WaterField Muzetto Laptop Bag Review

by Allison Johnson

If you think the way I do, you'll agree that it's easier to drop a few hundred bucks on a bag you can write off as an "investment piece." That seems to be the idea here - quality materials, good structure, and classic style that will stand up to several years of use.

WaterField Muzetto Laptop Bag Specifications:

• Notebook Compatibility: Up to 13 inch notebook
• Bag Dimensions: 14 x 11 x 2.5 inches
• Construction: Leather exterior, metal hardware, nylon textile interior
• Weight: 1.7 lb.
• Price: $239.00 at www.sfbags.com

WaterField is a San Francisco-based operation, turning out high-end bags and cases for laptops, iPhones and beyond. Their style is urban-meets-professional with an emphasis on higher quality materials. Of course, this all comes at a premium. The Muzetto laptop bag sports a hefty $239 price tag. Is the extra style and quality worth all of that extra cash? This is the question that weighed on my mind as I spent some time with the Muzetto bag slung over my shoulder.

Build and Design
The Muzetto is a messenger-style bag. It's vertically oriented, snug against the hip and takes up relatively little space. The large laptop compartment and a thin pocket on the back are lined in a bright orange material, making it easy to find objects buried deep inside the bag.

The leather on the bag's exterior is treated with oil before it reaches the consumer, so it should be weather-resistant. Metal d-rings connect the woven nylon strap to the body of the Muzetto, and a removable Velcro pad keeps it comfortable against the shoulder.

Under the large, weighted flap you'll find the main laptop compartment ready for a 13 inch notebook, a slightly smaller pocket and another shallow pocket for portable devices. WaterField keeps it simple, skipping the small pockets for pens and business cards that you'll find on most business laptop bags. Unlike the large compartment, the pockets are lined in a darker textile, making it just a bit more difficult to find that tiny USB key you dropped into the bottom of the bag.

One thing this bag lacks is substantial padding in the laptop compartment. The bag itself is sturdy, no doubt, but without an extra layer to cushion your notebook from the bumps of everyday use, you'll want to invest in a sleeve as well.

Performance
The Muzetto performs just as well as it looks. The hardware is sturdy and the shoulder strap is comfortable. Did we mention that it looks good? It does. It looks very good.

While taking the bag out for a spin, I was caught in a couple of light rain showers. Based on my experience, I can agree with WaterField and say that the Muzetto will stand up to a little bit of foul weather.

It's a slim messenger bag, but I found enough pockets and storage space for my Dell Latitude E6400, an Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell netbook, a slim point-and-shoot, and a few other small items. This filled the bag to capacity. You won't be able to fit too many bulky items into the Muzetto, but it's spacious enough for a notebook and a couple of life's necessities. For anything more, you'll need to find a bigger bag.

Conclusion
I'll just spell it out - I like this bag. Let me count the ways: premium materials, simple design, and comfortable to use. If it were up to me, it would pack a few small pockets for the hodge-podge of pens, gadgets and nonsense that I tend to carry with me everywhere. It would also cost about a hundred dollars less. Aside from that, the WaterField Muzetto is a very fine bag.

Pros:

• Very attractive design
• High-quality leather exterior
• Gold lining in main compartments

Cons:

• No small pockets for phone, iPod and other gadgets
• Relatively high cost
• Little padding in laptop compartment

 

nice bag

 

This bag is very nice! I would use it, if I that amount of money to spend on a bag!

I would choose this color or the Copper! And, it looks like a 15" is coming out soon! I wonder what the pricing on that will be!

Waterfield makes great bags & they have a good reputation for higher standards in the bags that they make! Their Customer Support is also very good!

Nice review there!


Cin

 

That's an amazing price. One would need to get a lifetime's usage to justify that cost (but notebook manufacturers will do their best to make the bag an incompatible size with a few years).

Technical question: The review states that the main compartment is for a 13" notebook, then also states that the bag will carry the Dell E6400, (which is 14").

John

 

It's probably designed to fit the Unibody Macbook/new 13" MBP in a sleeve perfectly. Many smaller 14" machines will likely fit without a sleeve.

Edit: I like the copper and pine somewhat, but I really wish they had a nice dark, earthy burgundy.

 

It looks soo stylish, Italian styled for sure. However: "One thing this bag lacks is substantial padding in the laptop compartment. The bag itself is sturdy, no doubt, but without an extra layer to cushion your notebook from the bumps of everyday use, you'll want to invest in a sleeve as well."

That is obvious from the pics. I wouldn't trust my expensive MBP in it.

 

Wow. That is a really nice looking bag. I have a thin sleeve for my MB that I could probably use with it. Time to drop the big hint to the wife and kids (Father's Day). My wife has a Kindle case from them already and had a really good experience with getting answers to her questions. Maybe that will help. Very nice looking leather. I like the black and copper. Me want....

 

I keep going back and looking at this bag..I love it! It's so *eclectic* looking..and the colors are very sweet!

It would make a great bag for my Netbook (or future 13" lappy)

And again, the Customer Support would be awesome!

Cin

 

An expensive "gadget". Like it, despite being for 13" inchers only.

 

This is simply the result of Waterfield designing a notebook bag that has to fit a large variety of 13-inch notebooks ... so of which (such as a few of the MacBooks) have a footprint as large as a 14-inch notebook.

I'm not sure how much "wiggle room" the E6400 left inside the bag (Allison will have to chime in there) but it's pretty common for "some" bags designed for a 13-inch notebook to hold a 14-inch notebook, or for a bag designed for a 15-inch notebook to hold a 16-inch notebook.

That's why whenever we publish a bag review we try to test a variety of notebooks with the bag to see what it can or cannot handle.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

I agree that the real life tests are the best.

John

 

The Dell Latitude E6400 fills the bag right up, so I think they've optimized it for a 13 inch notebook with a sleeve. There's a bit of wiggle room on either side of the E6400, so even the 14 inch notebook might work with a thin sleeve.

 

do you think ill pay 250$ for bag are you joking :-( ill hold my laptop in my hand this cheaper for me

Thanks for the review

 

more of a fashion item then.

 

That's a great bag......am also an E6400 owner, glad to know it fits!

Just wish they made a version for bigger/more exp. lappies