Proporta Gadget Bag Reviewed
Every now and then you need some extensive on the road entertainment and might want to carry a PSP, DS, portable media player, camera, GPS, and a wealth of other gadgets on your person.
You can tuck them haphazardly into a laptop bag, shoulder bag, carrier bag or a burlap sack but all of those would be less than ideal, particularly if some of your precious gadgets lack individual cases.
Proporta have the solution in the form of the aptly named “Gadget Bag” which is, as you might have guessed, a bag for all of your gadgets.
The Proporta Gadget Bag is small and compact, closer in size to a handbag than most heftier laptop bags. This compact size makes it great for putting inside a suitcase or sports bag, using it as a carry-on luggage pack in flight, or just having it on your lap in the car. The included shoulder strap also makes it wearable, but the style conscious might want to avoid wearing it as a shoulder bag.
In terms of space the Proporta Gadget Bag has two pockets which will fit the ancient fat Nintendo DS and Sony PSP models. The main compartment will then effortlessly house the charging adaptors for both, in addition to a handful of games.
Finally, the main compartment contains a separate velcro-attached pouch in it that’s big enough to house a reasonably sized PMP or possibly the slim PSP/DS versions but I couldn’t get the fat PSP to fit.
If you’ve shoved your chargers in your suitcase (you’re not going to be using them in a car or plane, anyway) then the main compartment will also house a netbook.
Okay, so far it all sounds pretty unremarkable. The Proporta Gadget Bag is small and will house 4 or more of your most treasured gadgets.
The fun doesn’t end there, though, although it may be difficult to determine from the pictures and description on Proporta’s own website the Gadget Bag is, in and of itself, a gadget. What do I mean by this? Well, it separates out into three separate bags which are held together with zips and the previously mentioned fourth which is secured inside with velcro. The two front pockets, once zipped off, can then even be zipped together to form a single bag with room for two gadgets. This resulting combination of both front pockets doesn’t have its own shoulder strap, but is very handy for tucking inside a suitcase or sports bag.
Basically, for your hard-earned £25, you get four separate bags which can be used separately or in any configuration you desire. The Proporta Gadget Bag, then, is surely worthy of its title on two counts; it’s a bag for gadgets and also a, sort of, gadget.
The final touches to the Proporta Gadget Bag cement it as a solid product. Feeling through the front and back of the main pouch and its two larger siblings reveals a healthy thick layer of protective foam. The larger pouch is softly lined so it’s friendlier to the more valuable devices you might pop in there, and even the smallest pouch offers a reasonable amount of padding. Every single pouch also has a plastic aperture sewn into the front or back, which allows even the largest of headphone jacks to pass through. That includes beefy quarter inch jack plugs, although they take a bit of a push to get in. I don’t tend to route headphones through these holes, although some may find them useful.
Amongst the things I managed to stuff into the gadget bag was the Wii, with two Wiimotes and Nunchucks but unfortunately not the power supply or “sensor” bar. A couple of PS3/Xbox 360 controllers will also fit alongside the power and A/V leads, which makes it a neat travel companion for these consoles.
I haven’t got one to test, but I imagine a PS2 with one controller, its power supply, a/v cable and a couple of memory cards will fit, too.
Style wise the Gadget Bag misses the mark a little, but if you’re not overly worried about maintaining a metro-sexual appearance then it’s otherwise a solid buy.
Overall, the Proporta Gadget Bag is a cracking good and very flexible gadget bag which will let you carry your gadget arsenal with you wherever you might go. And there’s probably no better time to buy than now, with December purchases qualifying you for a free gift in January and this weekend Proporta will offer free UK delivery! This means that all you need pay is the £25 for the bag itself and none of those pesky overseas shipping costs. Brilliant.
Oh, and I think you’ll still get a free Earl Grey tea bag, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.