Kensington Contour Notebook Backpack Review (pics)

by Ben Stafford, Ohio USA

The Kensington Contour Backpack won't be pushing any envelopes of fashion or edginess, but it's a high-quality, very usable, and comfortable backpack. The Contour has a ton of space and rides very comfortably on your back, thanks to an adjustable lumbar support panel. This bag's design is so comfortable and wearer friendly that is endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association.

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Features

This backpack has plenty of space. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to take it on a long trip where I would fill it up quite a bit more. My daily load is an IBM ThinkPad T40, a couple magazines, old pay stubs, a PDA, business cards, and some miscellaneous wires. Even with that list, I'm still under-utilizing this bag. There are three zippered main compartments -- small, medium, and large; and two zippered compartments at the bottom of the sides of the pack. On one of those outside pockets, there is an expandable sleeve for a water bottle.

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The large zippered compartment has the notebook sleeve in it. It has adequate padding, a Velcro strap, and some elastic panels to allow it to accommodate many sizes of notebooks. (Kensington has a nice "compatibility search" to find which of their products will accommodate your notebook. You can find it here: http://www.kensington.com/compApp/ktgSearchCases.jsp?siteId=2). There is also enough room left over for some papers, magazines, file folders, etc. One minor thing that took a bit of getting used to is that the outside of the bag obstructs the notebook sleeve, so to extract the notebook, you have to "clear" the outside panel of the bag. This could also be a good thing as the obstruction would prevent the computer from sliding out (if you had left the bag open and the Velcro strap undone).

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The medium compartment has 4 pockets, of various sizes, in which I store my PDA, cell phone charger and some cables. If you need to, there is more room for flat items (like file folders).

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The small compartment has many pockets inside it. This is the only pocket that, when unzipped, opens all the way. The pockets in this compartment are of an "organizer" style -- there are tubes for writing tools, small flat sleeves for business cards, etc. There is also a mesh zipper pouch that is good for holding change, keys, or a USB flash drive.

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Dimensions

Exterior 15.75"L X 19.5"H X 9.0"W
Computer Compartment 11.5"L X 15.8"H X 1.9"W

Quality

The Contour Backpack really feels sturdy. The 1680 denier nylon holds its shape and won't be flopping over in a corner. The zippers are large and the pulls are plastic coated metal, allowing an easy grip. The straps of the backpack aren't just attached to the main bulk of the bag -- the straps connect seamlessly with the rest of the bag, leaving no seams to rip out. The bottom panel of the bag is a textured flexible plastic panel, resistant to scuffing and absorption of whatever exists on airport bathroom floors. There is also a carrying handle underneath where the straps join the bag - which is always a nice feature to have. To back up the nice build quality of the bag, Kensington attaches their Lifetime Warranty.

Comfort

The backpack is also very comfortable to wear. The highlight comfort feature is the adjustable lumbar panel. Behind the padded mesh panel (for keeping you cool) on the human side of the backpack, there is a slit down the center of the pack to let you adjust the lumbar panel. This panel consists of a wide panel (the width of the backpack) with a convex curve to match the curve of your lumbar area. Depending on your height, you should adjust this lumbar panel to rest in your lumbar curve. There are 4 numbered positions, with 4 being the tallest position and 1 being the shortest. The adjustment slides the wide plastic panel up and down a little track in the middle of the bag.

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Even without this lumbar panel, the bag would still be very comfortable. The shoulder straps are padded nicely and are curved to allow the upper portions of the straps to rest parallel to your body and the lower portions to curve out and back around your body. There is also a waist strap for those long hauls with a heavy load.

Conclusion

The Kensington Contour Backpack is a very comfortable backpack with lots of storage. With all that storage, you can really load yourself down, but the adjustable lumbar support distributes the weight well. The build quality of this bag is also excellent. At a retail of $69.99, it's not the cheapest bag, but well worth the dollar amount, especially with a lifetime warranty from Kensington.

Pros

• Comfortable to wear, even with heavy loads
• High quality, durable construction
• Plenty of storage space with many pockets to help organize

Cons

• Too much bag for light loads
• Not terribly trendy (then again, this is part of Kensington's "Executive" line, so what did you expect?)

