I consider myself a loyal user of my stuff. It’s a strange thing to say, I know, especially coming from someone who is so fascinated by the fast-paced, tech world, but there you have it. I bought a Muzetto bag from Waterfield earlier this year, and although I expected to use it daily for a while to come, I may have accidentally stumbled upon its replacement in the form of the be.ez LE rush (which was kindly sent over for review by the Max Borges agency).
The rush is a completely different kind of laptop bag than the Muzetto. It’s smaller, it’s padded, and it’s composed of ballistic nylon instead of leather. I’ve actually always found these kindof bags rather plain and unexciting, but there’s something strangely charming about this one. It’s not an extremely eye-catching design, but it’s pleasant to look at, which is more than I can say for most laptop bags I’ve seen at my local Best Buy.

Comp.artments
The rush is extremely compact, but very roomy. It’s got seven pockets by my count – including the main compartment that houses my 13″ MacBook Pro. I’ve made a quick walk-through video that shows all of the stuff I can JAMM into the bag:

The padding is thick enough on all sides to protect a laptop from everyday jolts, but it’s the comfort level and accessibility that make the rush a real winner in my book.
I don’t carry a ton of gear around alongside the laptop, but even so, my Muzetto did dig into my shoulders after about 30 minutes of walking. The rush has felt a lot more comfortable somehow, and it might have to do with the horizontal storage of the laptop, or the size of the bag. It’s smaller, and I can keep it closer to my body, so walking just feels more natural. I also love how I can easily remove the shoulder straps and use the rush like a nylon briefcase.

Pock.ets

The front pocket is velcro-sealed, so I use it for things like USB sticks, various cables, and my trusty PPCTechs battery. The other side of the bag has a set of three open pockets, the kind you’ll usually see on school bags to carry pens. The two outer slots are a little too small for my uses, but I like to keep my earphone pouch in the middle one. It’s nice and accessible, but it’s also discreet – so it’s hard to tell anything is in there. When I travel on crowded places like the subway, I simply flip the bag around so that the velcro pocket is pressed up against me, and only the three open pockets are exposed.
This was one major gripe I had with the Waterfield bag — it never quite felt “safe” to me, because it didn’t actually have any seal. Nothing ever fell out of my Waterfield Muzetto, but I was always apprehensive that somebody would take something at some point and I’d never be the wiser.
The main laptop compartment is padded, as I mentioned earlier, but it also features three pockets — a split pocket on one side (great for hard drives or USB hubs), and another pocket that spans the width of the bag (used for my MBP charger). When the rush is fully packed, everything feels very snug, but still readily accessible. I appear to have had some trouble taking the earphones out in the video, but that’s because I was holding the camera in the other hand It’s actually very easy to pull things out, regardless of whether you’re at rest or on the go.

Con.clusion
A laptop should be easy to use and carry around, and that’s ultimately what I like so much about the be.ez LE rush. It’s just a simpler set-up than my Muzetto, and it’s refreshing to have something with velcro and zipper-sealed pockets. The rush keeps up with all of the big and little gadgets I pull out of it, and I’m quite happy having it at my side.
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You can pick your own be.ez LE rush up on Amazon.com for about $55 for the 13″, and $60 for the 15″. You can see more information (as well as the two other colour schemes) on be-ez.com

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1. Waterfield introduces the Muzetto
2. Review: Waterfield Muzetto Bag
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5. Review: Skooba Design Checkthrough Roller Bag