Special Report: Tech you need for school

It's that time of year again. Millions of freshman (and some upper classmates, too) are scouring the country for the best gear that could make a student the most admired on campus - or the loser next door.

• Image Gallery: King of the QWERTYS

  Touch screen smartphones are all the rage today with the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Google Android devices. However, there are still millions of people who enjoy a messaging experience on forward facing QWERTY smartphones. We will be taking an in-depth comparative look at the top three smartphones running Symbian, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry operating systems.

  

• RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Sprint) photos

  CNET takes a look at Sprint's version of the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630.

  

• Road trip with the iPhone 3GS photos

  I recently took the iPhone 3GS on a California road trip. Check out these photos of my journey, all of which were shot with the 3GS' camera.

  

• Turn your iPhone into an office

  This collection of iPhone apps include our top picks for building an iPhone office, whether it's from your living room or the sun deck of your vacation rental.

  

• Acer Aspire One AOD250

  Acer's budget Netbook, the Aspire One, has hit a new price point at under three hundred dollars.

  

Videos

• Better School Reports

  Better School Reports

  

• School Presentation

  School Presentation

  

• Up close with one-to-one computing

  CNET News' Ina Fried traveled to Campinas, Brazil, to explore the Bradesco Foundation school, home to one of Latin America's largest one-to-one computing projects.

  

• CNET's back-to-school 2009 retail laptop/desktop review roundup

  We are once again scouring the shelves of big retail stores to find boxed versions of popular PCs, from entry-level systems starting at $349 to quad-core powerhouses.

  

• Reviews of the Toshiba Satellite M505-S4940

  Equipped with great speakers and a good screen but an inferior processor and keyboard, the Toshiba M505-S4940 just isn't a good enough buy for the money.

  

• Asus Essentio CM5570-AP006

  The Asus Essentio CM5570-AP006 will give you fair performance and a well-rounded set of features for its price, and we recommend it if you specifically need a midbudget, midtower desktop.

  

• Dell Inspiron 545s

  The Dell Inspiron 545s cuts a more robust profile than other budget Inspirons by offering better upgrade options and some decent performance for its price.

  

• HP Pavilion dv7-2185DX

  HP makes excellent, slick multimedia machines, such as the Pavilion dv7-2185DX, but we'd still trade its quad-core CPU for a full HD 1080p display and Blu-ray.

  

Stories

• US schools - find any school in a county and school district in the USA 1.0.3 (Mobile)

  With US Schools you can find any school in the U.S.A. !!! All public and private schools are available. The schools are grouped per state, county and school district. Per school detailed...

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  Software downloads | 10/4/11

• "School Bus Yellow" Dell netbook leaked - I mean School Bus Orange

  Just a quick post for Friday afternoon to give you something to think about over the weekend: Gizmodo has leaked photos of what appear to be Latitude-branded, Atom-based netbooks, replete with...

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  Blog posts | 3/27/09

• Lower Merion School District: A case against school-owned laptops

  As we learn that the FBI is now investigating the school district for its actions, one can't help but think that schools maybe shouldn't be in the laptop business. However, that doesn't mean that...

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  Blog posts | 2/21/10

• In the high-tech age, one school is (very) old school

  Handwriting with a proper fountain pen - not ballpoints! - is the path to improving attention to detail and quality of work, Scottish principal believes.

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  Blog posts | 12/14/06

• High school partners with Virtual High School to offer 200 online electives

  The public-private partnership is opening a range of classes that would never be available in a traditional classroom. But AZ school is moving slowly, offering the option to just 15 students.

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  Blog posts | 3/17/07

• Lower Merion School District: A case against school-owned laptops

  While not perfect While not perfect maybe following the same format of the Home Access Programme in the UK. Where families can (depending on the income) either get a free voucher for a device...

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  Discussion threads | 2/21/10

• School Stacks - Flashcards for school students, GRE Vocabulary, French Verbs, Spanish Verbs, Periodic Table Elements... 2.0 (Mobile)

  An excellent companion for students in school and adults desiring to re-learn a few things.Enjoy these premium stacks, the refined user experience, the incredible attention to detail, and a...

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  Software downloads | 11/6/09

• OC School OC School 1.0 (Mobile)

  The OC School app provides relevant information to the Oakland Christian School community.This app was built through AppMakrVisit our website at www.AppMakr.com for more information

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  Software downloads | 1/13/10

• SchoolAids SchoolAids 1.0 (Mobile)

  School Aids Information and NewsThis app was built through AppMakrVisit our website at www.AppMakr.com for more information.

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  Software downloads | 1/13/10

• Every School a Great School by David Hopkins 1.0 (Mobile)

  Every school a great school is not just a slogan but an aspiration for the next stage of education reform, in which each student has the opportunity to reach their full potential. The book argues...

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  Software downloads | 3/8/10