A small day backpack that slims down to a compact size is the perfect companion when traveling light!
The STM Banks is a well designed compact backpack that is made with hard wearing material and, it has lots of compartments to help you sort out cables, chargers, a battery bank, a headphone carry case, a portable console, tablet, laptop and other electronics.
There is also plenty of space too inside the STM Banks for non-electronic items such as books, sunglasses and, even a clean change of shirt to change into.
The STM Banks backpack features two internal pass-through loopholes and an orange cable management clip to neatly route a cable or cord between compartments from the laptop compartment all the way to the small zip pocket on the front.
There is no pass-through loophole to the outside of the bag though; hence you won't be able to run a headphone cable or charging cable from the inside to the outside of the bag.
The small front zip pocket integrates a non-removable plastic keyclip, two small padded open pouches and a zip pouch that can double as a school pencil pouch. The padded pouches are large enough to fit a smartphone or powerbank.

The small front zip pocket is also large enough for small bulky items such as a lunchbox, a small water bottle and/or sandwich baguette.
The zip seams have hidden teeth with YKK number 8 golden brass zips with eyelets and webbing pull tabs with durable, reinforced stitching that won't easily break. YKK number 8 zips are heavier duty than, say, YKK number 5 zips.
The side pockets are solidly stitched up. The side pockets measure 21cm long and 11cm wide so, they are large with good depth. That said, the side pockets are non-elastic and only have an internal expansion of 3cm.
The side pockets being so narrow, they are very small to store a water bottle, especially when the bag is full of gear.
The base of the STM Banks is made of the same material as the rest of the bag so, it doesn't integrate  PU leather or PVC material to make the base more rugged, especially when placing the bag on a wet surface. That said, the base of the STM Banks and the rest of the bag have a water resistant coating on it.
The backside panel of the STM Banks is nicely padded with foam and covered with breathable fabric stitched up in a cross-section pattern. This cross pattern creates light grooves for air to pass through and ventilate your back so, it doesn't get as sweaty.
The backside foam padded panel measures 43cm high and 25cm wide. The outer dimensions of the backpack are 45.5cm tall, 31.5 wide and 16.5cm deep (thick).
The shoulder straps measure 46cm long and 7cm wide and have a curvature to them that allow them to fit more securely on the shoulders.
The STM Banks shoulder straps integrate the same polyethylene foam found on the rest of the bag. Polyethylene foam is closed-cell and the same type used for shock absorbing, packaging and thermal insulation applications.
Not all backpacks use closed-cell, which also has the advantage of being more durable and longer lasting because it is impenetrable by mold and bacterial agents which would decay the foam otherwise.
On the front of the shoulder straps, there is a plastic chest strap built-in with adjustable buckle and adjusting rails to allow you to position the sternum strap higher or lower on the chest. The webbing excess of the shoulder straps are managed via elastic bands.
The dimensions of the laptop space are 25.5cm, 37.5cm and 3cm so, it will fit most 15-inch laptops and larger thinner laptops such as a 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The laptop compartment is reinforced with extra padding around the corners and designed to be suspended within the bag itself, further from the impact areas of the bag (sides and bottom of the bag).
The middle compartment features two open sleeve pockets with the same quilted stitch pattern found on the laptop compartment. There is also a school pencil type zip pouch attached to a detachable webbing clip.
The middle compartment also features a small zip pouch compartment on top, which is lined with soft fleece-like material.
The middle compartment is larger with a roomier bottom than the laptop compartment so, most of the 18-litre capacity of the STM Banks resides in this middle compartment.
Aside from being able to fit a tablet or A4 binder, you will be able to fit larger bulkier items like a pair of shoes and/or gym gear.
As mentioned earlier, the STM Banks is hard wearing. It is made with 100% MVS polyester yarns, using Murata vortex spinning (MVS), which is an air-jet spinning technology different to the traditional process most polyester backpacks undergo where the polyester yarns are twisted (or ring spun) together to the make the yarn and then, woven to make the material.
With Vortex spinning, the polyester yarns are formed by air pressure flows and then, knitted to make the fabric. This makes the STM Banks outer-shell have a rugged denim-like texture to it, while being lightweight, weighing just 990 grams.

When desk space is limited, refining your work area is the way to go. A neat way to spruce up and improve the conditions of your personal desk area is with a monitor stand, heater, fan and air purifier.
While you can get these separately, the built-in WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand solution from Kensington creates a clutter-free environment that will make even the smallest of desk areas very productive!
The Kensington WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand has been designed to support up to a 27-inch monitor, as well as a Kensington WarmView Heater and a Kensington FreshView Air Purifier.
The WarmView Heater has a retro style with a centre grill mesh reminiscent of a vintage radio. The centre grill mesh is made of aluminium, while the body of the ceramic heater is made of UL-94-V0 certified fire-retardant plastic.
The WarmView Monitor Stand and WarmView Heater bundle come with two power cords for EU and UK sockets. Both power cords have a figure-8 type connector plug that plugs into the figure-8 female port on the back of the ceramic heater.
Above this port, there is a power switch to manually disable and enable power through the unit. The WarmView Heater is mains powered, which is a good thing because USB power would not be able to generate enough power to produce enough heat.
On the left front side of the WarmView Heater, there two touch control buttons and a total of five status led indicators. The top leds feedback the two heating modes: high (HI) and low (LO), which are activated via the large square button below the HI and LO leds. On the high setting, the WarmView Heater expels very hot air (approx. 30 degrees).
