backtoschool2011
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Daily iPad App: GeoMaster Plus HD
I tried the original GeoMaster app from French mobile developer VirtuaMobile a long time ago, but the HD version is well-suited to the bigger iPad screen. GeoMaster Plus HD is a geography quizzing game. It is simple enough, flashing text on the screen and asking you to tap the appropriate location. You battle against the clock but only to beat your times. This is a basic learning tool, and is fun yet relaxed, lacking really flashy or annoying elements. As such, it is perfect for kids learning geography. You can choose from states, countries, capitals and French departments, and players need only tap the appropriate spots on the screen to register answers. GeoMaster Plus HD adds a few things for the iPad. The larger screen makes it somewhat easier to tap the maps. Still, you can pinch to zoom and swipe to pan around if you can't hit Rhode Island with your giant fingers. The graphics are crisp and attractive, and the app really nails the chalkboard look. The drawstring on the pull-down map (which accesses the Atlas) even interacts as you tilt the iPad. The Atlas is a basic factoid lookup tool for the geography used in the game. It isn't that detailed nor is it as fun to browse as the game is to play. There are much better atlas apps, so consider this a somewhat weak freebie. Still, GeoMaster Plus HD is a fun, accessible and useful educational game for learning geography. Even at full price I can recall paying much more for flash cards which weren't nearly this enjoyable. Pick it up if you have a friend or relative who needs to learn some basic geography fast.
Daily iPad App: Netter's Anatomy Atlas
Any medical student or professional will instantly recognize the name "Netter." Frank H. Netter was a physician and artist who drew over 500 plates, or individual medical illustrations, covering virtually every aspect of human anatomy. Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy, the book, is a classic in the field of medical reference. It outshines Grey's Anatomy, not only in its depth and accuracy, but also because of the detail of the images (not to mention, they're in color). If you're a medical student, Netter's is a must. However, the biggest problem with Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy, as with most medical reference books, is medical students might break their backs carrying the book around. It's a tome that weights close to ten pounds. The extra weight has now been alleviated however, thanks to Elsevier Health Sciences finally bringing Netter's Anatomy to the iPad. Netter's Anatomy Atlas for iPad offers users all the benefits of the book and more. Because it's an app and not an ebook, Netter's Anatomy Atlas offers interactivity that could never be obtained in paper format. You still get all 531 Netter plates, but the app also gives you the ability to bookmark individual plates, add notes to the plates, customize and toggle labels, and offers a search functionality that allows you to quickly find a plate by plate number or keyword. The app also features some cool extras, like an additional 40 Netter plates once you register the app. Though I'm glad Netter's is finally available on the iPad (my copy of the 4th edition is literally falling to pieces), there is one major drawback to Netter's Anatomy Atlas for iPad. In a baffling move, the app only works in landscape view. You can't look at the images in portrait orientation even though that's how they were drawn. This means you're scrolling a lot through some of the taller images. I imagine this landscape-only limitation will be addressed in a future update (at least, I hope it will be). Besides that landscape orientation problem, the rest of the app is solid and I highly recommend it for anyone in the medical field. Like the book, the iPad app isn't cheap. Netter's Anatomy Atlas for iPad costs US$89.99. But there is also a free sample version, Netter's Anatomy Atlas Free, for those of you who want to try out the app first. If you do buy the full app, be warned: because of all the highly detailed plates it takes up a whopping 1.35 GB of space on your iPad. %Gallery-134922%
Daily iPad App: 123D Sculpt
123D Sculpt is a virtual sculpture program designed by Autodesk, a software company known for its 3D business software like AutoCAD. Though Autodesk has a rich history of creating professional applications, 123D Sculpt is designed to the artist inside all of us. The iPad application lets you sculpt a 3D model out of a lump of virtual clay. It supports multi-touch so you can use all your fingers to mold thel clay into any shape you like. For the beginning artist, 123D Sculpt includes several pre-defined shapes that include animals, objects like cars and shapes like a cube. Once you decide on a shape, you can use a suite of tools to manipulate the clay by pulling, smoothing, pushing, pinching, flattening it and more. You can even apply textures and add color to each creation. And if you want a personal touch, you can import a photo from your camera or photo library and use it a custom texture. When you 're done with your sculpture, you can export it to a transparent PNG. It's unfortunate the app does not let you export the creation to a 3D file format. Though I am not an artist, I found 123D Sculpt to be very easy to use and enjoyable. The interface is intuitive and the app has a nice help section to explain what each tool and menu bar contains. A multiple undo feature lets you backtrack when you realize you've made some design mistakes. If you are a budding Michelangelo, then you should check out 123D Sculpt. It' s available for free from the App Store and ships with 15-20 clay models. Additional models are available as an in-app purchase.
