Once you get me started on accessories I won’t stop. Especially if the accessory is a bag.

I am a huge bag-a-holic. HUGE. Other women who share this label with me often have an addiction to purses, mostly designer and cute. I have no use for such things. Give me a messenger or backpack any day. I even love luggage. It’s seriously a hardship for me to walk by any bag section that contains these items without stopping to peruse even though I really do not need any more bags. No really. Take a look at this roundup of laptop bags for women I did a few years ago, and then this roundup of luggage. With few exceptions, every one of those bags arrived at my apartment so that I could test them. Unlike with tech samples you get to keep fashion samples. At one point I had something like 37 laptop bags in my possession, 95% of them free samples, co-existing with the few backpacks and other assorted bags I also had (and were also mostly free). I won’t even go into the luggage-pocolypse.

These days I have fewer bags. Many of the laptop bags I received did not fit my 17″ laptop, so I sold or gave them away. And even I don’t need more than 3 pieces of luggage at a time.

I have a very clear idea about what makes a perfect bag for different occasions. Before I got my netbook, my bag needs were covered. Before.

You see where this is going.

Many of my existing bags were just fine for carrying around the netbook and it’s accessories. But I found that though I had plenty of bigger bags and a few good small bags (this one from Waterfield is my favorite) I had no medium bag. One that comfortably carried all of the accessories without tempting me to carry a bunch of stuff and thus weigh myself down. I am ruled by how much space I have,I admit. And the small bag was really too small since I could barely fit my netbook, Cool Lift, mobile, keys, wallet and power cord in it without the zipper complaining. I also much prefer messengers to backpacks when the load is light — that way I have ready access to keys, wallet, etc. So I went in search of the perfect medium-sized bag.

Other than a good size, many compartments and a padded laptop area, I didn’t have too many requirements. But you can’t imagine how hard it was for me to find the right bag. I went to a bunch of stores, sighed over this LeSportsac bag and this Crumpler bag (both of which are stupidly expensive) and finally resigned to looking on eBags. I like eBags in general, but it’s hard to tell whether a bag is too big or too small by pictures — I have to touch it.

I bit the bullet and bought the ful Parkway, which is designed for 13″ laptops. I figured it wouldn’t be too big or too small. If it wasn’t right, I could always return it. Plus, it wasn’t too expensive. Coupled with a gift certificate I got for my birthday I only had to pay $10 + shipping. It’s $40 on eBags today, $50 otherwise. It’s also on Amazon.

I haven’t had the bag for long, obviously, but I’m deeming it perfect. It fits everything I’d want to carry with me on a daily basis with room for a few extra things but not enough room for a bunch of crap I don’t need. The strap is long enough to wear messenger-style and it has a lot of pockets, nooks and crannies. I enjoy compartmentalizing.

I know there are some other bag-a-holics out there. Guys, your addiction counts, too! You know you love some messengers. Have you found the perfect bag or are you still looking? Can you beat my record of 37 at one time? And if you have a netbook, what do you carry it in?

Since I am once again on the hunt for a new job or gig, I promised myself that I would start posting every day. This also entails getting back to reading my favorite tech blogs (which was frowned upon at my non-tech job — oh for the days when it was a requirement!) and blogging about my gadgets and accessories. So here’s a quick post.

Right now my favorite thing in the world is my Cool Lift notebook pad. It’s just a small bit of foam with some raised bits to tilt my netbook up at a small angle — not too different from this Lapworks model, my other favorite. I bought the Cool Lift because I like writing during my subway commute but have never been able to type comfortably with my netbook on my lap. Putting it on top of my bag worked out all right some of the time, but sometimes there was still unfortunate downward sloping and the bottom would get really hot. I considered getting another Lapworks lapdesk, but it seemed overkill for my tiny netbook.

In my search for better alternatives I found the Cool Lift, which has almost the same dimensions as my Sammy. It also weighs next to nothing yet has shown no signs of collapse.

I sometimes use the Cool Lift on tables at cafes, but not as much — on a flat surface my netbook remains relatively cool. Just not when it’s on top of my canvas bag, the fabric blocking all the vents and such.

This accessory gets high scores on all the points that matter. It’s small, lightweight and portable, so I don’t mind carrying it around all day, it perfectly fulfills the function I bought it for, and it doesn’t cost a lot ($10 at Amazon).