Pelican Products, Inc. is an established name in rugged, waterproof hard cases for electronics and other gear. Recently, the company had an epiphany: "Why not offer our hard cases in a more portable form." Thus, the ProGear Urban Backpack line of hybrid case-packs was born.
Pelican believes it's the only company offering a crush- and dust-proof case integrated into a rugged, soft backpack. Each one of the ProGear Urban Backpacks features either a full hard case or a protected compartment, adding superior protection over the average soft backpack or messenger bag. The cases put Pelican's expertise in hard case design to work protecting laptops, tablets, e-readers, keyboards and other electronics.
The flagship ProGear U100 Elite Backpack includes an airtight, crush-proof case for transporting 15- and 17-inch laptops. The case allows your gear to snorkel at depths of three feet (0.9 m) of water for up to 30 minutes. The greater 16-liter pack also includes an impact-protected tablet sleeve, expanding sling storage, a concealed water bottle holder and an ergonomic comfort back panel. It retails for US$299.95.
On the other end of the line, the U145 Tablet Backpack includes a lightweight, padded tablet sleeve. It also has a grab handle and ventilated mesh back. It retails for $109.95.
The greater ProGear Urban Backpack line includes the $259.95 U140 Elite Tablet Backpack with hard case and the $139.95 U105 Laptop Backpack with rigid laptop compartment. All models are available for purchase at PelicanProGear.com.
Source: Pelican ProGear
But keeping the possibility of theft in mind, I do wish that they weren't so obvious about it.
I was concerned about the weight until I transferred everything over and started using it. The loaded weight felt pretty comparable, but the added structure of the bag makes it much nicer to haul for me.
Empty weight is likely to be a bit heavier, but once you load it and use it I don't think you'd really feel it, I don't.