McKlein, R Series, WALTON, Top Grain Cowhide Leather, 17" Leather Expandable Double Compartment Laptop Briefcase w/Removable Sleeve, Black (83985)

This is a real handsome bag and seems very well made. I’ve been shopping for larger laptop bags in retail stores, and found it comparable to a nice Victorinox bag for $300 and a Tumi bag that was on sale for $500. The quality is that nice, and states on the tag that it comes with a limited life-time warranty. I’m really impressed with it; and time will tell how well it holds up to travel. If I don’t update this post, no news is good news. I was going back and forth between ballistic nylon and leather, and I got leather for the looks. I was worried that it would be heavy, but I was really surprised how light this bag is. While it is heavier than an equivalent size ballistic nylon, it is just slightly so and it looks awesome, and the interior liners are beautiful (my pix don’t do it justice). And the bag I received seems to be made by a US company called McKlein, with a tag that says its leather, and it smells like leather, not like some cheap petroleum plastic China crap. This expandable bag has two big, deep main areas, one with a removable, extremely large and well-padded laptop case (although I have my own, which is quite thinner) and a couple of front zippered areas. There are tons of “pockets” inside each area to keep things organized and segregated; and the front deep area has a couple of further dividers for folders and papers. (although I would prefer just one divider). I was especially tickled by the inside pocket that is perfectly designed to fit my iPad air! Nice! It also has a rear zippered flap about 8" wide to fit through a stroller handle, What I have crammed in: 10” laptop with neoprene case, cabling packet for laptop, cabling packet for iphones/iPads, cabling packet for USB drives and misc electronics, two prescription sunglass in strong cases, one pair sunglasses in strong case, sony mirrorless camera in leather case, Bose headset in strong case, passport and ID case, small paperback book, one pair of rolled up shorts and rolled up t-shirt, sun visor, GPS text phone, iPhone, iPad air, folder with paper, thin mousepad, mouse, roll of tape, external mifi device, two wallets (travel and primary) packet with four lens filters for the camera, small plastic bag of candy, small spiral 3x5 notepad, iPad earphones in small hard case, flashlight, 5 pens and markers, portable corkscrew (critical!), eyeglass cleaner, eyedrops, Tidepen, earplugs, portable reading light, eye cover band, plastic bag of loose change, SWA drink coupons (of course!) and other papers. TMI? Maybe. Do I carry too much stuff, sure. Bottom line: It fits! Anyway, I put some effort into this review because I spent a lot of time researching and shopping to replace my worn-out Samsonite bag (and my research led me not to buy Samsonite) as will use it a lot and it’s important to me; and figured the same for you. Hope this helps, and so far, I DO recommend this bag. For the price and quality: it’s a steal! Really,one could easily pay three times more for it.

I purchased this bag as a holiday gift for my husband. As an attorney with an extremely heavy caseload who travels frequently, I wanted to find him a professional-looking, durable, spacious briefcase. What makes this bag great: Excellent Storage Capacity - plenty of room for motions and case files! The large center compartment with dividers has ample room for documents - Redwells and traditional file folders fit just as well as traditional 8.5x11" papers - expandable center compartment easily has the capacity to carry work for multi-day trips, can also fit a folded/packaged dress shirt from the dry cleaner (handy for spill-replacement or impromptu overnight stays) - a 17" laptop fits nicely in its padded compartment as advertised Travel Friendly - the rear exterior pocket converts to a suitcase-stacking panel - roller-bag handles slip right through (without stretching the bag) and the briefcase stays put - fits below seats and in overhead compartments on airplanes - potential to double as an overnight bag is convenient Good Value Overall - good construction, quality materials - after several trips it looks brand new - expect the bag to hold up well - professional look and function What you should know: - the bag is rather large (but that's a good thing if you need the storage) - the bag is a bit heavy (in part from the size/leather, you can also fill it with a lot) - watch the price for dips - I've seen it vary from just over 100 to 165 or so. . . a good value at any price, but get it cheaper if you can!

