Student’s Starter Guide to College

Here are a few items that will make your college dorm room a popular place to be.

Kodak W820/W1020 Wireless Digital Photo Frame, 8-inch, $219.95; 10-inch, $269.95

This frame grabs pictures from your computer or online accounts like Flickr via WiFi. Or swap out that picture of mom and dad for the latest news, sports, weather, and other RSS feeds. (Check Prices)

Smart Home digital mini-fridge/warmer, $120

This 20-liter fridge is small enough to fit under a desk, and lets you set exact temperatures from 39 to 140 degrees. It’s also portable and comes with a car adapter so you can take it on road trips. (www.smarthome.com)

Sony PS3 80GB, $400 as of September ‘08

The games are awesome, but you can install a BitTorrent client on this thing and use it as the center of your home theater. Just watch out — some schools are starting to monitor P2P traffic. (Read our Playstation 3 review) (www.playstation.com)

Memorex iWakeUp Clock Radio, $70

Your iPod or iPhone will need somewhere to bunk down overnight, and this pillow-shaped alarm clock is a good spot. It doesn’t take up much space on cramped dorm nightstand, and the dual alarm can get you and your roommate out of bed at different times. (www.memorex.com)

Nintendo Wii Fit, requires Wii, $249.99; Wii Fit, $89.99

Keep fresh during those late night study sessions by moving around a bit on Wii Fit, with over 40 exercises and games. Besides, have you seen that YouTube video with the girl playing the Hula Hoop game? (Read our Nintendo Wii Fit review) (Check Price)

MacBook Air, Starts at $1799

You’re going to be carrying a lot of books around, not to mention a laptop. The MacBook Air is the world’s thinnest, but it’s crammed full of powerful features so you can get some work done. (Watch our MacBook Air video review) (Check Price)

Gateway P-6831FX, Starts at $1350

This notebook can keep you fragging with the best of them — between assignments, of course. With 3GB of RAM, 802.11n, and an Nvidia 8800M GTS graphics card, you won’t be dropping frames and getting hosed.

Samsung LN-32A450 HDTV, $850

You’ll make friends fast on movie night with a gorgeous 32-inch LCD TV, which is just the right size for a dorm room. This one has amazing picture quality and solid sound with all the connectivity you could want. (Check Price)

Creative GigaWorks T40, $149

Computer speakers come in handy for gaming and YouTube laugh-fests. These are perfect for a dorm room, and they’re tall but narrow, so they won’t take up too much space on your desktop. (Watch our Creative GigaWorks T40 video review) (Check Price)

Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5, $169.99

These impressive-sounding earbuds block out your roommate’s phone conversations while you rock and cram. The cables are designed to be worn over your ears or straight down, depending on whether you’re studying Phys-Ed or Greek History. (Read our Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 review) (Check Price)