The North Face has been making mountaineering and hiking gear for years, so you’d think its product designers would know their way around a backpack, right? Well, they do — provided the backpack in question is aimed at folks headed into the wilderness. The North Face Surge II Charged Daypack Comfortable, even when carrying heavier loads. 41 liters is more space than most people will ever need on their daily commute or an overnight trip. Minimal padding to protect laptops and tablets. Small interior pockets make the pack less versatile than it could be. Battery implementation feels tacked on, because it is. A complete failure in every way Solid with some issues Very good, but not quite great Excellent, with room to kvetch But The North Face’s new Surge II Charged Daypack is meant for carrying a laptop instead of a pair of crampons; it can simultaneously protect and charge USB-powered hardware, thanks to a built-in battery pack. Unfortunately, if the time I spent with the Surge II is any indication, the company’s approach to the charge-while-you-schlep concept could use some tinkering.

It can hold 41 liters’ worth of stuff, more than enough space for overnight trip. Or, if you were headed into work, you could fit your lunch, attaché, gym clothes and your laptop and tablet. Its wide, well-padded straps mitigate weight well. No matter what I stuffed into the Surge II Charged Daypack over the week that I tested it, I never felt like the straps were digging into my shoulders. On the outside of the bag, you’ll find a couple of horizontal stash pockets, a water bottle pocket and a zippered pocket that’s about the right size for a sunglasses case. miwok backpack reviewFor the safety-first set, there’s a reinforced loop near the base for a rear bike light, and the chest strap buckle doubles as a rescue whistle.trayvon backpack jewelry The Surge II Charged Daypack’s roomy interior is subdivided into three main sections: a laptop/tablet compartment, a central carry-all area, and an compartment full of a gazillion small pockets that also contains the aforementioned removable battery pack (more on that in a bit).kid cudi backpack ebay

The bag’s laptop compartment can accommodate computers up to 17 inches. In the front of the laptop compartment, there’s an extra smaller sleeve which I found could hold a Nexus 10 tablet snugly. Well, it would be, if there were adequate padding to protect your hardware from getting knocked around on your commute, or dinged by the rest of the crap in your bag. The section of bag next the laptop compartment? It’s roomy, and I could fit a change of clothes and a dopp kit into it. marmot kosmo backpack reviewBut a lack of padding between the interior compartments means any hard or heavy gear you jam into it could wind up damaging your laptop or tablet.targus crave 16 laptop backpack review The final large, zippered compartment is taken up by a ton of small pockets sized to accommodate smartphones, cables and the like. mcculloch backpack steam cleaner

I get what The North Face was trying to do here, but unfortunately these pockets are too small to allow for much customization. So if you want to stash anything larger than an iPhone 5 or a small external drive, you’re hosed. One of these frustratingly small pockets is designed to hold the backpack’s Joey T1 battery: a 5.5-ounce, 5-volt 13Wh lithium polymer battery pack that the company claims can charge a smartphone battery twice, or give a life-extending boost to your tablet or digital camera. (This is the same battery pack Timbuk2 and other bag-makers are using in their charging packs.) While it was able to power my tablet as advertised, it only managed to charge my iPhone 5’s battery 1.25 times. Also, while there’s plenty of cable management for your devices’ charging cables, the Joey T1 battery pack has its own long USB cable for charging it up, and there’s nothing to hold it in place. Opening the pack from the top, I found the cable often got in the way of taking my stuff out of the bag.

I wanted to like the Surge II Charged Daypack, but The North Face made that impossible. Conceptually, it’s a time-tested pack design from a reputable company. But the lackluster aftermarket battery pack seems to have been added as an afterthought, and the interior appears to have been arranged with very little thought at all. Anyone looking for a new bag and battery to carry and power their gear would be better off buying them separately. When it comes down to it the Power Q Laptop Backpack is cool and convenient, but at nearly $200 it's really expensive. Especially considering how little storage capacity it has. That said while it is relatively small we can definitely see its usefulness for long commutes, trade shows and conferences. Up to two smartphone charges Relatively small storage capacity Everyone who uses a laptop for business travel (or commuting) likes a good sturdy laptop bag. And SF-based Timbuk2 makes good ones. The thing is, what happens if you're out all day and your various mobile devices die?

You can try to find an available outlet (we've all asked bartenders if it's OK to plug your phone into an outlet behind the bar) but it's so much better to be self-sufficient.Apparently we here at TechRadar aren't alone. While we've been using Timbuk2 bags for some time we were pretty excited to get our hands on the Power Q Laptop Backpack. Timbuk2 has been selling the Q Laptop Backpack for some time now but the Power Q kicks it up a notch by partnering with Joey Energy and including the company's T1 Power Supply charging pack.The Joey T1 Power Supply is actually pretty cool. It charges via micro USB and you can use it to charge any device that draws power from a USB port. On a recent trip to Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus we taxed our phone's battery using GPS to get there from the airport and used the Joey T1-equipped Power Q Laptop Backpack on the way back to the hotel to get a full charge.The Q Laptop Backpack is pretty much what you'd expect from a Timbuk2 bag. It boasts a ton of compartments, has great internal organization and is super-comfortable.

The thing is, the Q Laptop Backpack is $109 where the Power Q is $199!Don't get us wrong, the Power Q Laptop Backpack is plenty cool, but what makes it standout is the inclusion of the Joey T1 Power Supply. With the ability to give your smartphone up to two full charges you can confidently hit the road with the knowledge that you won't run out of juice when you most need it. Add to that the Power Q rocks a dedicated pocket for the Joey T1 Power Supply. Of course, it's not really that hard to just chuck the thing in the bottom of any bag and hit the road.We likedBeing a Timbuk2 bag we really liked how comfortable the bag is. Add to that the multitude of compartments and pockets and we're sure that our tech tools will be safe and sound. As for the Joey T1 Power Supply, being able to charge a smart phone two times while on the go is awesome.We dislikedWhile Timbuk2 offers two bags that accommodate the Joey T1 Power Supply, both are relatively small. If you were hoping to have one bag that does it all, holds all of your gadgets as well as enough clothes for a short trip then you'll no doubt be disappointed by the Power Q's relatively small storage capacity.