Daily iPad App: Ghostwriter Notes
Ghostwriter Notes for the iPad is a note-taking solution that'll let you scribble your thoughts or jot down the highlights of a lecture on your tablet device. The app uses the idea of a virtual notebook to store your writings and lets you create an unlimited number of these notebooks. You can customize these notebooks and the pages within by naming them and changing the backgrounds with paper templates or background images. Writing on each page is simple and easy - all you need is your finger or a stylus. The text is predictably large when you use your finger, but it can be scaled down to normal size using a magnification view (shown above) for writing. When you choose a pen, a box appears at the top of the page and a magnified view of that region appears at the bottom of your display. You can write in this zoomed-in region and the text appears at the top. It's a little awkward but it does help you write more clearly and lets you use the entire page of the notes. This magnified view only works with the pen. If you choose the text box, markers or highlighters for writing, then you will write on the full page without any magnification. Ghostwriter also supports PDF files, so you can easily annotate and save these files. When you are done writing or editing, you can sync your notes to Dropbox or Evernote. You can also send them via email or print them wirelessly. Ghostwriter Notes is a great replacement for the traditional notebook. It would work well for students, work meetings or conferences. The magnification view is helpful for writing and its nice to have a variety of tools to use for writing, highlighting and drawing. The only negative is the interface which is good, but could be better. You get used to the controls quickly but I had to search to find the eraser under the "Pens" menu and was surprised when the up/down arrows at the top let you import and export your notebooks. I expected to jump to the top or the bottom of the page. There's also no support for the swipe gesture to turn the page. There's a little slider to move back and forth through pages, but it's not as natural of a motion as swiping. These few drawbacks take away from the experience but they don't diminish my enthusiasm for the app. The developer has a support page and is very responsive to customers so hopefully these quirks will be addressed in future versions. This responsiveness, in my opinion, means the developer is serious about the app and will work hard to improve any deficiencies and add new features. Ghostwriter Notes is available for US$4.99 from the App Store.
Survey: 60 percent of back-to-school PC purchases are Macs
We've posted before how Apple is not only growing in terms of portable devices, but also in terms of Mac sales. Here's another indicator of that: A survey of 158 college students, all undergrads, says 60 percent of new PC purchases by the group this year consisted of Macs. That's not a huge sample, but it is a representative one, as more and more students are going with OS X-driven computers rather than the old desktop PC. According to the same study last year, Apple held only a 38 percent share, so interest in Macs among this group has almost doubled. More students than last year also brought a tablet with them to school, though shares in that department are apparently leveling. Apple's iPad is down a few percentage points, as is the Kindle, while the "other" category is up by 10 percent. As volatile as those numbers are (which, unfortunately, casts a little bit of doubt on how relevant this study actually is), there are hints that these undergrads are definitely Mac-inclined in their back-to-school purchases. Apple may have become a mobile device company, but its Mac sales are still stronger than ever.
Free and sale apps on iOS this weekend
Happy weekend! There are a whole bunch of great iOS apps on sale (and some even free) this weekend, so if you need something fun to play on your iPhone or iPad, look no further: Plushed Gold Fever is a colorful running game that's free this weekend. Tiny Heroes, which we picked as a Daily App earlier this week, is staying on sale for just 99 cents. The 2D RTS Swords and Soldiers is on sale for a buck as well. Gameloft is having a big sale, with many titles down to just a buck, including NOVA, Dungeon Hunter 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Rayman 2. The great Legendary Wars is free for the weekend. The oddly named Radballs is free as well. Sid Meier's Pirates on iPad is only $1.99. And finally, Wolfram Alpha has a bunch of course assistants on sale for just a couple of bucks each. If you need a little extra help math-wise, they've got your back. All great deals on the App Store this weekend. There's never any shortage of great apps to buy!
