The Rio Carbon, for instance, has great battery life and sells for about $150 — $50 less than the iPod Mini.
Just about everyone’s heard of the Apple iPod and iPod Mini by now, but there are plenty of alternatives — some with lower price tags.
Students and their parents will spend almost $40 billion on back-to-school paraphernalia this year. Elementary and high school students will head back with an average of about $444 in new gear, according to the National Retail Federation. The number is substantially higher for students headed for college.
And, of course, anything and everything iPod.
A rechargeable version, the R700, sells for about $200. A model that takes replaceable batteries costs about $160 at .
They also can be responsible for a major strike on the family budget.
Microsoft Student, primarily for elementary and high school students, offers homework help and is integrated into Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The software tutors students on starting various types of writing assignments, helps them access online versions of their textbooks and even gives step-by-step math hints.
The shirt-pocket-size Olympus DS-2 has enough memory to record a day’s worth of classes and connects to a computer’s USB port. It sells for about $120. Less expensive variations on the same theme sell for about $70, but make sure they can be connected to a computer for downloads.
We are talking school here, so back on the homework front is DocuPen, a portable scanner that can go to the library to help students with research.
Here’s a 20th century practice updated for the new millennium.
At the other end of the scale, Alienware’s Area-51m 7700 is designed for students who relax by playing computer games. At 10 pounds, it’s too heavy to take to class, but it provides an alternative to a space-hogging desktop computer. Well equipped, the 7700 will cost well over $2,000.
Slightly smaller, and with less storage space, are pocket-size hard drives like the Iomega Mini (20 gigs for $160) or the Pocket Hard Drive from Seagate (5 gigs for $130). The lowest-price alternative is keychain-size flash drives, which hold much less data but often sell for under $30.
Seagate’s paperback-size Portable External Hard Drive comes with up to 120 gigabytes of storage space — enough to back up almost any computer hard drive. A 100-gig model sells for about $210.
Laptop computer prices range from under $500 (on sale) to more than $5,000. Expect to pay about $1,200 for a machine with enough power, memory and add-ons to do the job for several years.
Those headed for college should find out which services work the best on campus. Not all wireless carriers serve all campuses.
Communication is next up on the most-wanted list. Kids, of course, want to talk to their friends. Parents want to be able to find their children. And with phones increasingly being designed for specific age groups, including children as young as 6, students are a vast influence on the wireless market.
For college students, and increasingly high school and even elementary students, notebooks are at the top of the must-have list. Not those old-fashioned notebooks with paper. We’re talking computing power here.
When they’re not studying, students are looking for relaxation, often with MP3 players.
The small Creative MuVo TX FM holds fewer songs but adds an FM radio and sells for under $90.
Increasingly, even grade schoolers are carrying wireless phones and MP3 players.
Rarely, however, do students back up that stored information on CDs or portable hard drives.
To save some cash, remember that some manufacturers, including Apple Computer and HP, offer discounts for students.
New family plans offered by all the major wireless companies allow parents to add their children to their account for about $10. Pay-as-you-go plans, like that offered by Virgin Mobile USA, make it easy for kids to pay their own way, but generally are more expensive.
Students gather an incredible number of digital files — papers written for school, photos taken with digital cameras, music, digital class notes and the like.
(By DAVID HAYES,The Kansas City Star)
For younger students, consider a sturdier, even less expensive alternative. Players that use flash memory instead of hard drives like those used in the iPods will hold up to a lot more abuse. One such player, the Creative Zen Nano, holds hundreds of songs and sells for about $120.
While clothes, shoes and (in the case of college students) textbooks make up the lion’s share of that $40 billion, about $8 billion will be spent on electronics equipment.
The must-have (or most-wanted) student gear ranges from calculators to computers. Accoutrements include DVD players, cameras, PDAs, scanners, printers, portable hard drives and surge protectors to protect all those devices.
Remember how you used to borrow notes from friends when you missed class? Students today are recording their classes with digital voice recorders and e-mailing the recordings to friends.
The device, about the thickness of a pen and twice as long, copies both text and graphics. DocuPen holds up to 100 pages that can be downloaded when the student gets back to a computer at home or in the dorm room.
Productivity can be just as important to students as to their parents in the workplace.
Surge protectors are a must, and one of the most versatile comes from APC. The PF11VT3 has a 10-foot cord, 11 power outlets, and outlets and protection for telephone and cable modems.
Backing up data is one form of protection. Making sure all that gear is protected from power surges is another.
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