Despite its buttoned-up name, the Timbuk2 Commute Pack ($120 direct) is a great backpack for the laptop-toting student. And of course, as its name suggests, it's equally accommodating for commuters who want to look casual but not so dressed down as to suggest that they're off to the gym instead of their job. Light in weight and relatively compact without being too cramped, the Commute Pack has plenty of compartments for all your stuff. It carries your computer in style, with a good level of comfort, and protects your things.

The Commute Pack's design evokes the look of the messenger bags that made Timbuk2's reputation. Since the bag is made of ballistic nylon, a material commonly used in laptop bags, it's fairly wear resistant. You can get the same pack partially made with hemp for $155, but that's a fairly hefty premium for an already pricey backpack. The model I reviewed is described as "black/black/black," which means that all three major panels on the pack are black. The hemp version is black/slate/black, and the ordering page suggests that other colors may be available in the future.

The pack's laptop compartment is roomy, and held my 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro (Penryn) comfortably. I tried the bag out with other 15-inch notebooks, and all fit fine except for a couple of Lenovo ThinkPads with extended batteries. The same ThinkPads with standard batteries fit well. The pack should accommodate ultraportable notebooks as well, and a 12-inch ThinkPad with extended battery had plenty of room. The laptop compartment is lined in a corduroy-woven material, so it's perfect for the notebook owner who wants to keep his or her system scratch-free.

The Commute Pack has many compartments, including a convenient pocket-sized compartment for an iPod or other MP3 player; it lacks a pass-through for the headphone cord, though. It could use one or two more zippered compartments for the odds and ends you likely carry around (to keep stuff like power adapters and USB keys from flopping about in the main compartments), but its abundant pockets are primed to store keys, ID cards, business cards, and other smallish items. There are two main zippered storage compartments, and two smaller pouches (one zippered, one with a combination of Velcro and buckles) on the pack. The long tether on the key hook is a nice touch: You can use the attached keys without completely removing your keychain from the pack.

The bag is optimized for people on the move, with two grab handles (most backpacks only have one), reflective tags on the back, and comfortable straps. The straps did take a bit of fiddling to get "just right," but I eventually found a comfortable length. Both were easy to adjust, and the angle of the straps makes wearing the pack over one shoulder almost more comfortable than using both straps (likely a concern for the hip student in your family).

On the whole, the Timbuk2 Commute Pack is easy to recommend and will work well both for the student and for the hip commuter with a "real job."

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