I need some help quickly....

[reseam]

Long story so I won't go into it, but if you could only choose one of these bags which would it be and why??

Alpha 7 or Bandicoot


Also....question about Alpha 7 color...does the cord fabric pick up lint and cat hair? What can you fit in the exterior pockets both on the front and side? Does it ever feel too big?

Is the Bandicoot really that heavy?? Does the zipper open easily and do you feel secure having the clutch on the outside of the bag?

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!

Reseam
Mommy to Kayla Elizabeth (9/23/00) and Joshua Alan (11/11/02)

[Chelsey333]

I don't have the Bandicoot, but I have a black cord Alpha 7. I love the bag, but don't get the cord bag if you have a lot of pet hair around. I have 2 maltese dogs and never have a problem with hair attaching to it, but my dogs don't shed much. I went to a playgroup at a house where there was a cat and 2 dogs. My black cord was covered in pet hair. As much as I love animals, I was really grosses out at all the hair over my nice bag and I haven't used it since. I just need to take a lint brush to it, and it will be fine. It does pick up lint too, I can see small specs of white on it when I look closely. If bag is 2 feet away from my eyes, than I can't see the lint. I love the pockets. I fit a playtex sippy on one side and matchbox cars on the other. In the front pockets, I keep my cell phone and tylenol - 1 out of the 3 pockets is usually empty.

[reseam]

Thank you so much!! You've answered a couple of very important questions for me. You see I had ordered a blue chocolate alpha, but the online store I ordered it from had a mistake in their inventory and they actually do not have one. The owner has written to me and asked what I want to do about the order...choose a different fabric/color, keep the same and she will try to find me one at another site, or get another bag entirely. The only other fabric I liked was the black cord, but my cat, even though she is a short hair sheds tons...you should see what we pick up in the vacuum, so that definatly would not work for me. Also I'm glad to know what others are able to get into those pockets Now, onto the next question...stay with the Alpha and hope she can find one or move on to the Bandicoot. Thanks so much again!!!!

Rese

[AvasMama]

Hi,
I have purchased and returned or sold both. I liked the A7 and it did not feel too big or heavy at all. I had the blue chocolate, so I can't help on the cord question, but if the retailer has the pink choc. available, I have heard on this board that it is a very pretty color and not "too pink". There is also a red canvas A7 that I bet wouldn't pick up the hair as badly as cord would.

Bandicoot -- SUCH a cute bag and the colors are just gorgeous, especially the red/orange (thought this would be way too bright and I would hate it, but it is beautiful). I found that it was just too heavy empty and, for me, awkward. I found it hard to get into the bag to find things (due to the zipper and bag structure) and it doesn't hold as much as the A7. I didn't mind the clutch on the outside, though.

Tough decision! I ended up with a Kate Spade Roger bag and I have a Timi & Leslie on order to see if I like that better than the A7 and Bandicoot.

Robyn & Ava

[dwndestiny]

As a new A7 owner I would NOT reccomend it. The red cord has picked up black 'pills' from the pants I wear. It shows up and after only 2 weeks of use I am VERY bummed out that it looks so worn. I love the organization and don't feel it looks too big. The side pockets fit my cell phone and other flat items-not waterbottles. The front pockets hold my diaper rash ointment, hand sanitizer, and my daugher's leapester cartridges.
I love the interior organization, but I expected the extorior to look nice longer than 2 weeks!!!
Jennie

[robmab719]

I sold my A7 because I just didn't like the look of it. It didn't have enough "shape" for me. Plus, the blue chocolate color seemed more gray than blue to me and I didn't want a gray bag. Also, I hated the velcro close. It seemed to be "extra loud" velcro!

On the other hand, I love my Bandicoot. It has a very stylish shape and holds about the same amount as the A7. I have the black/moss color and it goes with everything. I even carry the Joey clutch to work, etc. when I don't have DD with me. I don't find it to be all that heavy, but I know there are at least a couple of people who disagree. The zipper is very easy to operate one-handed. As for the Joey clutch being "secure" it depends how much faith you have in the snaps. They are pretty heavy-duty, and I don't hesitate to carry money, cell phone, credit cards, etc. in it. But I also keep a pretty close eye on it.

[reseam]

Thank you for all the helpful information. The decision wasn't easy, but I chose to order the Bandicoot in Black/moss. We'll see in a few days if this was the right choice. It really came down to two things I couldn't get past today the boxy look and those front and side pockets on the Alpha 7. I truly couldn't figure out if I'd ever use them. I look forward to seeing the redesign of the bag though. Hopefully it will have new and better fabric choices and functional bottle pockets! It's kind of funny that the chance to get the Bandicoot came all because of a simple inventory mistake. Gave me time to think some more and again I hope I made the right decision.

I also wanted to thank those of you who posted to my query on the Skip Hop last week. I did end up ordering one, (as well as a LT actually) and I'm still trying to decide if it will work out for us. It has grown on me some over the last couple of days, but I still have problems seeing myself using it as an everyday bag. I'm definatly not a fan of the LT right now though, but it just arrived, so perhaps in a day or so I'll make a decision whether it stays or goes back. I think what is bugging me most is just the overall look and not to mention that we order Navy, but it looks like purple!

Anyway thanks again to all of your for all your help and for getting me obsessed about diaper bags!!! LOL!! Honestly until I found this board I didn't realize how many different bags there were!! LOL!!

Rese
Mommy to Kayla Elizabeth (9/23/00)
and Joshua Alan (11/11/02)