Xmas Gift Guide Fed up of lugging your laptop around in a tatty old backpack? Fancy something a little more stylish? Feel your other half ought to carry a pack that's more chic? Here are five of the best bags for 15in laptops that Reg Hardware saw during 2011.

We'd recommend any of the following bags, but our favourite is listed on the next page as Editor's Choice. In reverse order of rating we have...

Port Design Macao

While most messenger bags are big sacks with a flap, Port's Macao is a slightly more rigid affair, designed to stand up on its own on a flat base. It's looks are restrained, its nylon fabrication conservative, the black case enlivened by burgundy lining. Fancy something more whacky: Port does a brown and sky-blue version.

Fortunately, there's plenty of room in here - it can take a 16in laptop - and has lots of pockets, internally and externally, facing forward and on the back. The flap is fixed at the front with velcro for fast but noisy removal. The strap is sewn down, though adjustable and with a shoulder pad attached.

Pakuma Choroka K2

If the material from which the K2 is made feels a bit on the thin side, it nonetheless impresses with its black-and-green looks - light and dark grey is an option too - and the vast volume of space it offers for your stuff. Next to the padded laptop area - good for machines up to 15.6in - is a huge 45 x 25 x 15cm zone to be filled, with a multi-pocket side facing it.

There are no external pockets, mind, though there are couple of small ones good for phones, music players and passports that sit under the velco-latched flap. The strap is adjustable and sewn onto the bag - only the shoulder pad, which is thin and narrow, disappoints. This would make a good overnight bag even if you're carrying your computer.

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