By Casey Hanisko
While on the lookout for a bag that could serve as a purse and also carry my laptop or ipad, I came across the Audine Laptop Brief. In my closet I already have a backpack that holds a laptop, a shoulder bag from Eagle Creek that can hold a laptop and many other items, and I have many purses and other bags but none had the style and functionality that I was quite looking for as a marketing and communications professional. Granted, I am in the travel industry and backpack would work, but I am also a woman and hey, I like a little style.
When I received the Audine Laptop Brief in the mail, I was a little surprised by the width of the bag. It didn’t leave much room in the main pocket for anything besides the laptop or ipad. However, I loved the look of the bag immediately. A steely gray with black trim, it has a nice cool feel to it. It has a strap for your shoulder that adjusts and holds nicely and also has stylish handle that can be used instead of the shoulder strap.
This past week I took the Audine bag on its first major functionality test, ITB-Berlin travel conference. I knew I would need it to hold my ipad, paperwork, snacks, pens, money etc. I was unsure whether it could hold all of those items due to its slim design. I found that it could, just barely. The bag has three pockets, one main in the center, a slim zip pocket on one side and another larger zip pocket on the other side with a few sewn in pouches for organizing items. I really appreciated all the zipped pouches, it left me feeling secure that my items would not fall out of my bag.
In the main pouch my ipad fit easily and had I carried my personal MacBook Air it would have as well. For work, I use a MacBook Pro and that fits however due to how slim the main compartment is it doesn’t leave room for a lot of other items. On two of the show days I brought my larger Eagle Creek bag with the following inside it: my laptop cords, spare clothes, water bottle and the Audine Laptop Brief filled with the items I mentioned above. I left the larger bag at our booth and took the smaller one to my appointments.
In summary, the bag is functional and stylish and I will continue to use it when going to meetings and for conferences. If I were to recommend any changes it would be to increase the width of the bag just a bit so it is slightly less slim and also include an inside zip pocket in the main pouch.