howdy ~
I'm currently in the middle of a self-imposed sabbatical from the work world and apologize in advance for the tardy response.
Here are my impressions:
1) LOVED THE PHONE HELP PLACING THE ORDER. Very helpful lady and she spent a lot of time with me making sure I understood everything about the order. As I am in sales, this was clearly an effort to make sure expectations were understood so they could be exceeded and I wouldn't be disappointed. KUDOs to the counter help in the store.
2) WOW ~ what a bag. I love the look and am ABSOLUTELY confident that my precious PB15 is very safe and secure within the EB/BrainCell combo.
3) Like the Absolute Shoulder Strap. I also found it could be bouncy but experimented some and for me, the following seems to work well and control most of the bouncing. When adjusting the strap, I experimented with having the "spongy" part of the strap CLOSER to one end of the adjusted length than the other. When I received the strap, it was centered between the buckles. By adjusting the strap this way, it not only helps control the bounce, but also allows me to carry the EB more behind my hip and slightly vertical rather than along my side and horizontal. This is very helpful when sprinting between gates at Denver or O'Hare.

4) Way cool looks. Now that I have a TB bag, I scope out the bags of others I see schlepping around and I have not seen ONE other TB bag. (even though I'm on sabbatical, I'm still out and about quite a bit). Love the SERIOUS zippers, waterproof zipper gasket and the handles are very comfortable.
5) Love the mag/newspaper slot pocket on the rear of the bag. ALWAYS in use
6) Love the travel docs pocket ~ although since I use my passport to show proof of ID at TSA checkpoints, I have to be careful and use the zippered pocket for the passport instead.
Challenges:
a) Mine falls over like many of the others. It always falls over to the flap side which surprises me as the PB is on the side opposite the flap. Must have something to do with the way I pack the bag and the "unstructured nature" of the space underneath the flap. I also have placed a rather full "travel wallet" in the outside zippered pocket of the flap which is quite heavy. This might tip the bag over more easily and i'm sure stowing the variety of power cords, console cables, Aiport Express, flash drives, medication, loose change don't help matters either.
b) I seriously doubt that I could cram everything I listed in my "please comment and recommend" post in the EB ~ but I got a very professional bag which I can carry into any meeting I need. I'm considering an Aeronaut and possible one of the "tote" bags for all the other miscellany which I find myself onsite with.
c) I would probably line the inside of the bag with a much lighter color. I have the Black/Steel/Steel model and while the padded end caps inside the bag are Steel, the tabbed dividers are black and can make it hard to get the contrast you'd like in lower light situations. White might be too light and show dirt too easily, but a light tan or grey may be better
d) CD/DVD Storage? I don't want to carry a seperate container for these. my previous Briggs/Riley had storage sleeves for 4 platters on the front of the laptop suspension system. The EB doesn't have a dedicated place nor does the BrainCell. So, I put the platters I need to carry into rigid plastic sleeves and let them rattle loose in the zippered pouch underneath the flap. I'd add several slots for CD/DVD storage to BOTH the Braincell as well as the inside of the EB on the flap side (the side opposite to where the BC attaches, or include them on one of the dividers.
e) Slot designed for business cards doesn't have a large enough capacity. I generally travel for 3-4 days at a time and need to carry sufficient cards for several meetings which can have large numbers of attendees. I can fit 10 to 15 cards in the slot and then a rubber band of "extras" in the zippered pouch underneath the flap.
f) Where do I attach my cell phone/blackberry. With my Briggs/Riley, I had gotten accustomed to taking my blackberry holster and cell phone holster and attaching them to the loops on either the shoulder straps or more frequently the ones on the sides of the bag. This was also convenient for attaching a water bottle with a carabiner or the BR water bottle attachment. This was particularly helpful when i had a bag over both shoulders as they would hit my torso at the hips and bounce against the cell/blackberry as well as once seated in a plane so I wouldn't lose one (e.g. leave it behind). The newspaper/magazine slot pocket has two pockets which might work for a BB/cell but they would need to be lined with something which would prevent the devices from sliding out. If this was used, I'd still have to find a place to stow the holster while the devices are the pockets.
g) Not sure where I'd put the snake charmer. I see this as a very desirable component and need to call TB to see if the redesigned SnakeCharmer works with the EB.
Summary: Love the bag ~ minor tweaks would be great. Will buy more TB bags simply due to the quality. Looking at Aeronaut, Utility Totes and possibly a Brain Bag.
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