Slappa Koa with 7200 review

Hello all,

I travel for a living. I have been on the road 31 weeks this year and this week will make 32. I want/need the 7200 for development and gaming. I also need a good backpack to haul this thing around.

With my 9262 I used an old version of the Targus XL. I really liked the comfort of the backpack but needed to carry more stuff. When I received my 7200 it barely fit in the old Targus XL. The laptop compartment was stretched tight on the corners of the 7200. I chose the Slappa Koa after an exhaustive search.

The Koa is overall a good backpack but not the ultimate backpack.

The 7200 fits well in the laptop compartment. The laptop compartment could be about 1/2 an inch longer and it would be better. You can just close the padded flap over the 7200. A little more room would be better. The laptop compartment is nicely padded and has some extra pouches for other stuff.

There is a seperate compartment that I store the power supply and some misc. stuff in. Lots of pockets and compartment to put things.

The Koa face has 3 zippered pouched built into the face that hold a suprising amount of things. With some good organization you should only have to get into the main part of the backpack for the laptop and power supply.

The Koa is made of quality materials and has good attention to detail. It feels sturdy and should last a long time.

A great feature of the Koa for travelers is that you can open the backpack like a clamshell and lie your laptop on the xray belt flat without removing it from the backpack. This means your laptop travels through security still in its padded pouch. TSA allows this type of laptop storage and it is nice, really nice for the frequent traveler.

Now the downside. The backpack is not a comfortable as my old Targus XL. The shape of the shoulder straps are not as comfortable. I think they are bit thinner side to side than the old Targus XL. The back padding is primarily in the shape of the Slappa Hand logo that rests in the small of your back. This is not comfortable. It concentrates most of the pressure in one spot on your back. This helps to keep good circulation on your back but the Targus system was more comfortable to wear, especially for longer periods of time. This is a design flaw in my opinion. Since comfort is different for each person and each body type, YMMV.

Travelers:
The Koa is a fat backpack. I have to force the backpack into the overhead on a regional jet. It fits but it takes a bit of effort to force it into the bin. On a Airbus 319 or 320 the backpack takes the whole vertical space in an overhead bin.

Conclusion:
The Koa is a good serviceable backpack for the 7200 with a few drawbacks. I will hang on to it and see if it gets a bit more comfortable with use as it gets broken in. My old Targus XL was five years old and was probably molded exactly to my body. I will give the Koa a chance to grow on me here. The lie flat clamshell design is great for airport security.

 

thanks for the review, still trying to decide which back pack myself. Hmmm do any of them come with a forklift for the PSU lol.

 

well i have the backpack but not my NP7280/X7200

tried it on few weeks ago and felt that its alright, thing is i tried Loading a dumbbell (6kg) in the second Compartment and tried carrying it, it was heavy and if only the Slappa Cushion Hand Logo was Lower to the hip level where majority of the weight are at..

 

Shame it doesn't fit anything larger than a 17.3" laptop, I'm still looking for a decent bag for my incoming X8100.