Thank you for sharing this review with us. I'm also an owner of the mentioned bag and I must say the review accurately sums up what I feel about the bag. It is highly NOT RECOMMENDED.
Like what the author has said about the laptop compartment, Thanks to the "ingenious" design and vapor-thin paddings, your laptop WILL DEFINITELY suffer LCD bleeding and scratches to it just like what happened to mine (the damage is quite bad).
The ventilation system is non-existent like what the review mentioned and to make it worse, the padding surface tends to create a lot of friction with your clothing to make your back even hotter.
The photo equipment compartment dual zippers are cumbersome and difficult to zip up especially when your bag is full and I even noticed that the side seams are showing signs of busting but I think it should be able to hold up for a bag that is supposed to be rugged. Let's see after a few months down the road..
The general purpose compartment is the worst. It is supported at the bottom by velcros at the sides and I always have to readjust the velcro to hold it tight because I need to put my 80-200 there (the photo compartment doesn't allow a long lens to go in due to it's height, pls note). Don't expect to put much things here.
The straps that allow you to strap on a tripod or other equipments work fine BUT is quite troublesome and takes a while to set up.
Lastly with all that said, do you think it is possible to put at least a 1 litre bottle of water in the bag like what most prospective buyer would like? I THOUGHT so but it ISN'T so.
Usable bag but it stops there. I should have bitten the bullet and get the Crumpler range
