APC may not be a name you’d normally associate with laptop bags, but the company perhaps best known for its uninterruptible power supplies branched out into mobile accessories some time ago. It now offers a variety of laptop bags in a wide range of styles, of which the TC850N-EC Business Casual Messenger Bag is but one.

It may not have the most memorable name, but the TC850N-EC is easily one of the better laptop bags we’ve seen in our time, though it’s not without its foibles. Although APC refers to it as a ‘messenger bag’, the TC850N (as we’ll call it) has a definite business-like appearance.

Its black ballistic nylon construction is tastefully understated, and the only external adornments are a metallic APC badge on the front flap and rubber APC-stamped tabs on the two side mesh pockets. Since few people are likely to associate these three letters with laptop luggage (unlike other better-known brands), we think this makes the TC850N one of the safer options for carrying a portable PC around.

The wide shoulder strap is attached to the bag via large plastic buckles at each end, rather than the more usual sprung clips. Strap length is adjusted by pulling the strap through each buckle to suit, but this can result in a fair amount of unused strap flapping about at each side. This can be tucked into the side mesh pockets to keep it out of the way, but the arrangement isn’t as neat as an adjustable buckle on the strap itself, though it does allow for shorter strap lengths.

We weren’t overly impressed by the wide, floppy shoulder pad, either. It could stand a little more padding, but more of a problem was its inability to securely hold the strap over the shoulder -- it kept sliding off.

It’s a similar story with the carry handle – it’s a good size and shape for most hands, and well-padded, but it lacks a rigid insert and so isn’t as comfortable to hold as it could be when carrying a heavy load.

Since it’s stitched to the back of the bag rather than the middle, the handle also doesn’t provide an even centre of gravity and when held, the TC850N dangles at almost 45 degrees. This means that the bottom of the bag bumps into your thigh when walking and while the back of the bag is well-padded, it’s a still an annoyance if you’re carrying a heavy laptop.

Still, we're happy to let these two quibbles slide, thanks largely to the TC850N’s standout feature – pockets, and lot’s of ‘em. If you like to use a bag for more than just lugging a laptop around, more pockets mean more opportunities to keep your tackle safely stowed and easily accessible – unless you enjoy fishing around in a rats’ nest of mains chargers, USB leads and earphone cables, of course.

The TC850N has a total of 19 pockets, pouches and sleeves. There’s a large zipped pocket on the outer flap (which is held in place with both Velcro and two buckles, by the way) and two large mesh pockets at each end of the bag. The inside has a padded pocket suitable for laptops up to 15.4in, with an additional pocket for documents (or the APC Universal Notebook Battery 70) and a large main compartment with three mesh pockets of its own.

The front of the bag then has two smaller sleeves – the outermost one has a further two narrow pockets for pens and the like; the inner one has a veritable smorgasbord of zipped pouches and mesh pockets. We must confess to getting just a little bit excited about the sheer number and variety of storage options on offer, but in mitigation, that’s only because we seldom see a laptop bag that’s been so well thought out in this respect. Honest.

So, despite its minor faults, we really rather like the TC850N and if you like your laptop bag to err on the side of excess when it comes to interior organisational options (i.e. pockets), then it’s really hard to beat. And for that matter, so is the price – at a mere £30, the APC TC850N-EC is a complete bargain.

APC TC850N-EC Business Casual Messenger Bag

Specifications

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