Monday, November 4, 2013

REVIEW: ThinkTank My 2nd Brain Collection–The Best Bag To Hold Your Apple MacBook, iPad & Other Gadgets

Available in Black, Blue & Green for tablets up to 15” laptops
Think Tank My 2nd Brain Collection
Available in Black, Blue & Green for tablets up to 15” laptops

Those who use Apple fans are typically very loyal to the brand, so if you see them with one product you usually don’t have to look far to find several others. Despite my love of Windows over Mac, my family still has 11 Apple products in the house. As a result, I’m very well aware of the need for a good bag to house all of our Apple gear – especially when we all travel together.

When I first heard about the “My 2nd Brain” collection, I immediately contacted Think Tank Photo and asked them to send me the 13” for my wife. When it arrived, I was thrilled to see that I could now easily hold her MacBook Pro in addition to the family iPad, iPad Mini, iPod, and her iPhone plus all of the required chargers! What’s more, there was still room left for the house keys, flight papers, business cards, pens, sticky notes and more for the typical airline flight. My first thought was - my dream gadget bag has finally arrived!!!

I was even happier to discover that small versions designed for people just using tablets were available, as were bags large enough to accommodate 15” MacBook Pro’s. Additional colors are also available for those who don’t care for the basic black:

Harbor Blue & Mist Green also available
Harbor Blue & Mist Green also available

Video Review

Here’s a quick video walkthrough of the 13” version of this bag along with the PowerHouse Pro:


Click here to view on YouTube in 1080 HD

Support for Non-Apple Products

Of course all of the Apple devices on the market fit in this bag just fine, but I’m sure many will wonder about other devices. I was able to get my hands on the following products and confirm that they all worked in the locations as noted below in the 13” version I tested:

Think Tank Photo PowerHouse Pro

Think Tank Photo PowerHouse Pro Think Tank Photo PowerHouse Pro

Now sometimes you just need to carry your gadget chargers and stuff in your camera bag, so that’s where this bag comes in handy. Not pictured are two zipper slots on the back side which are handy for small adapters like the Lightning to 30-pin Adapter.

This was a nice bag that also features a Velcro movable interior divider, but I didn’t think it would be necessary for 2nd Brain Collection users. It could be handy for use in the bag below or your typical camera bag though.

Artificial Intelligence – The 17” Solution

Artificial Intelligence Laptop Bags Available in 13, 15 & 17” models Artificial Intelligence Laptop Bags Available in 13, 15 & 17” models

When I’m not traveling for work, I have an older 17” laptop that’s kinda bulky but powerful. As a result, I need a much bigger bag than My 2nd Brain collection (which is for tablets up to 15” laptops). As a result, I find myself still favoring my Artificial Intelligence laptop bag. Not only can it hold my laptop, but if I use a thinner ultrabook I can also store a pretty thick book for the flight in it too!

This bag has been my preferred laptop bag since I first purchased my first ThinkTankPhoto product in 2007 which included this bag with it. I’ve upgraded to the v2 version and now the new v3 edition addresses my biggest concern – better access to the front pocket. I love this bag, but if I were using ANYTHING less than 17” I would toss it in a heartbeat for the My 2nd Brain bags. There’s just so much more storage and a better front pocket design – including easy access to the phone that make it the ultimate travel bag for electronic gadgets.

Conclusion

Unless I’m using my 17” laptop or carrying books to read on the plane, this bag is my new gadget bag – for all of my devices (not just Apple ones). It’s a brilliant design and a great size.

My biggest gripe about it was that the 13” version that I tested was that it was so small that it was impossible to store my letter size portfolio. I like to use portfolios to hold a notepad and my travel information and keep them in the outside pocket for easy access, but I wasn’t able to do that with this bag. If this is important to you, then you might want to consider the 15” model just to have that option. I also wish that the strap had a little more padding, but this is easily solved by using a strap from another bag or just wrapping this included strap to suit your thickness.

These issues aside, this bag seems to be the same high quality that I am used to from ThinkTankPhoto which means it should hold up to years of wear and tear. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this bag and I really look forward to using the 15” version on my next flight!

Where to order (SPECIAL OFFER)

Click here to learn more and get FREE SHIPPING plus a FREE GIFT when you place your order!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Here’s a partial list of other Think Tank Photo reviews on this site:

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Posted by ronmartblog.com at 3:01 AM
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