Alternatives to the Tamrac Expedition 7x?

I'm looking for a large-ish backpack to store my camera gear and laptop. 3

bodies, 4-5 lenses (the biggest of which is the Canon 70-200 f/4L), two flashes,

various accessories. I've been using the Lowepro Mini Trekker for many years

and have been very happy with it, but would like to consolidate laptop and

camera gear into one bag.

One important note: I won't be using the backpack to hike or walk around the

city or whatnot. It's mainly to securely hold my camera and computer gear when

we travel.

I'm looking at the Tamrac Expedition 7x backpack, and it looks pretty good.

Before I buy it, though, I'd like to know if there are any other comparable

backpacks for camera and laptop in the similar price range (~$200). Thanks for

any help!

The largest backpack/laptop bag from Lowepro is the Computrekker Plus. I don't thing it is quite big enough for three bodies and all those lenses. Mine has room for two large DSLRs and three f/2.8 zoom lenses plus accessories.

I also have a Thinktank "Airport Addicted" backpack which would be a good choice for what you have in mind - a warehouse for equipment on a trip, along with a "day" bag. It is huge, yet small enough to fit in an overhead compartment AND has a pocket for a laptop. I carried this bag throughout China (airplane to bus to hotel anyway). You might also consider a medium to large roller, also from Thinktank (http://www.thinktankphoto.com).

I just purchased the Lowepro Vertex 300 backpack.

It looks like you could have two bodies set-up with lenses and probably have a third body without a lens. I an going to Alaska this summer and I plan on carrying three bodies and four lenses ( Tokina 12-24mm; Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS; Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS; and Canon 300mm f/4L IS). Plus 1.4x TC and batteries, filters, memory cards and a 550ex flash.

I looked at this pack in my local Calumet store and it looked like it will accommodate that amount of gear. The Vertex 300 (Lowepro has 100 and 200 models which are smaller) was around $250 and I would have needed to pay California State Sales Tax of 8% on top of that.

The fact that this pack is rectangular and is not shaped with the top rounded and slightly narrow gives it a lot more room inside.

I was toying with getting a backpack which included wheels nut, the packs with internal wheel set ups lose a lot of interior storage space; so I will just stick with this model.

This pack is advertised by Lowepro to be carry-on legal (at least for U.S. carriers. International carriers have different criteria).

Here is the URL for the Lowepro Vertex 300

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lowepro-Vertex-300-AW-Black-Backpack-in-stock-New-Model_W0QQitemZ310054315155QQihZ021QQcategoryZ50505QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Edward and Richard,

Thanks very much for your replies. I did look at the Vertex 300 and the Thinktank backpacks. The Thinktank bags looked great, but was a bit too expensive for me. In the end it came down to the Expedition vs. Vertex 300, and I ended up going with Expedition 8x (not 7x as I has originally posted about). I think I'd been happy with either, but I guess I was just sold on the Expedition pack.

I can't ever foresee myself going on an airplane trip with enough gear to warrant the 8x (being a hobbyist/family photographer, not a pro), so I'm not too concerned about the size.

Thanks again!