Hasta La Gadget!

Heading back to school can be a stressful time, but getting up to speed with your technology choices needn’t cause you sleepless nights. SlashGear has picked out the key technology to get you up and running when you’re headed back to your dorm room, including options for the student on a tighter budget. Read on for our run-down on what should be in your bag, on your ears, and helping you avoid the dreaded “freshman 15″.

Laptops

No student’s bag is right without a laptop inside, and there’s a huge range to choose from depending on what size screen you want and how much you might move around.

At the small end of the scale there’s the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, a 13.3-inch ultrabook running Windows 8 with an unusual hinge that allows it to convert between a notebook and a tablet. The distinctive form-factor makes it great for those moving regularly between desks but wanting to keep working as they go. It’s priced from $879.99.

Those wanting a bigger display while still keeping touch will probably find the Samsung ATIV Book 8 fits the bill, from $1,199.99. Running Windows 8 on a fast Core i7, and including standalone graphics, it’s a powerhouse upgrade to the ATIV Book 6 that so impressed us, and still manages to be portable despite games – as well as homework – looking great on its Full HD display.

Meanwhile, there’s long battery life to be had on Apple’s MacBook Air, with the 13-inch model lasting more than 12 hours in our testing. It’s priced from $1,099 for the 13-inch, though lacks a touchscreen.

Tablets

Gaming, taking notes in class, quickly checking your email and schedule, and reading through textbooks: there are plenty of reasons to have a tablet to hand.

Microsoft’s own Surface RT is well made and has a great 10.6-inch screen, and with a recent price cut to $349 it’s very competitive. Windows 8 makes its most compact play so far on the Acer Iconia W3, the world’s first 8.1-inch tablet running Microsoft’s OS, priced from $349.99. Both can be fitted with optional keyboards for easier text entry.

Apple’s iPad mini offers the familiar interface of the iPhone in a compact, 7.9-inch form factor, priced from $329.99. It also offers an LTE version, from $459.99, both with access to Apple’s App Store.

Android is the other OS in the room, and the $379.99 Galaxy Note 8.0 stands out with its stylus for easy note-taking.

If you can’t quite give up your easy text entry, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S – the 11.6-inch version of the Yoga 13 above – arguably offers the best of both worlds. Windows 8 on a convertible that can be quickly flipped between easily-carried tablet and notebook modes, it starts at $729.99.

Phones

Staying connected is key, especially when you’re juggling deadlines, study groups, and a busy social life. Today’s smartphones take work and play in their stride.

Nokia’s Lumia 928, from $99.99 on Verizon Wireless, runs Windows Phone 8 and pairs it with an excellent 8-megapixel PureView camera with a proper Xenon flash, making it one of our top picks for 4G handsets. If you’re on a budget, T-Mobile’s Nokia Lumia 521 keeps the 4G but brings the price down to $29.99 on contract or an impressive $149.99 without service.

In Android, the HTC One (from $99.99 with a new agreement) and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (from $199.99) are our current favorites. The HTC One offers excellent low-light performance with its UltraPixel camera, while the Galaxy S4 Active offers waterproofing without the usual size compromise.

Apple’s iPhone 5, from $199.99 with a new agreement, remains a capable choice. It has a good range of applications and is likely to get a new lease of life when iOS 7 arrives this fall.

Accessories

Whether you’re working in the library, burning the midnight oil without disturbing your roommate, or just want to check out the latest YouTube sensation while waiting for the bus, a pair of great headphones is a must. Logitech’s G430 are a relative bargain at $79.99, delivering great audio quality that belies the pricing, and while they’re billed as gaming headphones the microphone makes them ideal for Skype calls home, too.

Parrot’s ZIK Bluetooth headphones are more expensive, at $399.99, but they’re beautifully made, sound great, and have the convenience of going cable-free. Should you have a phone with NFC, you can even pair them up simply by tapping them together.

If you’re keen to avoid the “freshman 15″, a fitness tracker could be the right way to do it. Fitbit’s Flex ($99.99) connects wirelessly to your smartphone and gives you regular updates on how much you’re walking, while Jawbone’s UP ($129.99) is more expensive but also tracks sleep patterns.

Got any good suggestions for what every student should be headed back to the classroom with? Let us know in the comments!

Back to School Tech Guide 2013 is written by Ewdison Then & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Still gotta go out and do some shopping? I’ll bet plenty of us do, but now that its pretty much too late to do that wonderful online thing, it’s time to hoof it to stores. You just have to make sure they’ll be open first. Here’s a handy little guide to help with that. More »

During the month of August, we published 14 back to school guides, covering product categories ranging from cameras and printers, to smartphones and ultraportables. With each post, we offered a selection of gadget must-haves, but we also gave you an opportunity to enter our massive back to school giveaway, including 15 identical bags stuffed to the brim (and far beyond) with some of the hottest devices of the season. You want these gadgets, and we want to help! The contest runs through noon (ET) on Friday, September 7th, so there’s still plenty of time to enter — simply leave a comment at each of our category pages, along with the giveaway post, to secure 15 chances to win. And to make things even easier, we’re including links to all of our posts just below. Good luck, and have a fantastic semester!

• Engadget’s back to school 2012 sweepstakes: win one of 15 gadget-filled bags!
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: smartphones
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: ultraportables
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: e-readers
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: gaming
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: HDTV
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: digital cameras
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: portable audio
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: accessories
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: bags and cases
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: printers
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: fun stuff!

Continue reading There are just four days left to enter our back to school sweepstakes with nearly $50,000 in prizes!

Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile

There are just four days left to enter our back to school sweepstakes with nearly $50,000 in prizes! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we have printers on our minds and on our desks — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the series we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here!

It’s safe to say that, at some point, you’ll need to print out a collection of assignments this fall. We’re looking to save the environment just as much as the next set of folks, but physical outputs are still required for a number of things — especially in the realm of academics. Now that WiFi has become a standard option on most ink-to-paper peripherals, the ability to print from mobile devices has become a hot commodity. A number of our selections offer just that, allowing you to get the job started without needing to be in front of a computer. Enough chatter, though… head on past the break to peruse our picks for the back to school season this year.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: printers

Filed under: Peripherals

Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: printers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we have speaker docks in our sights — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here.

If there’s any post-adolescent period that deserves its own soundtrack, it’s your college years. Sure, our portable audio picks will let you jam on the go, but the best collegiate experiences are shared with friends — and listening to music should be no exception. Even if you’d prefer to keep your playlist out of your friends’ feed, be it in person or online, you’ll still need to wake up each morning, and what better way to ease into the waking world than with your favorite tracks? These speaker docks offer more functionality than your average smartphone clock, and they’re certainly better equipped to play DJ when it comes time to close the books. Join us past the break for our 2012 picks.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks

Filed under: Misc, Household

Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments