15 Great Gadgets for the Back-to-School Crowd

Phone Home

Philips VOIP151 Travel Phone for Skype

Ipevo Free.2

Skype is a popular voice-over-IP (VoIP) service that goes everywhere, keeps you in touch, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. But while there are all kinds of handsets, speaker phones and headsets on the market for those who want something better than your basic computer mic, most of them are expensive and simply not very good.

The new Philips Travel Phone ($25.99) for Skype is different. It plugs into your computer via USB, so you can use it with networks that require you to log in via a Web browser. It's compact and includes a place to wind up the cable, so it's easy to throw in a backpack and carry with you. And it displays your Skype contact list on its own readout, so you don't have to sit in front of your laptop to make calls.

Unfortunately, the Travel Phone is PC-only, so if you're a Machead, your best bet is the Ipevo Free.2. It's bigger and has a snazzier design -- and is also more expensive: It lists for $79.99, but is available for around $40. But it's available in Mac white as well as black, has a four-line display, and a call-recording feature in its driver software.

Easy Readers

Amazon Kindle

Sony Reader

Bookeen Cybook Gen3

The Amazon Kindle ($359) has kick-started the market for electronic book readers, also known as e-readers. The Kindle has been hailed as the next iPod, and at last it's in stock on a regular basis. The device's built-in wireless connection for downloading books, magazines and newspapers may be the killer app that puts an e-reader in every hand.

But the Kindle is not the only fish in this particular sea -- Sony Corp. 's Reader ($299.99) and the Bookeen Cybook Gen3 ($350) don't have Kindle's wireless flash, but they do have some features that make them worth consideration. The Sony device has a dedicated music player and a JPEG viewer. It's more computer-centric -- you have to download texts to it from a PC, and Macs need not apply -- but it handles common file formats like RTF and PDF without the e-mail conversion process the Kindle requires.

The Cybook handles even more document formats natively, and it can download and use TrueType fonts and display right-to-left languages. Your chemistry textbook may not come in e-reader format yet -- but it will. Get ahead of the curve.

TV Tuners on a Stick

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q

Elgato EyeTV Hybrid

If you're going to build your life around your laptop, then of course you're going to watch TV on it, right? And the most portable way to do that is with a USB stick TV tuner.

Hauppauge Computer Works Inc., one of the oldest integrators of TVs and PCs, has recently come out with its updated 950Q USB tuner for $99. The "Q" in this case means support for Clear QAM , the digital TV format that can be used for many unencrypted cable TV channels in addition to legacy NTSC analog broadcast TV signals and ATSC, the new digital over-the-air TV format. The Windows-only 950Q includes WinTV v6, Hauppauge's own TV display/recorder application that provides a Web-based program guide and records programs to your hard drive.

If you're a Mac user, Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid USB tuner stick ($149.95) also handles NTSC, ASTC and QAM, and it includes a TV viewing app and program guide service. In addition, it uses a software encoder for recording.

The Fine Print

Lexmark X4650

For a long time, multifunction printer/scanner/copier units were too big for dorm rooms. But that's changing. The Lexmark X4650 is a compact 7 by 18 by 13 in. with its trays folded up, and its $129.95 price is comparably compact as well. It's fast enough for long papers -- up to 25 pages of text per minute.

The device also has good features for printing color photographs. It prints directly from USB flash drives, most of the standard memory-card formats and PictBridge-compatible digital cameras. The X4650 makes borderless prints in the standard photo sizes from both digital files and scanned images, is compatible with PCs and Macs, and best of all, it's wireless -- it works on 802.11b/g networks (in addition to a USB connection, of course), so if you've got a wireless LAN running, you can share it with your roommates.

Sound Speaker Decision

Altec Lansing VS3251

Headphones are a necessity when you live in close quarters -- your roommate may not share your taste in Wagnerian opera -- but when your roommate is away, you want to pump up the volume. That's when you need the Altec Lansing FX5051 six-channel USB sound system. It includes one center and four satellite speakers, dual 6.5-in. woofers, six-channel surround mode for games (even if you don't have a six-channel sound card), and 2/4 Channel Mode for wraparound sound from MP3 players and CD players. At $249.95 list, it's a good place to invest that back-to-school check from your favorite aunt.

If you need to economize, there's the Altec Lansing VS3251 for little more than pizza money -- $79 including five 9W satellite speakers with 2.5-in. full-range drivers and a 25W subwoofer with 5-in. driver. Both systems come with a wireless remote control.

Note: While both of these units from Altec Lansing Technologies Inc. will work fine with Macs for music, they aren't officially approved for surround-sound gaming or movie soundtracks. Unofficially, the FX5051 can be configured for 5.1 channel sound on a Mac; see EverythingUSB.com's review for tips.