As you probably know, I lost my red Le Pliage and replaced it with a black Planetes. To be honest, the color was the primary reason I went with Planetes. The cognac handles on the Le Pliage always seemed to clash with my wardrobe, so I really wanted black. I chose black over plum because I needed something that I could tote my laptop around in for conferences and still look professional.
Aside from color, I *think* the Planetes is made of a stiffer (and most likely stronger) material. The Pliage is foldable and the larger ones have an extra snap where you can fold it up into a little package. You can't do that with the Planetes, but in all the 2 years I had the Le Pliage, I never once folded it up like that. The Planetes will still lie flat in a suitcase if you want to pack it. One issue with the Le Pliage is that they do tend to get tiny holes at the corners from wear; that's a common problem. I do still think they're worth it though. I'm hoping the thicker material of the Planetes means it will be stronger in that respect as well.
It's also a teeny bit smaller, but the large size is still plenty big for either of my laptops (15" or 13" macbook pros) and a bunch of other stuff.
Here is a good review of the two side by side from Jean at Extra Petite. You can see in her photos that the Planetes appears more structured. She's also got some comparisons of the different sizes, but keep in mind she is tiny (less than 5' I think). The medium size will not hold a laptop comfortably in my experience.
http://www.extrapetite.com/200.....mp_16.html
