By Ned Jordan
The iSafe backpack is a bag designed to carry a notebook computer. It has a
built-in padded sleeve for your computer at the back of its main compartment,
which also has enough room for a few books or other things. A second compartment
sits in front of the first and provides a good deal of additional storage along
with several compartments in which you can store pens, small electronic devices,
or the like. There's also a pocket attached to the front for additional small
items. The straps have an average amount of padding and an unpadded hip strap is
also provided so you can carry light loads comfortably and heavier loads for a
short period of time, but the lack of extra padding will probably have you
feeling the heavier loads after a while.
So far all of this sounds like pretty standard stuff for your typical
computer backpack, but there is one major difference between the iSafe and
typical bags. The iSafe comes with a built-in security system. Now this isn't
the kind of security system that will protect your belongings when you're not
watching your bag, but rather an alarm to call for help if you feel threatened '
a backpack with a panic button. Hidden in one of the straps below a piece of
fabric that will prevent you from accidentally triggering it is a button that
will set off the alarm. The alarm itself is packed into the front of the small
outside pocket, and it emits a very high pitched beeping noise when triggered as
well as flashing lights on the back of the pack. The alarm is quite loud to the
point that you can damage your hearing if you trigger it indoors, but outdoors
it will certainly raise attention for quite a distance and provide plenty of
motivation to send a would-be assailant running.
As a personal safety device that is of good use to a night school student or
anyone else who feels uncomfortable while alone at night, that backpack is an
excellent choice. As a safety device for a notebook, though, it wouldn't be my
first choice. The bag doesn't provide any padding for the top of the notebook
compartment, holding the computer in place with a simple Velcro strap. While the
bag will hold a 17" notebook, the corners of the computer press up against the
unpadded top of the bag. It may not seem like the top of a backpack would need
much padding, but bags are often crammed into small spaces or piled on top of
each other and in either of these cases your notebook would be vulnerable. On
the other end of the spectrum, a notebook slides into the compartment and gets a
bit lost in it leaving it free to slide around in the pocket. You're probably
best off using it with a mid-sized notebook and then primarily when your concern
for you own safety exceeds that of your concern for your notebook.
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