No question about it... this is an outstanding bag for hauling your laptop and (some) peripherals. Unless your laptop is from the 1980's, you will have no problem fitting it into this bag. There are numerous additional zipper compartments that can easily hold flat and relatively small items, including such things as pens, CDs, cables, thumb drives, calculators, and so on. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did not find this bag to be too heavy. Sure, it is going to get heavier the more you load into it, but the handles as well as the included shoulder strap make carrying it a breeze. I have not hauled it all the way across an airport fully loaded, but my guess is that you will have to carry it a long way before you need to take a break. It has at least six separate compartments (I'm not sure of the total number, because I keep finding more). I'm guessing there are 10-12 separate compartments in this bag in all (depending on how you count). On the plus side, this bag has plenty of room for your laptop and peripherals, several pads of paper, and plenty more. It seems to be very sturdy and I expect I will not have to replace it for a very long time. It is easy to carry, and is not so large that it can't fit under a normal-sized plane seat or easily in just about any overhead compartment. On the negative side, large bulky items will not fit easily in this bag. The compartments are designed mainly for fairly flat objects. A brick PC power supply will fit (barely), but anything more than 2-3 inches thick is going to be a problem. Some reviewers have pointed out the price for this bag can vary widely. I probably paid toward the upper end of the range I am guessing, which no doubt has affected my perception of how good a "value" this bag is. I would not hesitate to snatch this bag up if you can find it on sale somewhere in the low $100s range.

I'm always a little skeptical of purchasing items online, when I haven't been able to hold it in my hands before I bought it. I mostly bought this bag because of the excellent reviews that I found here. Most reviewers were honest and forthcoming with any and all information. I really like this bag for a couple of reasons, 1) It's a well made bag. Full genuine leather throughout the whole bag. Inside the laptop compartment there is a holder for the laptop itself, which can be taken out quickly for getting through airport screening. Three large pockets are also in the laptop section and 1 pocket alone should fit any ac adapter (it does for my Asus). The middle section, is one big zipper which allows the bag to expand and probably adds another inch to the bag itself. The next section has three separated compartments for folders, notebook, Nook, and Cocoon. All 3 fit very inside this section. The next section, is a little smaller than the other two, but aren't made for anything very big. Pens, wallet, cellphone, small calender, and other various items can be put in here. The padding in all of the compartments is of good quality and soft material. There is another zippered compartment for other things, but I haven't placed anything in there, there just pockets and are probably made for general items. Alot of people here said that the bag is heavy when loaded, which makes sense because this is a big bag, it's easy to put everything in here that you need. It's probably one of the biggest bags you can get, without putting wheels on it. I didn't want to have one with wheels, I don't travel through airports often and there's no need for me to wheel it around. There is a zippered part on the rear-side of the bag where you can attach it to the handle of a piece of luggage. One of my favorite features of this bag, and it might be a dumb one, but it has to do with the shoulder strap. I've seen a lot of bags where clasps for the straps for the bag is on the same side of the bag, directly across from each other. Whenever I used those bags, the bag tended to fall to one side if one side was a little heavier. This was always awkward and annoying. The McKlein is just the opposite. The clasps are diagonal from each other allowing the bag to not droop and have better weight balance. In my mind, this was something that told me that the engineers knew what they were doing when they made this bag. The shoulder strap is comfortable to wear and has a gel handle where it makes carrying on the shoulder easier. The handle itself is sturdy and large enough for someone like me with my big hands to hold onto it. I hope that if you purchase this, that you will be as happy with it as I am.

