ETA on the Empire Builders?

[bradenmcg]

I ordered a Black-Black-Blue Empire Builder & sleeve combo back in October... Just wondering when we can expect to see them. I know the site was showing December when I ordered, but I believe it's been pushed to January, right?

Anxiously awaiting my new bag...

[Darcy]

The Empire Builder (including yours!) is on schedule to ship in late January.

We expect that our production delays will only be a not so fond memory by early next year.

Thanks for your patience

[bradenmcg]

yay... can't wait to have a nice bag to go with my nice laptop. getting sick of lugging around this horrible pile of junk that is a Targus bag.

[bradenmcg]

bumpity bump...

we're more than halfway through January, is there a ship date yet for the 'Builders?

[Darcy]

Yes! Late January.

[bradenmcg]

curses! foiled again!

[Ph4lynx]

YAY!!

I got my new Empire Builder today.
This is a good day.
It has 3 spots for pens.
It is cool.

[Neipa]

I got my new Empire Builder today.

Hmmm.... I can't wait! It's great news to see they're shipping.

I had originally been all about a brain bag and was going to order one, but my wife talked me into the Empire builder and sealed the deal by offering to get it as a gift . I hope mine isn't too far behind!

[Darcy]

Sorry for the delay everyone! I know I said late January, but the handles were late. We should be getting them in tomorrow, which means Empire Builders are shipping all week.

[bradenmcg]

I got mine yesterday. I'm very happy with the bag's quality, although the "absolute" shoulder strap's quality is lacking (the little rubbery thingies are falling off and i've only used it twice so far).

Part of me wishes there had been a Black-navy-navy (rather than black-black-navy) combo - I'm very thankful that you guys were able to switch me to navy instead of sapphire though. I think black and sapphire with no "intermediate" color would've been overpowering.

It would've been cool to see something primarily black, with navy accents on the outside (the reinforcement around the pockets, etc) and then Sapphire on the inside though. Sort of a black-navy blue-HELLO BRIGHT BLUE! combination.

so far it is a good bag, although i'm a bit cramped for space in it. My old Targus bag had three compartments, one for notebook, one for files, and one for "stuff." I'm using the front flap area on the EB for "stuff" and it's kind of a tight fit for what I carry... I'm also running into a thickness issue with the cd case I jam in the bag, but i believe I can resolve it by switching to one that holds two CDs per page rather than just one - there's plenty of WIDTH in the bag, just not as much thickness as i'm used to.

The Size 3 laptop sleeve is good for a 15" T42p - a little "floppy" due to the thinness of the laptop, but it's secure enough for me. I was able to fit the extended battery in as well - the top still shuts and everything, although it does bulge very slightly. The (lack of) thickness is a bigger problem than the depth IMHO... I'm going to check out the sizes one more time and see if something else might fit a bit more snugly (even if it does make it impossible to fit the 9-cell battery, I don't mind).

The buckle on the flap is freaking awesome - i love the size and it's easy to operate even one-handed. i don't often need to get in & out of there though.

If there were an empire builder with another zippered location (maybe 1-1.5" thick) for "stuff" on the side closest to your body, I would be all over it... that extra space would be quite useful to me. As it is though i'm pretty pleased with mine, minus the "dying" grip beads on the strap. I will say that the strap is causing me psychological issues too, but in a good way - I keep checking my shoulder because I think the bag has fallen off or is slipping, since I CAN'T FEEL THE WEIGHT with this strap. If they could just do something else to "gripify" it rather than the little sticky beads that fall right off...

The bag is beautiful, very sturdy, and it is holding everything i need - it's just a tight fit for me. I'd love something bigger... However, I'm not going to return this bag, and there's no way in hell I'm going back to my old Targus pile of junk now!