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Ogio Metro is a nice backpack that usually costs ~ $70US, which is (IMHO) far too expensive. However, Amazon recently had a sale and Ogio Metros were going for half-price (much more reasonable) with free shipping. Since I needed a new backpack, I bought a black Metro (it also comes in “indigo” blue and an ugly “allotrope” green). There are some other reviews out there, but they didn’t answer some the questions I had about the backpack when I was considering whether to buy it. Perhaps my thoughts and photographs will help someone make a more informed choice.

(You may notice that the photographs are very noisy and badly focused. That is because lacking a real camera on hand, I took the pictures with my cell phone.)

The backpack is fairly large — 39L (2400 cubic inches) according to the specs, which is more than most street backpacks. The basic design is a padded laptop compartment in the back, a large main compartment, and a bunch of extra pockets. The straps are wide and comfortable (at least, more comfortable than my current backpack). There is also a cross-strap, useful if you carry heavy loads.

The laptop compartment is next to your back, and is accessible with a zipper from the right side. The compartment is padded on the side facing your back, on the side facing the main compartment, and below. The padding is not particularly thick, but should protect against scratches etc. Unfortunately, there is no padding at the top of the compartment (in fact, the backpack material is particularly thin there). As a result, even though there is no zipper on the top, the laptop compartment is not rain-proof, and you will need to wrap your laptop in a plastic bag if you are facing a drizzle.

The laptop pocket is quite large. You can see that a 15.4″ widescreen laptop fits in easily with room to spare on all sides. The side zipper is wide enough to allow you to quickly take the laptop out for airport security etc.

On the top side of the backpack, there is the handle, a headphone hole, and a couple of pockets. The handle is wide, strong, padded, and very comfortable. In my experience, backpack handles are not to be scoffed at; if you have to carry your backpack in your hands (e.g. in some museums, you cannot carry a backpack on your back), the design of the handle makes a bid difference. Below the handle, at the very top of the backpack, is a “digital audio pouch”. It is too small to fit a CD (let alone a CD player) so I assume it is intended for an iPod, which I do not have. Below the iPod pocket there is a hole, protected by a tripartite silicone flap, for a headphone cord; the hole is accessible both from the iPod pod and from the main compartment. In my opinion, this headphone hole is a misfeature: it is wide enough to let water drip inside the main compartment. I suppose the designers imagined the silicone would keep the water out, but an experiment (pouring a tablespoon of water onto the headphone hole) shows that in reality it doesn’t work so well. If you are going out in the rain, close the headphone hole with a piece of scotch tape. Below the headphone-and-water hole, Ogio designers added a wide pocket lined with a soft anti-scratch material for CD’s and other similar objects. Such a pocket is absolutely invaluable for someone who carries install media for three Linux distros around all day, and Ogio designers are to be commended for adding their invention.

The main compartment is reachable by a (in my opinion) small flap below the CD pocket. Although I suppose that the small opening might make the beckpack stronger… In any case, the main compartment is absolutely enormous. I fit in three of my thickest books (Theory of Functions (3 volumes in 1) by Markushevich, Algebraic Topology by Hatcher, and the MIT Algorithms book — 15 cm of book total!), and I am guessing I only filled 40-45% of the compartment’s volume. (Granted, much of the remaining volume was above the books; but with some care and padding, one could probably carry 6 or 7 copies of Algorithms in this backpack.)

In the back of the main compartment, on the laptop compartment wall, there is a small pocket which I assume is intended for thin-and-light laptops. A 12″ iBook might fit in, with some struggle. My 15.4″ laptop had no hope — but that’s what the back compartment is for.

Then, there are pockets. Two small pockets on the right. A tall, thin pocket on the left (useful for an umbrella). A pretty large padded pocket on the bottom. And finally, above that, a large pocket with 8 pockets inside it! In other words, pockets galore. (As an aside: one can never have too many pockets.)

Finally, I must comment on logos. There are two very large, reflective Ogio logos (one the straps and on the back of the backpack). Furthermore, almost all zippers have large, metal tongues with the Ogio logos on them (and outlined in black plastic). Wearing the backpack, one feels like a walking advertisement or a corporate whore. Not very pleasant.

PRO
cavernous interior
good quality
exhilirating number of pockets
well-thought-out laptop compartment
comfortable straps

CON
too many logos
headphone hole can let in rain
main compartment door too small

Conclusion: a very good backpack, if you can find it on sale.

comfortable straps

laptop compartment

15.4″ laptop fits

strong handle

“digital audio pouch” is really iPod pocket

headphone hole = bad idea

anti-scratch CD pocket = good idea

main compartment

main compartment with books (notice how much space is left)

that’s 15 cm of books!

short pockets

long pocket

many pockets

too many logos

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 at 22:16 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.