Samsonite Smart Top Softside Cabin Bag

[bPeteb]

What are people's s experiences with the Samsonite 72 hrs DLX 50" 2-wheel cabin bag? It's currently available in Australia at 2 price points, $89 and $179. I was able to see the more expensive one at a luggage shop and was told it was an improved version, using thicker material and slightly different positioning of the 'bars' of the pull-out handle to resist bending. But that makes it a little heavier: 1.7kg instead of 1.5kg. The newer one is currently available only in black, though I was told other colours are coming.

Has anyone found that the original 1.5kg version failed to stand up to repeated use?

I've got the blue 50. I thought I got a good price at 145. 89 is a bargain. It's light but I'll be honest and say I don't like it quite as much as my previous (heavy) Antler. Exterior pocket is odd and I find difficult to get stuff in and out but it's roomy. The inside 'pockets' are useless. It's light, seems well constructed, drags along like a spinner when I'm in a queue and does its job for me going away for three nights at a time. At 89 I'd grab it.

 

[cgichard]

I've got the blue 50. I thought I got a good price at 145. 89 is a bargain. It's light but I'll be honest and say I don't like it quite as much as my previous (heavy) Antler. Exterior pocket is odd and I find difficult to get stuff in and out but it's roomy. The inside 'pockets' are useless. It's light, seems well constructed, drags along like a spinner when I'm in a queue and does its job for me going away for three nights at a time. At 89 I'd grab it.

Thanks for the endorsement, bigpetebrown. My current carry-on is also an Antler (the Urbaite trolley backpack, bought in the UK). I've had it for several years and used to switch it to a backpack when confronted with many stairs. But I've noticed that the last couple of years I haven't used it as a backpack at all (more French railway stations now have lifts to platforms), so I'm questioning whether the extra weight that format adds is worth lugging around (2.3 kg). My flights are 90% with SQ in PE so 7kg is my limit for HLO for 5-6 week trips, and so even an extra 0.8kg for contents would be good to have.

I find that the outer pockets on the Antler are useful for shoes and other oddments which are a struggle to fit in beside my packing cubes in the main compartment, so it's good to know that the exterior compartment on the Samsonite 50 is roomy.