The Tech Essentials List for College Students

Heading off to college for the first time and not sure what gadgets you’ll need? Sending your child to school and want them to succeed? This list has the essential gadgets you need, with no unnecessary extras, and picks out the best in each category.

After a year of interning with zBoost, I head back to college for the last time. Only one more year of school and I will be a real adult! Ah scary! Now you can benefit from the years of college under my belt, and take note of which gadgets you need to ace classes.

By: Idea Go
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Obviously you are going to need a laptop. There are school computers you can use, but are you really going to walk all the way to the library to take your 5 minute homework quiz that’s due at midnight? Your laptop will become your baby and go with you everywhere; to class for notes, home for Netflix and uhh homework. So now the question is: do you save money and go with a nice Windows laptop or get fancy with a Macbook Pro?  I am in no way a diehard Apple fanatic but I truly love my Macbook Pro. It turned 5 years old this month and is still going strong. Never having to worry about viruses, along with all the features Mac includes, makes the Apple Macbook Pro the recommendation for me. Long-term this is the best bang for your buck.

Mommy I need to Go Online….

These are the words I hear from my three year old when he needs to look for something – usually it is related to Thomas, Sesame Street or Wonder Pets and he needs GiGi, Nana, Ho Ho (Santa) or “that bunny” (the Easter Bunny) to buy it for him. It started last Christmas with him telling me “Mommy I need to online on your waptop (laptop) to look at some Thomas the trains.” Did I mention that he is three??

According to a recent Pew Research report , he is like many Americans who are now accessing the Internet on their laptop and mobile devices.   The study found that 6 in 10 Americans are going online wirelessly with their laptop or cell phone.  It is amazing how quickly kids today are learning the role of technology in our lives and how it can make everything accessible – from learning about Big Bird’s Birthday to the words to Dinosaur Train’s theme song.

For those of you who have kids here are Carter’s top five sites to visit online:

1. www.seasamestreet.org – He is a big fan of the videos and playlists
2. www.pbskids.org/curiousgeorge – The present time game is a favorite
3. www.pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain – If you ever needed to know the names of dinosaurs that start with each letter of the alphabet you can find it here!
4. www.thomasandfriends.com – Just all around fun!
5. www.bobthebuilder.com – Another site with great videos!

 You can find the full report on Mobile Access 2010 at www.pewinternet.org.