Alps Mountaineering Cortez 4900 light enough?

only 65 bucks at reioutlet with coupon. i know its not ultra light at 4.6 lbs, but anyone have any reviews on this pack?

i'm a beginniner, and not sure how often i'm going to be going so its not like i need top of the line ultra light gear.

I'm not familiar with it myself but I typed "Mountaineering Cortez 4900 review" into google and got this review

http://www.snowplex.com/reviews/B000FNCQFO/BackpackInterna/

which sounds pretty good. And $65 seems like a great price.

However I thought I would mention that "top of the line ultra light gear" is actually not very expensive. The heavier packs cost more. A top quality ultralight pack might cost somewhere between $100 and $150. But the heavy packs can go for $200 to $250 easily at REI. So don't equate "ultralight" with expensive. It's usually pretty reasonable.

Most of us here don’t have that heavy of a pack. An extra pound here and an extra pound there (stove, clothes, etc.,) really add up fast.

Some lightweight $100 pack ideas:

1. ULA Amp http://www.ula-equipment.com/amp.htm (requires small sleeping bag and tent) $90
2. zpacks http://www.zpacks.com/ (make sure all your stuff is lightweight) $70-$120
3. Thompson peak http://www.fanaticfringe.com/page5.html (keep <20lbs) $80
4. Rodney makes packs <$100 http://www.freewebs.com/litepacks/stockpacks.htm
5. Jam2 $100 http://www.golite.com/Product/proddetail.aspx?p=PA5251&s=1
6. My favorite has been the Mountainsmith Ghost http://www.amazon.com/Mountainsmith-Ghost-Backpack-2800cu-in/dp/B00076Y2V0 but these classics are very hard to find. I have 3 of them for my family at ~$70 each.

-Barry

edit: add another pack