Want to carry your laptop, your camera, and a lot of stuff besides? Check out the Lowepro Fastpack 350 ($90 street). big enough for a 15-inch laptop, camera, and three or four lenses in the bottom compartment that opens with a U-shape zipper and can be reshaped by moving the padded walls around. The top compartment holds plenty of loose gear, along with tiny covered pockets for memory cards. Look at this bag if you need to haul a lot. At 19-by-12 inches, the reason it holds a lot if the obvious one: It takes up a lot of space. Going out on photo shoots where I needed a laptop along, I actually packed the bag about two-thirds full and then moved the lens I just took off to the top compartment without bothering to remove the reverse the lens shade.

If you need to carry a lot of camera gear but not the laptop, check out the LowePro Slingshot with a single messenger-bag sling strap that makes it easy to move the back to front.

If you want the laptop (14-, maybe 15-inch screen, max) and camera gear but don't want to carry so much bulk, consider the Lowepro Vertex 100 AW ($180), which packs the same gear into a tighter space. Because of its water-resistant zipper seals, you'll be safer in a downpour, but it's also harder to open and close those zippers.

Camera/laptop bags come in multiple sizes and the same approximate feature set, you you can downsize to fit more easily under and airline seat, or upsize to get more stuff in (and give your shoulders a workout).