Purchase Info

You can buy directly from Kensington for $69.99 (click Buy Now) or from other online retailers (click Online Retailers) from the product page: http://www.kensington.com/html/4727.html

 

cool thanks for a nice review. hmm, i wish it was offered in other colors. i despite black...
do you think there's adequte room for say a notebook and three 500page monster textbooks. I'm thinking calculus I-II-III size textbooks.

 

$70 for a nice backpack is nothing these days. The Tom Bihn bag I'm reviewing now is $140 before accessories. I like the adjustable lumbar support, don't think I've seen that anywhere else.

 

Brian, are the Tom Bihn line of bags pretty well made? They sure look good.

 

Ben, the Kensington Backpack doesn't look like it has a handle, is this true?

 

They are very nice. We posted a review of the Buzz a few weeks back, working on the Brain Bag now.

 

There is a handle, tucked in under the shoulder straps. On the picture of the lumbar panel (last one in the review), the gray piece up top is the handle.

To answer a previous question, the backpack can definitely handle 2 calculus sized textbooks. You can probably get a third in there, but you'd probably need to put it in the middle compartment (or take out your laptop).

 

That "ben" post is me too

 

How're the straps on that thing? I bought a Targus back pack and had to give it back...straps were so short!! And I'm not even that tall!

 

The straps are just fine. I am 5' 10" and about 240 pounds (48 Regular suit coat) and I have no problems with the strap length. In fact, the straps are currently right in the middle of their adjustable range and I can get the backpack on and off easily.

 

You're saying they're only half extended? Because that targus one....oh boy, were the straps tiny. It was like a children's bag, and your specs (lol, height/weight) are similar to mine. Where can I get this bag in Canada?

 

You might have to check with Kensington about availability.

 

I just order one of these backpacks; I can't wait to see how it works out. I kinda' like the plain black/grey colors and conservative look; it's like the new trend for us older business types that are tired of the traditional briefcase.

Amazon has them for $51.99 with free shipping.

 

I just saw 1 of these at the circuitcity near me when I was picking up my wife's iriver MP3.
It actually does look like it would feel excellent under a heavy load!
I was an 0331 Machine Gunner when I was in the USMC 5 yrs ago and I tell you what, that lumbur support is the KEY!

I was debating on getting the Python XL backpack from BooqBags.com for when I get my very 1st laptop that is due out next month.
But after seeing one of this bags before my eyes and playing around with it, I may just get this instead.

I just have to check it for how waterproof/waterresistant/weatherproof it really is.

 

Ben,

Thanks for the excellent review!

I'm considering this backpack along with some others from Mobileedge.

This really does look extremely well built and a great value. I'm concerned it may look just a little too much like a computer pack for my liking. As a theft deterent, the less it looks like there might be a computer in it, the better. I've even though of just getting a large standard backpack and building my own foam enclosure, but the pack wouldn't be as rigid as this one.

You said the Contour was "Too much bag for light loads". If all I carried was a 6 lb 15.4" laptop, AC adapter & cables, a few CDs, 2 lbs of food, and a water bottle, would that, in your opinion, constitute a light load?

Thanks!

 

I think that the load you described is no where near a light load.

 

Then you could please explain what you would consider a light load?

Thanks!

 

Under five pounds? I have this bag and any weight I put in is usually fine, even light weight...

 

props for the great review, and also to eightone for asking the textbook question (no pun intended) as I am actually looking to get this thing for my P-6831fx, which should fit snuggly with the bat. extension and looking to put some recording gear along in the bag too!

 

Thanks for the great review! Quick question...do the straps have any kind of pouches/pockets on them? In the 2nd picture, it looks like they might.

Thank you!

 

A quick question, is the place where the computer goes lined with any other kind of material than nylon. Is lined with a soft cloth material?

 

Yes, one has a smallish pocket suitble for a phone

 

Great review. My favorite part of the backpack has to be the medium pocket. That way your stuff like notepads and calculators aren't just floating around in the pocket and are more easily accessible.

 

i like this backpack alot it looks stylish and i prefer this style over the over-the-shoulders style.