7 Must-Have Gadgets for College Life

BY Lorraine McKinney

 

We are all guilty of buying the latest gadgets just because they are cool. But, there are actually some gadgets that are more than just cool, because they can be incredibly useful, especially for college students. There are several gadgets that could make your life a whole lot easier, and we have listed our seven favorites here.

1. Graphing Calculator – If you are a science or math major, this calculator is for you. While it is not cheap, it is a valuable tool that has many preloaded applications, business functions, and more. You can save as many as 10 graphing functions to analyze a variety of equations at once. This is an essential tool for anyone who is into math and science, and wants to ace every course.
2. Digital Note-Taking – Taking notes can be a real pain, and it is very easy to miss something important. Never have this problem again when you use an Evernote subscription with an Echo livescribe pen. When used with a tablet or an Echo notepad, you can use the app and pen together to record both written and audio notes. You can also sync notes to many devices so you will always have your notes when you need them, no matter where you are or what device you are using.
3. Laptop Lock – It is all too easy to set your laptop down and then forget to pick it up again, and then you have lost it. Make sure that no one can take off with it by getting a laptop lock, which costs less than $10. The cable is as long as 6.2 feet, and it will keep your laptop in place until you go back to retrieve it. If you plan to sell laptop and get a new one, be sure to have this security feature.
4. Fitbit Flex – It is important that along with getting good grades that you also keep up with your physical health. You need to be able to manage sleep, diet, and fitness, and this gadget is the best way to do it. It is basically a tracking device that has a silent alarm option so if you are alerted about something to do with your health, the alarm won’t disturb roommates who are on different schedules than you.
5. Phone Charging Case – As a student, you are always busy and on the go, and you probably don’t always have time to waste on charging your phone. Get yourself an OtterBox phone charging case, which will double your battery life and stop charging automatically to save power. You will never have to worry about your phone battery dying at an inopportune moment again. It will also protect your phone from a variety of other obstacles.
6. Charging Backpack – Your backpack can be useful for other things besides carrying books around. You need a charging backpack. These come with three USB ports so you can charge multiple devices. It also has six separate areas for storage that you can customize for your own personal needs so you can fit in all of the things you need to lug around all day long.
7. C-Pen – If you are going to buy any gadget this year, make it this one. The C-pen is a book scanner that lets you study course notes without a lot of effort. If you need to get quotes just before an exam, you can search the computer and scan it instead of writing it out manually. Just copy and paste the quote, and you will have digital copies you can refer to at any time.

Lorraine McKinney is an academic tutor and elearning specialist.