Contributed by Tim Brugger, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru
Sending kids off to college can be a trying experience, for everyone involved.
The thought of sharing a 20 x 20 square foot room only adds to the angst. To help ease this sometimes difficult transition, we have laboriously reviewed a host of techie gadgets that quite likely will get your student thinking about attending summer school; if they can stay in the dorm that is.
10. Blu-ray televisions
Most dorm rooms don’t have cable hookups, so vegetating in front of a TV channel-surfing isn’t an option. No problem; watching crystal clear movies on a Blu-ray ready TV is nearly as good, and along with item #9, we’re happy to say the couch potato lives to loll another day.
9. Computer headphones (w/ Netflix membership)
When one roommate has the test equivalent of deciphering E=Mc2 for a room full of nuclear physicists, and the other has just NAILED their BB stacking exam, for the sake of all it’s best to respect the roomies privacy. Throw some headphones into Top 10 Techie Gadget for the Dorm item #3; download the latest action flick, and peace reigns supreme.
8. PlayStation/X-Box-Wii
For a non-gamer, these gaming systems are pretty much the same, and trying to keep up on which version they’re on now is more difficult than actually playing the games. Though your college-aged student can, and most likely will, set you straight on that point. Either way, setting up the dorm for late night, intergalactic battles, races, and other real-as-life examples of gamesmanship will ensure your student is never short of friends.
7. Alarm with iPod docking station
Why wake up in time to make class to boring old AM radio, that’s for old people anyway, when you can select one of the 1,500 downloaded songs from an iPod? For those of us with our long-term memories semi-intact, we recall the sometimes difficult process of waking up while at school; so any technical innovation in this area is a welcome one.
6. Wireless printer
Not as flashy as some other items on our list, but let’s not forget why students are attending school in the first place; that’s right, expanding their social consciousness by attending party after party. But a close second is to actually learn something, and with most college campuses set up for wireless connectivity, #6, a wireless printer, on our list is a perfect dorm room techno gadget.
5. Digital camera/recorder
This one has the potential to get a bit dangerous, so parents be warned: it’s quite possible that while attending school, there may be dorm room activities not suitable for children under the age of 30. Getting those on film? Yeah, pretty much have to. Simply send your student off with the understanding this gadget is to be used to save for posterity sake such momentous events as the shaving of your dorm mates left eyebrow, taping someone to a tree and other assorted (relatively) harmless activities. Besides, digital cameras come with a slew of awesome tech accessories, too.
4. Indoor remote control helicopter
In between studying, exams and the aforementioned social awakening, it’s possible there will be a few down times. No better way to use these moments of pleasure by buzzing your roommate with an indoor remote control helicopter. With practice, it’s even possible to exit the room, hover down the hall, and make a nuisance of oneself with others on the floor.
3. Wireless notebook computer
A laptop or notebook computer is almost a necessity in today’s college environment. A wireless unit removes the urge to forgo work to head outside and enjoy some sunshine in the quad; now a student can do both. It’s that flexibility, and the removal of conflicting priorities, that place the wireless notebook at #3 on our list.
2. LED lamps
These little beauties take lighting, and color, to a whole new dimension. Beyond simply bathing a dorm room in light, these programmable lamps will essentially change the room’s décor. Painting walls is a no-no at virtually all university campuses, but an LED lamp can actually wash the walls with various colors and patterns at a moments notice. Oh, but there’s more: they can also be programmed to change color schemes at regular intervals to suit the ever-changing moods of the prototypical college student.
1. Mini-fridge/warmer
A mini-fridge, as number one on our list of Top 10 techie gadgets for a dorm room you say? First, all dorm rooms must have a mini-fridge; it’s federally mandated, so it had to be on our list. But this little beauty goes above and beyond the call of mini-fridge duty. Not only will it keep refreshments and stale pizza cold, but you can crank it up to as high as 140 degrees to warm said pizza. Yes, it’s still stale, but now it’s warm and stale.