I’ve owned a pretty dependable laptop bag for about five years, so when SLAPPA’s Aura Pro-Tour backpack arrived at my doorstep, it had some big shoes to fill. Not that my previous backpack was without its flaws, mind you; it just…worked. Well, the Aura Pro-Tour works even better, and my old bag has officially been retired to the basement.

This thing is solid, which is to be expected from a SLAPPA bag. Made of Ballistix water- and tear-resistant nylon, the Pro-Tour will keep your laptop and all your gear well protected, which is of course priority #1 for any quality bag. And with 1700 cubic inches of available space and six storage pockets, I had no problem fitting all my junk inside, with room to spare: 15-inch laptop, iPod, headphones and earbuds, network cable, more random chords and cables, some DVDs, two books, a notepad, a couple of magazines, and several pens and pencils. That may seem like a relatively short list for such a big backpack, but the Pro-Tour sets itself apart by offering a removable inner bag for digital gear and/or SLR camera storage. I loaded the bag up with my Nikon D40, additional lens, point-and-shoot camera, Flip video camera, extra batteries and memory cards, and two chargers, slid the bag into the backpack’s main compartment behind the laptop storage area, and I was ready for anything. I can’t tell you how cool this feature is, considering in the past I wasn’t able to bring my SLR with me on a plane unless I checked my suitcase, because I had to carry my laptop and the camera/accessories in separate bags. Having one bag for both makes the Pro-Tour a keeper for any photographer, aspiring or otherwise, plus it’s still small enough to qualify as a carry-on.

I should mention that, when I had my laptop and camera equipment both loaded into the Pro-Tour, there wasn’t a whole lot of extra room for some of the items I previously listed, since the removable gear bag fits in the area where those things would otherwise be stored. That, of course, isn’t a complaint, just a reminder that this do-it-all bag has its limitations. As purely a laptop bag, the Pro-Tour offers great protection and should be plenty big enough for all of your extra items. As an all-in-one travel bag for gadget geeks with a bunch of equipment to lug around, SLAPPA’s Pro-Tour backpack is unbeatable.