Back to Campus, Armed with Gadgets
Sep 30th, 2009 by Ealeal
It was only a few years ago that the new school year meant hitting your local office supplies chain for new notebooks, pens, binders, trapper-keepers and a slew of highlighters to get you through the semester. Nowadays, a notebook usually refers not to an actual wad of papers bound together by spirals, but rather to a small laptop for living on-the-go, pens have become somewhat obsolete, and even at 5min HQ, we jokingly refer to pen and paper as “Amish tools”. So it’s pretty obvious that the old college campus must-have list has undergone some radical changes, to keep up with the times, as you can see for yourself in the segment below, courtesy of IDGNews, showcasing the top gadgets to make life on campus a breeze:
While the academic school year has already started, it’s never too late to shop around for the gear you’re still missing – or even better, guilt your family into some heavy gadget-gifting. Below is are list of top 5 must-haves for you college students:
1. MacBook Pro
College kids will usually prefer ultra-portable laptops in order to be able to lug their humble student office everywhere they go, whether it’s a friend’s dorm room, the library, classes or a friendly off-campus cafe. Now, really, what could be better than schlepping a Mac?! Macs offer students high performance, ease of use and some fairly light-to-carry options in terms of weight. While smaller netbooks offer even greater portability, you can’t beat a Mac when it comes to organizing your data, music, movies, and school work, while still leaving time and resources for the fun side of college, like capturing your dorm’s social happenings and editing them to perfection with iMovie. The longer battery life guarantees a surefire way to make it through long evenings in the library, while still keeping things green when it comes to energy efficiency. Not to mention that with their newest product range, the 13″ MacBook Pro is a pretty affordable choice, starting at $1,199 – and you get a student discount, of course!
2. Pico USB Flash Drive
Whether on campus or off campus, you’re only as good as the data you carry – if you crave the ultimate power of 32 gigabytes of storage without having a suspicious bulge in your pocket, look no further than the Pico USB Flash Drive – available at 8, 16 and 32 gigabytes, this thumb-sized baby is a true rescue tool for when you need your data with you. Just think of the possibilities – up to 20 whole days of musical jams, thousands of hi-res photos, or more than a dozen full-length movies ripped from your dorm buddies. So tiny, yet so powerful. We’re in awe.
3. Flip UltraHD Camcorder
A great way to squeeze more spending money from your parents is to let them know what your current dorm life looks like, preferably in video – empty boxes of ramen noodles, bowls of spoilt macaroni and cheese, the rats that are hiding underneath your bed, and so on. What better way to stage a sympathy-inducing homebrew video letter of your own to send to Mom and Dad, other than with this sleek, easy-to-use camcorder? Following up on an already stellar line of products, Flip now offers 120 minutes of recording time in vivid HD, 8 GB of built-in memory and pocket portability, with one of the slickest interfaces around. Next time your parents inquire as to what should go in your Christmas stocking or Hanukkah pile this year, just point them here.
4. Sony Playstation 3 Slim
For those days where you’re channeling more arcade than academia, you’ll need some playful distractions. I’d suggest the Nintendo DSi for pocket gaming (I’ve become a total addict!), but since you’re in a college dorm, you may want to be more social with your gaming time, and invite friends over for a tournament, so a “real” console is called for. With all the awesomeness of the original Sony PS3, the Slim version is a great option for student on the go, as this considerably slimmer console means ease of transfer from one gaming location to the next. Taking up over a third less space in your dorm room, this covers both your cinematic needs and gaming desires all in one piece, making it a value purchase for any dorm.
5. Olympus LS-11 Portable Audio Recorder
The best way to make sure you get all those juicy class notes and gain some real knowledge while you’re at school, without earning yourself a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome? Record your lectures with a fervor! Almost archived as a gadget of the past, audio recorders are back ad sleeker than ever, like the Olympus LS-11. Offering 8 GB of storage, 20 hours of battery life and a clear, crisp sound quality, you can now use your class time to catch up on valuable sleeping hours, without missing a single academic beat.