I am very pleased with my McKleinUSA Walton bag, model 83985, and it seems to be a solidly made and functional bag that will keep me pleased for a long time. It is definitely a good quality leather, the zippers and strap connectors are steel and work smoothly. It fits my 17” Dell Laptop very well in the removable sleeve that comes as part of the bag. This bag is very thoughtfully designed with many more features than listed in the product description, so I am giving a more complete rundown here. First, the expandable feature: There is a zipper in the very center of the bag that unzips all the way around the bag to allow another couple of inches of expansion space. It is not another pocket, just a way to stretch an existing one. This would be great for someone taking a change of clothes, for instance, for an overnight trip. On my one trip so far, I didn’t need it even though I had my laptop & charger, two portfolio folders (each an inch thick) and a Larry McMurtry novel that was about 3” thick! The laptop compartment (1st photo): there is a removable padded sleeve (2nd photo) that fits my 17” laptop perfectly (Width 16.41”/416.9mm x Depth 11.15”/283.2mm x Height 1.15”/29.2mm) and has a leather and Velcro strap to keep it shut, and a zippered compartment on the side. The sleeve can be used alone for carrying the laptop. Inside the compartment, there is a loop for the strap to go through to hold the sleeve in the bag and the laptop in the sleeve when in the bag. Also in this compartment are three pockets, each large enough for a charger, a mouse, or any similar item. The file compartment (3rd photo): this compartment has two dividers creating two pockets each approx. 1.5 inches wide and a third wider one. The width of the third depends on the use of an additional two smaller pockets on the outer side, a padded one designed for a tablet device (my iPad 3 fits well, but only without the case), with a Velcroed leather strap to secure it, and another smaller pocket appox. 5 inches wide and a half inch deep. The accessories pocket (4th photo): outside the file compartment is a zippered pocket with lots of easy-access storage for pens, a cell phone, cards, etc. The inside wall has a smaller zippered pouch to secure a passport or similar important items. There are two loops for pens/pencils. There is a clip for securing a key ring. Front and rear zippered pockets: the very front and rear of the bag each have a flat zippered pocket for quick access to a boarding pass or similar items. Ride-along feature: On the rear of the bag is a pocket with a zipper at the bottom that can be unzipped to allow a ride-along opening to slide onto the handle of a rolling bag. Left zipped, this would just make an additional pocket for carrying papers. This is between the laptop compartment and the rear flat zippered pocket. I have had this bag just a couple weeks, with one plane trip to Florida, and I was very favorably impressed. I will be sure to update this review if anything should go wrong, but at this point I am a very happy purchaser.

The bag itself has been fine, wear and tear is about normal. However, the strap is no longer usable as the loop holding the clasp that attaches to the bag has failed. This is not wear and tear, it is poorly welded metal that fell apart. When calling McKlein I was cheerfully told I could purchase a new strap for $20 plus shipping. No thanks, I will buy one from Amazon-- it can't be worse quality than the original!

Quality seems OK, and the bag has lots of pockets. It is not the softer leather my old bag had, and it feels bulky and hard. Unlike my previous bag, i am very concerned this one won't fit under the seat on the airplane, which will be a big problem as I count on my laptop and contents of its bag for my work when I fly.

I've had many laptop bags over the years - most of which were "good" bags for smaller than 17.3" wide-screen displays. The best at that time was a Swiss Army 15+ case - well made, padded and most of all provided excellent protection for my laptop, hard drives, etc. I had just purchased a new 17.3" Dell laptop and was looking for a very good bag that would have plenty of room for my laptop, full-sized keyboard, a full-sized mouse, fan, an external Seagate 2TB master backup drive, 2 portable drives, CD-ROMs, file folders, an extrra laptop battery, and loads more. Long story short and after purchasing another brand 17.3" bag that was cheap and could not provide the protection I wanted plus it didn't have a lot of room, I saw this bag here at Amazon.com. The price was a little more than I was hoping to spend but I read the reviews and did some research. I purchased this bag based on the reviews. For the first time in a long time, this bag is so much BETTER from what the reviews said and even the description. The bag is extremely WELL MADE of high quality real LEATHER - all of it including the handles. Because it is an expandable bag it allows for more storage than other bags I've seen. It's one of the most handsome bags I've ever seen - a TRUE BEAUTY in every way. I question the retail price of $200.00 because anything that comes close to the quality and features of this bag run over $400.00 elsewhere. I'm not one who reviews many items on Amazon but in this case I just had to share my experience with it. If you're looking for a high-quality bag for your 17.3" laptop/notebook with a lot of storage space that will last a very, very long time this is the one to buy. Don't think twice. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY, I promise.

Very disappointing, lot of good detail but leather quality was poor returned to vendor