I recently bought this bag and took it on a weekend trip that involved a bus ride, a local rail, a plane, a subway, a train, a car, and a couple miles of walking. In short, it's about perfect for such a trip, and though I had problems with the handle, I'd still recommend the bag (at least at the SAC price).

I'm 6'2" with a long stride, and I for one was pleasantly surprised by how long the handle extended. It has two extension lengths, the longer of which was more than enough to allow me to walk quickly and without any bumping (which has been a problem with nearly every other bag I've ever used).

Perfect size for a weekend trip (full business suit ensemble and extra pair of shoes included) - it has a nice, sloping, backpack-style form factor which nestles into sloping overhead stowage bins perfectly. Buy it, and you'll never be the jerk who puts your bag in sideways or gets everyone PO'ed while you repeatedly try to slam the hatch shut on your boxy suitcase.

Cons: The laptop sleeve compartment was a bit small for my older (read: kinda thick) 15.4" widescreen dell, it wouldn't zip all the way shut. It could use a handle on the bottom for pulling it out of overhead racks/bins and a handle on the side for carrying up stairs. The extension handle on my bag sucks - it started out a little finicky, worked great for about 2 hours, then became a pain to use. It requires a lot of jiggling and both hands to extend or close. I'm sure this isn't the norm, but I'm upset at the prospect of waiting a month and paying $15 shipping just to get it repaired and back to me in the condition I should have received it in initially. Eventually I'll probably get frustrated enough to send it in. I nearly gave it 3 stars because of this annoying (but small) problem. Without it, it'd have been a solid 5.

This is a VERY poorly designed bag (AKA crap). Advertised as the largest allowable carry-on size, but nowhere near as big as the ones virtually everybody else on the plane carries. What little space the bag actually SEEMS to have from the outside is seriously whittled away by the telescoping handle, which runs down the inside of the bag lengthwise, effectively dividing it into two unusably small compartments. No flat bottom for laying folded clothes against, and certainly no good place to protect a laptop. And it's not as if the space loss gets you anything in return... the handle is big and bulky, but doesn't extend long enough to allow you to wheel the thing around without having it bump against your heel every step. The wheels are too big for such a small bag, too. My girlfriend and I had a good laugh at the thing before I boxed it up to send it back - a tiny little bag with big wheels and a short, thick, stubby handle. Then I stopped laughing when I realized I was out $18 for shipping + return.
DO NOT BUY THIS THING. IT TRULY SUCKS, AND I GUARANTEE YOU WILL RETURN IT.
Patagonia should stick to making surf shorts.