Definitely a good size for a day time hike. Anything overnight you'll need to go larger. It's a little smaller than I expected, but works fine for what I'll be using it for. I like the water bladder storage, my Camelbak bladder worked fine. Enough storage for snacks, water, and layered clothing. It's comfortable, and breathes well.
I really love this pack. The design and the quality of construction and materials is excellent. The ONLY downside I've found so far is that with this top-loading design it takes longer to get to the main compartment after undoing buckles, etc., but that's just a trade-off against the benefits of the stuff-able and compressible main compartment top-load design. Rides great on my body and is easy to tweak adjustments for more comfort as you hike. All in all, a great pack with MANY nice features that I'm really happy I bought. This is my fist Osprey and I'm impressed.
I have been looking for a backpack like this for a while. I considered the osprey talon but that bag did not have padded straps. I wanted a backpack that I can comfortable carry around on flights and as well as on day hikes. This bag has great tightening straps which allow you to really shrink the bag down to its barebones when you are not carrying too much inside.
I initially started with the 38 L pack, but that one is too large for my purposes. Even though the 28 L does not have an internal frame, nor the bottom zippers + sleeping bag straps, it is just as good as the bigger pack and weights 0.5 lb less.
I am able to put a laptop in the pack (with padding) and some clothes with no problems.
