APC TravelPower Backpack Review

What's so cool about a backpack? The APC TravelPower line of laptop bags are an innovative approach to portability for the mobile professional and gadget freak.

Summary

It’s not very often that we find it necessary to review a laptop bag. With our reputation of reviewing so many products with what we call "the cool factor" you may be wondering "what’s so cool about a laptop bag?"

The APC TravelPower line of laptop cases does have that "cool factor" that we look for. These are not your ordinary laptop bags. With a built-in surge protector and travel charger for your portable devices, the APC TravelPower lineup shows us how style, function and technology can blend together to make some pretty interesting and useful products.

Introduction

If you travel with a laptop, mobile phone, personal digital assistant or digital media player, you know how inconvenient it can be to have to bring along chargers for each component. What’s worse is having to charge all of those devices in your hotel room the night before an early flight. How many times have you done that – with cables and devices spread out all over the room?

APC’s solution to this is their line of TravelPower laptop bags. With TavelPower, you can charge all of these devices with one source, and even charge them while they are packed away in the bag.

American Power Conversion (APC) is well-known as a supplier for power conditioning and protection in the enterprise computing market. If you’ve ever been in a server room, chances are you’ve seen an APC Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) or a surge protector. APC also has a strong consumer products division and it seems like they have been diversifying their offerings lately. Their consumer products range from UPSes to surge protectors to products for mobile computing. In this review, we take a look at their TravelPower line of laptop cases.

The APC TravelPower Backpack can carry and power your laptop, PDA and wireless phone.

What’s So Special About A Backpack?

The TravelPower cases are notebook carrying cases with integrated universal charging components. The idea behind the TravelPower is that you can charge your phone, PDA and laptop computer all with one charger – and even while they are all still in the case.

APC offers three types of TravelPower cases: a 1000 cubic-inch synthetic leather case, a 1300 cubic-inch nylon case and a 1900 cubic-inch backpack version. The unit we tested was the TravelPower Backpack.

All three variations of the TravelPower cases include the APC TravelPower universal power adapter. The adapter is a power brick that weighs about half a pound and is about 6-inches high by 2.75-inches wide by 1.75-inches thick. Fully unraveled, the cable can reach about 11.5 feet. It comes with three power tips, allowing you to hook it up to a 12-volt cigarette lighter or power source in an automobile, an airline power adapter, and a regular two prong AC plug for standard electrical outlets.

The adapter has a selectable voltage dial that lets you adjust it to the proper setting for your laptop. Included with the adapter are nine tips made to connect to the most popular makes of laptop computers from Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Panasonic, Sony, and Toshiba. It also features built-in circuit protection to protect your equipment from surges and spikes. The power adapter will also automatically shutdown when connected to your car battery to prevent the battery from fully draining.

On the top left-hand side of the power adapter is a USB plug that provides power for the USB charger for your phones and PDAs. Included is a USB power splitter that splits the one USB port into two. From here you can connect a USB charger for your phone and PDA (or other devices) and charge or power them all from the single adapter. All three versions of the case have pouches designed specifically to hold the power adapter, PDA and cell phone and have guides that help you neatly route the charging cables to each device.

The APC TravelPower universal adapter with the attached USB power splitter.

The TravelPower backpack also comes with an APC-branded Kryptonite luggage lock and a removable “spill-proof” pouch. Curiously, the backpack doesn’t have the holes in the zipper pulls that allow a lock to easily be attached. In order to use the lock, you would have to hook it to the ends of the zipper pulls. However, most locks are not allowed in air travel anymore.

Usability and Testing

Forget about the power adapter for a minute, the APC TravelPower backpack is one of the best designed, most useful backpacks we’ve ever used. There are intelligently laid-out pockets everywhere