10 Essential Gadgets for Students

Cheapest Price: £303.14
Link to Information:
(XP Version) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-170-AS
(Linux Version) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-173-AS

The must have for every student – a laptop. And this one, reviewed earlier in the year by Sam, is perfect for a student‘s needs. It has a long battery life, is light and portable, provides for easy note taking, and you can be surfing the web within a minute of pressing the on button! It also comes complete with a built-in webcam and microphone so you can easily keep in touch with friends and family using Skype (or a similar program) – really handy for those moments when you‘re missing Mum and Dad….or need emergency funds! Quick, small and light – its the perfect note taker, and a must have, for any student.
Rating:4.5 stars out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £9.39
Link to Information: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105060

Another great must have for students; keep those assignments safe in this rugged USB Flash Drive. 4GB of storage for under a tenner! Enough room to store all your documents, music, pictures and videos. Its rubber casing makes it very durable and also ensures your data stays safe even in the rain, with it being splash proof (and in some unofficial reviews it has been seen to withstand boiling, freezing, dropping and being run over by an SUV! Though bitcolumns does not endorse anyone try these experiments on this or any other products!)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £129
Link to Information: http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/MP3_Players.1/iRiver.4/CLIX28GB/iRiver_Clix_2_8GB_MP3_Player.2524.html?osCsid=ga0a4691jgs14qist5fj1nj1g1
Short Description: Another product reviewed earlier in the year by myself, but then again we only review and recommend the best here at bitcolumns. A great MP3 player that has boasted (and has been proven many times) to play a solid day (24 hours) of continuous music, showing great battery life, and with totally customizable menus and settings can be easily personalized. It also plays videos, but with its small screen de don’t recommended using it as a main video player – but its good to watch the odd TV series on while on the bus or bored during lectures (bitcolumns also does not condone watching videos during lectures…) Easy to use, stylish, small, sleek and light – a fantastic multimedia player for any student.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £98.99
Link to Information: bitcolumns review :: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/112051

Short Description: Something to occupy your time at Uni in-between lectures and partying! A fun little console that incorporates a small touch screen so that the user can interact with the game they’re playing, whether it be stroking a dog or striking down goblins with your sword. A sleek, lightweight console that both looks good and performs well, and now with the new range of brain training themed games can help you perform well too! A wonderfully fun little device to play around with and perhaps may even become an essential item for you! If you’re interested you can read the Nintendo DS Lite Review on our site!
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £19.99
Link to Information: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119119/
Short Description: A very good name in the sound industry, Sennheiser headphones are quality headphones that provide a good sound quality experience. At £20 they may seem a bit expensive but you want to get yourself a good set of quality headphones as you’re going to be using them a lot throughout the year on MP3 players, laptops etc. And paying that extra bit of money really is worth it as you’re getting superior sound quality and comfort surpassing that of cheaper makes. A great, comfortable pair of headphones that provide good sound quality.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £79.95 (On Vodafone pay as you go, comes with £10 airtime)
Link to Information: http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/sony-ericsson/k800i/
Short Description: A phone is a great item to have, as any student already knows – and most students will probably already have one. However if you don’t or you want to upgrade this is a great, cheap (for a phone) option. Although it’s quite an old phone now, it comes with a 3.2 mega pixel camera and decent media player. It doesn’t have much internal memory but with the price of memory cards plummeting you can easily get hold of 4GB Micro SD cards now for around £10. This particular model of Sony Ericsson has been designed to be used as a camera and the camera quality is very decent, and the on-phone picture editing software is also very good for a phone. On some of the older models of Sony Ericsson’s the joystick has broken though so be warned about this! Though this will be covered and fixed under the warranty if this happens.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5. (Would be higher without the joystick issue)

Cheapest Price: £25.79
Link to Information: http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/TV+Tuner+Cards/Compro+VideoMate+U300+USB2.0+DVB-T+Stick+with+Remote+?productId=28156

Short Description: Every loves TV! Whether it’s drama, films, cartoons, comedy whatever else, people love TV! Well with this great USB dongle you can watch Freeview TV channels on your laptop or PC. Just plug it in the back and install the software and you’re ready to go. It comes complete with a remote and with the software you can even record from TV. This means you don’t have to mess about buying a TV or bringing a TV to University with you, then fiddling about with cables and aerials to get a picture – its an easy way to watch that TV series you love at University. Alternatively you can use any of the free-to-view services, such as 4OD or BBC iPlayer, to watch your favourite shows. As well as these there is the new student TV service freewireTV (http://www.freewiretv.com) which does effectively the same job as the above mentioned Compro VideoMate but is free to students, the catch is it’s only available only available to certain Universities. If you live in halls at the compatible Universities you can receive this service free and easily by downloading the software from the website and plugging your laptop/PC into the University’s network, the TV signals are then transmitted through the University’s network. IMPORTANT NOTE: Even if you’re viewing TV through these services and/or you aren’t watching BBC channels you MUST still pay your TV license otherwise you will get into a lot of trouble and can get fined.
Rating: Compro VideoMate – 2.5 out of 5.
4OD/BBC iPlayer – 4 out of 5.
FreewireTV (if you can receive it) – 4.5 out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £8.35
Link to Information: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Urban-MXAA02-USBCELL-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B000LV8YKQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1220491008&sr=8-2

Short Description: Rechargeable batteries… With a twist! These AA batteries look normal until you unclip the cap to reveal a USB connector. These batteries have a lid that the user takes off and then they can be recharged in any USB port! Then simply re-cap the battery and it’s ready to go in any AA battery powered device. A fantastic cheap way to power gadgets that’ll save you time and money.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £7.99
Link to Information: http://www.gadgets.co.uk/item/BLOWLITE/Inflatable-Colour-Changing-Light.html

Short Description: Ok, this seems like a random essential gadget but it makes sense – you’ve had a hard day, finished you assignments and you need to chill out, this is the perfect item. Simply inflate the lamp and let it go. It circulates through a range of colours creating a soothing colour show to relax to. Then when you’re done you can simply deflate it and pack it away! Space saving and soothing; great for any stressed out student.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Cheapest Price: £9.95
Link to Information: http://www.gadgets.co.uk/item/AURORACLOCK/Aurora-Colour-Changing-LED-Alarm-Clock.html
Short Description: Nobody likes waking up in the morning, especially to a very annoying *BLEEP* *BLEEP* *BLEEP* So here’s an alternative way to wake up: soft colour changing lights. This wonderful cube clock has a large, easy-to-read display showing the time and has a cool alarm feature where you can either have a sound alarm or have the cube slowly and softly wake you up by changing colour. The clock also has 12 different colours and changes its colour every hour. The good thing is that the clock doesn’t stay on all the time, thus using very little battery power and not annoying you at night time. It simply lights up for 30 seconds at a time when touched by the user. A different, inventive way to wake up in the morning.
Rating: 4 out of 5.