Back to School Guide 2010: A student's essential toolkit
It's finally August, which means several things. Not only is it your last chance to really take advantage of the summer, but it's also time to start shopping for back-to-school supplies.
Whether you are starting a new year at college or graduate school (and even high school), there are some tech gadgets you just can't forget about. Sure, a new laptop and digital camera are important, but there are certain accessories you should pair with these to make your academic life simpler and more successful.
If you want something that reflects your personality, you can always splash out a bit more cash. You can either search by your favorite color or even seek out something more unique at Mimobot, but you'll definitely be paying for the design rather than the storage space.
Two, if you plan on working between computers often (say at school or work and then also at home), it's much easier to have one extremely-large capacity drive for a single data transfer rather than making a bunch of exchanges via a USB key.
Fortunately, like USB drives, external hard drives are becoming cheaper by the week, and you can find something for almost any budget. For back-up purposes, you'll want something that at least matches your laptop's hard drive. A 250GB variant is a good place to start these days, like this Seagate FreeAgent Go edition for $60. For serious archiving, you'll want at least 1TB of HDD space, which is possible for under $130 with the WD MyPassport Essential SE or Toshiba Canvio Plus.
Digital Voice Recorder
If taking notes isn't your thing and you learn better via auditory means, then a voice recorder is a must. Gone are the days of little cassette tapes and a bulky recording machine. Nowadays you can find something cheap and tiny enough to fit in any pocket. Many smartphones often include voice recording support these days, but here's a few options if yours doesn't.
For multiple functionality, there's the SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 player, which holds 2GB of space and supports voice recording - all for just over $30. You could also combine two gadgets on this list into one with the Centon 1GB USB 2.0 voice recorder for $29.99.
But if you're looking for something with high-quality audio recording capability (say for podcasts), a Zoom device is your best bet, such as the Zoom H2 for $128 or the Zoom H4n for $300.
Note: If you have a Mac, you'll really need to pay attention to the product description to see if your chosen device is compatible or not. If you have a dual-drive set up with Windows, sometimes that will work for setting up your device, but not always.
All-In-One Printer
If you don't live on campus or don't want to have to trek to a print shop or computer lab every time you want to print a page, you should consider getting a printer. Often times, when buying a new computer, you can get a free printer up to a certain price for free. For example, Apple offers a $100 mail-in rebate with new Mac purchases so long as the computer and the printer are on the same receipt.
And if you're going for a new printer, you might as well get one that also scans and copies. Epson, Canon and HP (among others) both have options hovering around the $100 mark that do all three of these things - and wirelessly at that. If you're looking for a good overall device, check out the Epson Stylus NX420 color ink-jet printer. For a focus on photo quality, take a look at the Canon PIXMA MP560 for a bit less at $85.
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Remember, while there are some links to product pages here, you should always do a bit of pricing comparing before purchasing online. While one item might be cheaper with Amazon, something else could be cheaper with Best Buy or Newegg.
You also never want to buy something online without reading a handful of customer reviews, and don't forget to read the return and exchange policies closely as a lot of retailers won't give full refunds (or refunds at all) if a tech product's packaging has been opened.