Back to School Gift Guide
By Mike Kobrin
August 11th, 2008
Voltaic Backpack, $249
Green is in, and this solar-powered backpack saves the planet in style. Made from recycled materials, the backpack harnesses and stores enough of the sun's energy to keep gadgets like your iPhone, PSP, and digital camera charged without an AC outlet. (Check Price)
Apple iPhone 3G, starts at $199 with contract
The most talked-about phone around can be a great tool for students, especially when you load it up with handy apps like iProcrastinate from the App Store. And you won't have to carry a separate music player! (Check Price)
Samsung Instinct, $199 with contract
Don't want to be an iPhone drone? The Sprint Instinct (by Samsung) has a lot of the same cool features as the iPhone, including a touchscreen, visual voicemail, and a GPS. It also has one of the best accessory bundles we've seen with a phone. (Check Price)
Canon Vixia HF100, $899
This sleek camcorder captures high-definition video on memory cards, and it fits in the palm of your hand. We recommend a 16GB Class 6 SDHC card, which you can find online for well under $100 and holds up to 4 hours of HD video. (Check Price)
iHome iP99, $149.99
A nice-looking, versatile alarm clock for your iPhone or iPod with a display you can read clear across the room no matter how late you were out last night. It's got two alarms, an AM/FM tuner, and a wireless remote that lets you browse iPod menus and music. (Check Price)
Hog Wild Peeramid Book Rest, $32.95
This faux suede pyramid pillow props up your book (or eReader, Kindle, etc.) on a lip at its base so it lies at a good reading angle. It even has a tassel that functions as a bookmark so you don't lose your page while you snooze. (Check Price)
Ideative Socket Sense Power Strip, starts at $29.99
Each of the six sockets on this power strip is on a sliding piece of plastic, so you'll never have wall warts running into each other. It also protects your gear from power spikes and comes in 6 and 12-foot versions. (Check Price)
TiVo Series3 HD, $799.99 plus $12.95 per month
Still the ultimate DVR, the latest TiVo has plenty of room for recording your favorite shows in high-def (up to 32 hours) or standard def (300 hours). It also comes with a TiVo Glo remote and can record two shows at once. (Check Price)
Sony Vaio FW, Starts at $1000
This slick multimedia laptop has a 16.4-inch widescreen display and includes up to a 400GB hard drive for all your media. The premium version's BD drive lets you play and burn Blu-ray discs, and you can hook it up to your home theater system via the HDMI output. (Check Price)
Apple MacBook, Starts at $1099
Apple's entry-level model is no slouch, with up to a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 13.3-inch screen. Plus it won't make you slouch since it weighs just 5 pounds. (Check Price)
Microsoft Xbox 360, 60GB, $349.99; 20GB, $299.99
With Microsoft slashing the Xbox 360's price recently to undercut Sony's PS3, this summer is a good time to get one. Aside from all the killer games, you can use it as a media server to centralize all your music, photos, and movies. (Check Price)
M-Audio Studiophile AV40, $199.95
Compact desktop speakers with a built-in amp are just what you need to rock out while you study or party. These are extremely powerful for their size, and the sound quality is so good that many people use them as reference monitors for recordings. (Check Price)
Beats by Dr. Dre, $349.95
High-end cable maker Monster paired with Dr. Dre to design these cans, and believe it or not they're worth the hefty price! Full, tight bass and superb mids and highs in a comfy, lavish-looking package -- plus extras like noise cancellation, headset functionality, and a folding headband. (Check Price)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50, $449.95
This 9.1-megapixel point-and-shooter fits in a pocket, but it packs WiFi so you can upload shots to Google's Picasa photo-sharing site. With 10X optical zoom, a 28-mm Leica lens, and optical images stabilization, there aren't many shots you can't take with this camera. (Check Price)