Home > Consumer Reviews > Targus TCM004US Messenger 15.4" Notebook Case

I was a little skeptical about buying a notebook case online.
I thought it might be better to see the merchandise in person at a retailer. As I started my search which included Best Buy, Frys, Circuit City websites I still didn't find anything that looked liked it was worth the $30 to $70 asking price or anything that really caught my eye for that matter!

Lastly I tried Old Amazon and ran across this little gem!!

It looked just right, right up my alley, but I thought something might be wrong with it because the price was so low! Then I saw the name which is a brand name and made my decision to get this one. And when it arrived and I open the box I knew I had a quailty product and was very pleased!

My 15.4 laptop fits into it like a glove. Its padded on both sides, top and bottom. It is made of quaility nylon, with quaility zippers, and snap locks. The handle is made of nylon wrapped in a rubber grip, so that your hand is protected from the thin nylon grip itself. Good design feature and adds extra style to the overall look of the case itself. As you can see from the photos above it has pockets to store and carry extra items.
It also has a nice wide shoulder strap, with solid plastic snap hooks, and the nylon itself is of the hi-quailty dense knit type! This is a very handsome case! And it's the type of case that anyone would be proud to carry into any office meeting or internet cafe!! Its that nice and looks like it cost a $100 instead of $20!!

Great case, great buy! I'm real satisfied!

I don't understand why laptop cases are so expensive. This is the exception - great price - study construction - nice strap- PC tiedowns.

Only negative is that it does not have a great volume of storage space in addition to the laptop compartment. It's fine for a power brick and cords, cables, accessory mouse, and a couple of pads and pencils. But if you carry a lot of manuals or other bulky items, look for an expandable briefcase instead.

I had to return this case, because the picture of the compartments provided by Amazon is not accurate. Compare it with the customer-submitted photos, you'll see that Amazon's picture has two extra compartments--the one that holds the folder and the one directly below that. The actual product does NOT have those compartments. I returned it for that reason, because I need more organizational space than that.

Having said that, I'll say that upon first inspection, this case appears to be of decent quality (though I would've preferred metal hooks for the shoulder strap). And a big plus is it provides something I want but have yet to find in another case of similar price: a messenger flap for quick-loading, AND a zipper over the laptop compartment for extra protection in case it rains.

The bag is a good size and fits the essentials plus some room for papers or a magazine, etc. Will not fit anything big like a textbook but if you are just looking to carry your laptop and laptop accesories with minimal paperwork, this bag is perfect especially for the price...

I bought this bag for $16 but even at its current price of $20 it's a steal.

I intended to get an expensive, but good quality, bag because I bought my 15.4" laptop (HP dv6830us) as a desktop replacement (and home entertainment center) and did not intend to travel much with it (getting a work laptop I'll travel with more). This bag was PERFECT!

The first and most important thing to look for in a laptop bag is padding. Anyone who's had a laptop for a long time will likely tell you that. This bag actually has a decent amount of padding on all sides of where the laptop is kept. I've actually dropped the computer from a couple of feet off the ground (on accident) and it didn't damage the computer at all. If you tossed this from several feet up or against a wall or something, the padding probably isn't strong enough to protect you ;) For everyday situations though, this should be sufficient. However, if you're going to travel with your computer a lot or are quite worried about dropping it you may want to look into a higher end bag with more padding.

Despite being a thin bag, it has plenty of room. I was quite impressed with this as it was one of my concerns before I bought it. The laptop pocket fits the laptop nice and snug, and has short velcro strap to secure it even further in case you forget to zip it or the zipper breaks. The pocket in front of it is semi-accordian style so that it can expand a bit more if you put bulky things in it. Then there are the pockets depicted as being for CDs, which I clip things onto and put cloths and Tylenol in. Then there's the pen/pencil loops and an additional pocket for a small personal electronic (I keep my mouse in there, but it easily can hold a digital camera). Plus, it has a slip pocket in the back for thin items (like loose paper) that I keep my ethernet cable in.

So I usually can easily keep my laptop, the laptop battery, an ethernet cable, a dust cloth, pens and pencils, hand sanitizer, my VX revolution wireless mouse, a mini-USB cable, my mp3 player (iRiver clix), and some Tylenol in this bag with PLENTY of room to spare in the front pocket. I've even fit my big external hard drive in there (though it weighs it down).

The cloth quality overall is pretty nice, and the strap is sturdy as is the handle on top (padded with rubber, or something like it). The bag can feel a bit heavy (though I don't think that's a specific problem with the bag), but the strap doesn't ever hurt me and it's quite a while before weight becomes an issue.

I highly recommend this bag for the price-conscious laptop bag shopper! It's the best I've seen so far for the money!