NbC: Cool Bananas OldSchool Netbook Messenger Bag Review

Cool Bananas have built up a good reputation for making well built & designed netbook cases. This certainly was the case when we previously looked at the Hard Cover netbook case and we are now reviewing the Cool Bananas OldSchool Netbook Messenger Bag courtesy of GearZap. Everything about the bag screams quality, it is made out of faux black leather with brass metal trimmings. This particular case should fit any netbook or CULV ultra-thin up to 12.1-inches.

The Cool Bananas OldSchool Netbook Messenger Bag costs £28.97. GearZap apply a small delivery charge on top of this depending on whether shipping is to the UK or mainland Europe. GearZap are a specialist retailer of netbook and laptop accessories. They have an extensive catalogue of products and deliver across Europe. Click through for our impressions on this OldSchool Netbook Messenger Bag.

The messenger bag has very classic styling as judged by its ‘OldSchool’ name. It is made out of high standard materials and wouldn’t be seen out of place for business use. Even just looking at it screams of premium quality.

The back of the bag includes one zipped compartment with enough room to place small accessories such as USB sticks or pens/pencils etc.

The styling of the bag is very chic. As with most other messenger bags it has a front flap that covers its main pouch, with a Cool Bananas logo on the bottom right. The bag’s dimensions are 34cm (W) x 29cm (H) x 7cm (D).

As befits the styling of the messenger bag, it’s nice to see that Cool Bananas embossed its logo into the flap rather than including its usual coloured logo that would have seemed out of place. The exterior is made out of a soft leatherette material. You’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between real leather as the texture looks and feels very similar.

As with other Cool Bananas products, stitching is of the highest quality. All of the seams feel robust and overall the bag has the feeling of a long lasting and durable product.

This extends to the zips that feel robust when opening and closing pockets. The zippers themselves are made out of a brass-like material that adds a touch of classiness to the overall proposition. They are large enough to easily grab hold of and have good grip.

The inside of the pockets are lined with black nylon, fitting well with the rest of the messenger bag.

The front flap is fastened by two magnetic poppers allowing for easy and convenient access.

The same nylon lining material is used on the underside of the flap, which prevents the bag getting dirty. Apart from the main compartment, there is another pocket held by a single magnetic fastener that sits in front of it.

It’s the little touches that count in any product and the metal fasteners used feel expensive. They come together easily and have just the right amount of resistance to easily open the flap.

The high quality of materials extends to the padded shoulder strap. The great thing about the messenger bag is that there is enough room for both a netbook and documents that means the bag can be used as a sole bag for work/business.

The Cool Bananas messenger bag should last a long time. It has been constructed well and the stitching feels secure. The same brass-like metal is used in the strap coupling.

The shoulder strap is made of a soft satin-like material that feels very nice in the hand. The padded part is made from the same leather style material and is thick enough to not cause any agro whilst on the move.

The front compartment has enough room for loose paperwork or small accessories. It is fastened by a single magnetic button.

The main compartment is divided into two areas. One is a padded area for your netbook and the other can be used to house pens/pencils and documents.

This can be seen more clearly below, with our Toshiba NB200 netbook on the left and space on the right for pens and documents.

Our Toshiba NB200 had no problems in sliding into the case with room for much more.

The messenger bag is designed for netbooks (or CULV ultrathins) with display sizes up to 12.1-inches. We tested this with the 11.6-inch Samsung N510 netbook that fit inside leaving plenty of space for other bits and pieces.

The bag itself is reasonably lightweight considering the build quality and materials used. According to our measurements, the messenger bag weighed 761g.

Overall, reviewing the OldSchool Netbook Messenger Bag reinforced the high regard we have for Cool Bananas products. There is no doubting the high quality of craftsmanship that has gone into its construction and the premium feel of materials used.

The only surprising thing about the bag is the price. It feels much more expensive than it is, for less than £30 you get a messenger bag that would not look out of place for business use. This is perhaps where the bag is targeted with the ability to carry around netbooks up to 12.1-inches in size along with enough room for documents and small accessories. Even for everyone else, it is a stylish bag that should last for a long time and comes fully recommended.

Many thanks to GearZap for sending through this bag for review! GearZap is the sister-site of Mobile Fun, one of the largest mobile accessory sites in the UK.