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Long time lurker, first post. Small disaster with a couple Tod's bags. I'm very brand loyal to Tod's, and still love their products, but thought I'd post this FWIW.
I picked up a Tod's Computer T Bag in the gorgeous brown-red antique/distressed leather finish. Loved it. Has handles, a shoulder strap, and is pretty much the perfect size for most of my daily carry needs (could probably work as a tight overnighter if I wanted). Carries a laptop in one compartment and has a large 'main' compartment, plenty of internal zipper pockets and open pockets, as well as two external pockets.
Loved it.
A couple days later I flew off for business. 6000 miles later I'm walking around San Francisco when I hear the distinctive "pingggggg!" of snapping metal and my US$4000 computer (inside my $2000 bag) demonstrates the effectiveness of gravity. The very thin neck of the shoulder strap clasp had snapped on one side. Bag wasn't overloaded (computer, some papers). Just snapped.
A couple of carabiners from a hardware store, some emergency surgery on the laptop, and I'm back in business. Returning to Hong Kong, I exchange the bag for a new one.
A week later... you guessed it. Same place: the neck of the shoulder strap clasp snaps again. Luckily I catch it before it tumbles down Wellington street.
Clearly a design or manufacturing flaw (either the neck of the clasp should be bigger or the metal was too weak for some reason).
Third exchange (the Tod's folks in the store were very helpful, though my intial mails to customer service went unanswered for over a month) and they said that if I kept with the Computer T Bag, they wouldn't exchange again if the strap broke. I figured this was fair enough. We were all expecting it would break and you can't very well keep swapping them out. I know that they sent the broken straps to head office for review, so I'm assuming it will get taken care eventually.
So I traded in for a 'standard' full leather computer messenger bag, should strap firmly stitched to the sides. Smaller interior, not as unique as the Computer T Bag, but I'm not worried that it will be taking a header any time soon.
If only Berluti had a bag with a good shoulder strap that was roomy enough inside.
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so the one on the left was the flimsy one?
i prefer the one on the right, actually.
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Yes, the one on the left (with the two front external pockets).
It was very solid other than the should strap issue (such a "trivial" point in a computer bag ;-) ) though the zippers were always a bit rough, probably due to the soft leather not keeping them well aligned.
The right one is certainly still very stylish and the longer I'm using it the more it's growing on me. It's not quite as "look at me" as normally like, but it has a couple nice features. All zips super easy to open close with one hand, thick leather, top notch construction. Two handy pockets on the outside on the edge for (currently) my iphone and Octopus MTR pass.
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Welcome. If this incident fails to cure you of Tod's disease then this website will do a more thorough job, I am sure.
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I like their styles, but have been underwhelmed with the quality of Tod's products. My suggestion would be to move up to something a little more substantial. The purchase price may cause you to twitch, but you'll be happier having something that you can use for many years and wont cause you to damage a laptop.
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I started with Tod's when I picked up a pair of shoes on sale in Barneys NY about six years ago. Still have them. They wear like iron (in a good way) but I've always been a bit bummed that (at least in the rocker-heel style I have) the soles are not replaceable.
I'm not sure how much more I want to spend on a bag unless it was something really special 2k US$ would guarantee at least some quality, one would think... Suggestions welcome :)
I love the look of Berluti's leather. More pricey than Tod's for sure, but great stuff.
For sheer durability, I could always go for men's Hermes, but the prices are a bit insane, at least in HK.
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Like a Ferrari, guaranteed to make heads turn and your mechanic rich.
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Sitting here thinking, I've never owned either of the brands previously mentioned, but I also wonder to myself why I'm just not drawn to "boutique" leather that is so friggen expensive for this particular use.
I do appreciate incredibly well crafted things as well & I have a particular love of leather in certain applications.
I think in this instance I'm pragmatic & design driven, rather than being overwhelmed by materials. Shoot me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't ballistic nylon be as functional and durable & possibly useful in a wider variety of situations?
If I was at a meeting, I don't think my jaw would particularly drop if I saw a leather bag but hey that's me, if you pulled out a new MacBook Pro 17", I'd be really admiring that..........
Also, what happens when your laptop changes as we all know tech. products are born with a "sell by date", & the bag is no longer deemed useful?
Maybe I think longer term which is okay.
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I'm no Tod's expert, but it would be my guess they have a license with an Italian factory to make their bags, probably a company that makes them for many other designers. As such, Tod's probably focuses more on the seasonal design phase of the production than the R&D of how to make their bags durable. After all, wasn't/isn't Tod's primarily a shoemaker? At that price range, I think I'd want to focus on a company that spends the vast amount of their time and effort on bags.
For that kind of money, there are many beautiful bags you could get. If you are majorly into designers, LV's Taiga, Utah, or Nomad lines are all quite well done and the items I've had from them have held up very well. They'd be in about the same $2000 price range or so. LV is overpriced, certainly, but so is Tod's. Valextra is another brand that I really like; they're more than Tod's, but less than Hermes. There are also dozens of smaller companies that focus primarily on bags and make some standout pieces; do some searching around this forum and I think you'll be surprised at how many superlative items there are to be found at the price range you mention.
In my experience, my designer bags that have fallen apart have MOSTLY done so not because they were constructed crappily, but instead because they were constructed delicately. The leather was very soft or the clasps used were designed with aesthetics in mind over functionality. I'd say your Tod's falls into this arena, much more than that the bag is poorly constructed.
If you need something ballistic that will probably survive a plane crash in one piece, then get something Tumi. Unfortunately, most of their styles are very unnattractive. Finding that line between beautiful aesthetics and actually durable functionality is tough.
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Although I also like Berluti bags, I have gone for something functional and have been using a Tumi computer brief bag in black ballistic nylon. It has been just bulletproof and the inside slot has an elastic sling that prevents damage to the laptop if dropped.
The newer models are more stylish than the one I have but it looks decent.
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Wow, you just saved me almost 2k. I was about to buy the T computer bag but then the store didn't have the brown color that I want.
Luckily I ran into this thread, I guess I will stick to my Tumi for another while, though I am really getting sick of the nylon look......
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Think about that for a second
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interesting read...
i feel bad for ur computer :confused:
