my Dell Latitude lap top great. The only problem is the attachment of the buckle to the case is made with a cardboard backing. My cardboard backing tore lose of the leather and fell off. I'll be returning the bag for replacement. I buy LL Bean because I can trust them to stand behind their products.
I bought this in brown for my wife's birthday. She didn't tell me that she didn't like it until she had already taken it to work and got a pen mark on it. She said it was too heavy and wouldn't carry all of her papers. She's-6th grade teacher. So I took it over. I would have preferred black, but I used some Dr. Martin Balsam boot cleaner on the pen mark and it made the leather a little darker which I like. The leather is supple and thick so it is a heavier bag than a canvas bag I have been using. But I'm 6' 2" and 205 lbs so no big deal to me. The inside pockets aren't really well thought out. It would be nice if there was one for my iPad. But it will hold my HP laptop. I like it. Will be flying this weekend so I will see how I like it for travel.
