I bought a 15" slim and light laptop for college and I was trying to decide what type of bag I should buy to carry it around at college?
What else will I need to carry around with me?
Should I buy a messenger/shoulder bag or a backpack?
I just got a Timbuk2 Q Laptop backpack for my kid.
I saw one at the CES back in January that had solar panels for charging but my kid thought that was overkill.
Thanks - what type of stuff will I have to carry around?
I think it’s preference. My son just used the Adidas backpack he already had. He’s not usually toting around a lot of stuff like he was in high school. Maybe his laptop, a notebook and a textbook. Most classes didn’t even use the text in class.
I have a laptop case for my laptop and then put that in my backpack. I like the extra protection and it found it for pretty cheap on Amazon (I think $10-12).
My kids used the same North Face laptop backpacks they had in high school. You can get pretty good buys on quality backpack and messenger bags on Ebags.
My kids (D and S) both used North Face backpacks – they had ones with a compartment for a laptop. Not sure what else they carried around – I’m guessing notebooks and at times textbooks.
how heavy/big and how many textbooks will I need to carry around?
I would prefer to use a messenger bag but not at the expense of being uncomfortable.
So I’m planning on buying a North Face Backpack because I need back support from all the years I carried to much on my back from my horrible Jansport Backpack. To me personally I don’t care if it costs $100 because my back needs support.
So far I have only needed to bring books for one of my courses. If you have a car put the books in the trunk inside something that locks. That is how I’m planning on transporting books.
Hard to say what you’ll find yourself carrying around. Many professors don’t expect textbooks to be used in class, but there are always exceptions.
You may have days you have one class, other days you could have 4. That will impact what you carry as well, as will the amount of time between classes.
A backpack would be safest - as long as you use both straps. Much better for your back.
FWIW my kids generally didn’t bring textbooks to class but when they were studying for exams they would bring textbooks with them to the library when needed.
For the most part, professors will specify if you need to bring the textbook to class but generally you don’t. I personally carry my laptop, charging cables for laptop and phone, notebooks for class (I just can’t do the taking notes on a laptop thing but it works for some), a pouch with pencils, pens, etc., my school ID, and my phone. I have had my LL Bean canvas and leather messenger bag since Christmas of my senior year of high school and it’s held up well. However, my campus is pretty small–nothing’s more than a 7 minute walk if you’re on the main campus. If it were bigger I’d probably have preferred a backpack.
Most people at my campus had a regular backpack - usually Herschel or North Face. I had a messenger bag and it suited my needs. I got the Bag of Holding from ThinkGeek. I normally just carried around my Surface Book and one or two textbooks. I normally never needed my textbooks for the majority of my classes though. For classes like foreign language (Spanish), it was expected that we always carried the textbook. Other classes, not so much. Getting the e-text version of the book is also an option. Heck, one of my professors even gave us free copies of the e-text so we would have no excuse not to have the textbook - I’m not sure how legal this was 
Thanks!
Lol!!!