Below the square button, there is the Timer touch button, which allows you to set how long the heater expels heat before turning off automatically. You can choose from 1 hour, 2 hours and 4 hours. Being touch sensitive, the buttons are not physical buttons that you press. Instead, a light touch is all that is required to activate the buttons, which are extremely responsive.
The dimensions of the cylindrical metal support legs are 8cm wide and and 19.5cm long, which is a couple of milimeters larger to allow the plastic ceramic heater and plastic air purifier to slide in and out without getting scratched against the metal housing of the stand.
The sides and bottom of the ceramic heater and air purifier have plastic guard rails that facilitate smooth insertion and removal from the monitor stand leg housing.
There are also two small rubberized star-head screws on the end of the housing designed to act as stoppers to prevent the ceramic heater and/or air purifier from sliding out of the housing.
Functionally, the ceramic heater is able to expel a decent amount of heated air volume through the metal grill, which has a coverage of 13cm long and 8cm wide. When turned on, the WarmView Heater delivers instant heat, just like an electric fan heater via a fan blade located on the back.
That said, being a ceramic heater, the WarmView heater doesn't use a resistive heating coil like an electric fan heater does. Instead, the WarmView heater uses PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) ceramic stones, which are more energy efficient at converting heat.
The WarmView heater is, essentially, a PCT convection ceramic heater because it has a built-in fan blade to blow and spread the heated air out. Some ceramic heaters don't use a fan blade so, heat just gets radiated into the room, which on a small 250W unit like the WarmView heater wouldn't be very effective.
The plastic casing of the WarmView heater stays cool to the touch, thanks to UL-94-V0 certified fire-retardant plastic. There is also a certified 10-point safety system that is TUV approved that will automatically turn off the heater should the heater tip over and/or overheat. Should the heater overheat, the internal thermal cut-off fuse will prevent the heater from turning on until it has cooled down.
The WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand tabletop measures 40cm long, 24cm wide and 12cm tall and, it contains MDF (medium-density fibreboard), which means it contains recycled wood fibres.
Compared to real wood, MDF handles heat and humidity better than solid wood but, it's not as strong as solid wood; hence the 45 lbs (20kg) maximum weight rating for the WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand.
The monitor stand legs are attached to the tabletop via Allen-type bolts so, the leg supports can be removed from the tabletop.
The FreshView Air Purifier has a similar color-scheme design to the ceramic heater but, it is made entirely of plastic, including the ventilation mesh which features perforated holes to let filtered air out. There is also a rubber pull-tab to help remove the unit from the monitor stand housing.
The FreshView Air Purifier only has one touch sensitive button and status led, which is located on the left side. This button has the same responsive sensitivity as the buttons on the WarmView Heater. The led provides two types of feedback for power (blue light) and filter change (red light).
On the back of the FreshView Air Purifier, there is the filter slot housing and a micro USB port on the bottom side corner. On the base of the FreshView Air Purifier, there are plastic guard rails and a spring-loaded catch that holds that filter housing fascia in place.
Removal of this fascia is needed in order to gain access to the filter compartment. The FreshView Air Purifier air filter is integrated on a plastic tray with two pull tabs to make removal of the filter easier.
The FreshView Air Purifier is equipped with two types of a filter, namely a pre-filter with activated carbon and a HEPA H11-graded filter. HEPA filters are graded from H10 (85%), H11 (95%), H12 (99.5%), H13 (99.95%) to H14 (99.99%). The percentage corresponds to how efficient the filter is at filtrating.
The FreshView Air Purifier is on the lower end of the filtration efficiency so, it's not as efficient as a H14 filter but, the FreshView Air Purifier H11 filter is still able to remove very tiny particles with diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, which includes dust, bacteria and mold particles. The activated carbon filter is designed to remove offensive odors, pet odors and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) chemical gases/fumes such as paints, floor lacquers, certain molded plastics and cigarette smoke.
Functionality wise, the FreshView Air Purifier is quiet (40 dBA), easy to use and operate from a computer USB 2.0 port or power bank since it only requires 5 volts/1 amp. That said, the FreshView Air Purifier can only output a maximum of 5 watts and pass a maximum of 5% of 0.1 micron particles via a small filtration medium (18cm x 18cm); hence don't expect to the FreshView Air Purifier to be able to optimally filter the air in a whole room.
The FreshView Air Purifier works best in small areas up to 16 square feet (1.5 square meters) like an office cubicle or computer desk. The FreshView Air Purifier HEPA filter has a lifespan of up to 2000 hours of air filtration while the carbon pre-filter is recommended to be changed every two weeks. Replacement filters are available from Kingston.
The WarmView Monitor Stand cylindrical support legs are designed to house the ceramic heater and/or the air purifier, sliding in and out like a glove.
That said, because of the FreshView Air Purifier larger depth (18cm), you won't be able to properly slot both the ceramic heater and air purifier at the same time unless, you don't mind the air purifier sticking out a bit from the housing. The base of the monitor stand legs have small rubber feet that prevent any sliding movement while on a desk.
WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand with Heater is sold as a bundle but they can be bought separately and used independently of the monitor stand. The FreshView Air Purifier can also be purchased as a bundle with the WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand.
The WarmView Wellness Monitor Stand with Ceramic Heater (K55464EU) is available to buy from Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy and Amazon France. The FreshView Air Purifier (K55462EU) is also available from Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy and Amazon France.