Nisus updates Writer Pro for Lion
Nisus has updated its Nisus Writer Pro and Nisus Writer Express software with full OS X 10.7 Lion-compatibility and full-screen features. Besides the Lion features, Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.1 adds a number of requested features like drawing tools, track changes, and watermarks. Nisus Writer Express 3.4 also adds a file importer that is compatible with both Intel and PowerPC Macs. Nisus Writer has been around for the Mac since 1989 and was the first word processor to handle multiple type systems in its file format. Since then the program has begun to show its age. The UI is a little clunky, retaining a OS X Jaguar-style look that many who are used to Word or Pages might not appreciate. However, for you old timers, the Nisus Writer updates are a nice touch to ensure continued compatibility with the latest OS X. Nisus Writer Express and Nisus Writer Pro are universal apps and require Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or later. Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.1 is available online for US$79.00 or a $49.00 upgrade price for owners of 1.x. A three license Family Pack is also available for $99.00. Nisus Writer Express 3.4 is $45 or $30 for the upgrade version. A three license Family Pack is available for $79. These updates are free to current license holders of Express 3.x and Pro.
Engadget's massive back to school 2011 sweepstakes ends tomorrow... find out how to win!
We really, really love gadgets, but nothing brings us greater joy than to see our readers unbox a new toy, especially when it can help improve your experience at school. So this year we're giving away bags -- 15 of them, in fact -- each filled with 20 amazing prizes. Each winner will score a laptop, tablet, a killer camera, and even a new dual-core cell phone, along with plenty of other awesome items. We'll be choosing one commenter from each of our back to school category pages, and one from our main contest announcement, so if you meet the qualifications listed on each post, simply leave a comment to be eligible to win. You won't be penalized for commenting more than once on each post, but it won't help your chances, either. And since we'll be randomly selecting one commenter from each post, enter at each of the 14 pages linked to here, along with this page to boost your odds. We'll wrap things up at 12PM ET tomorrow, so better get clickin'! Note: Comments added below will not be eligible, nor will those left on the main back to school page -- if you see a long list of terms and conditions above the comments section, then you've made it to the right place.
IDW releasing comics for iBooks
Most of the comic books released on the iPad and iPhone have been inside of special apps (many of which are run by ComiXology, actually), but here's another option. Comic book publisher IDW is set to release some graphic novels and comic books through iBooks, meaning that you can buy them right inside Apple's official e-reader app. 20 different graphic novels are coming out in the first round, ranging from genre stuff like Star Trek and Doctor Who, to licensed titles like Dragon Age, and older stuff like Locke & Key and Bloom County. Each should cost around $6 to $10 (which is competitive, especially compared to buying the full paper editions of these books), and should be available in the iBookstore soon, if not already. I used to be a die-hard paper book reader, but lately I've seen a lot of value in iBooks, not just in terms of price, but also in the convenience of having all the books I happen to be reading stored on my iPhone. I have a feeling that ComiXology and other apps like it will probably remain the best way to pick up day-one releases of periodical comic books (at least until NewsStand comes along in iOS 5), but for library editions and collected graphic novels, iBooks could become the best and easiest way to read those.
Daily iPad App: PDF Expert
We've covered PDF Expert a bit before, but this week they rolled out a 3.0 update that greatly enhances the functionality in the app. When the iPad debuted, one of the first apps to rocket to the top of the charts was GoodReader, and with good reason: it was a better PDF reader than Apple's built-in iBooks app. GoodReader wasn't perfect, and hasn't evolved that much. I bought GoodReader and used it for a long time until I had a chance to use PDF Expert. Now I'm sold: PDF Expert is likely the ultimate iOS PDF app out there right now. Even if you're just reading PDFs, PDF Expert has an edge. I found it caches large PDF files effectively, so swiping through pages isn't an exercise in futility. The responsiveness of the app has to be experienced, it's just that good. New to 3.0 is a Recents button, so recently-used PDFs appear in a shortened list, handy when you're flipping around in different documents. PDF Expert has had support for some bookmarking in the past, but 3.0 has a full range of tools for highlights and marking within your documents. Plus, if you want to delete all the marks, it's a one-button process. Add to that a full range of document editing tools, allowing you to move pages, insert blanks, copy and paste, rotate and more and you'll see why I don't even think about Adobe Acrobat Pro any more. PDF Expert already supported forms, hyperlinks and added signatures (a really, really awesome feature which allows you to sign with your finger or stylus and save that signature for later use) so the 3.0 additions are like icing on this robust PDF 3-layer cake. If you frequently deal with PDF documents, be they read-only or forms or anything in-between, take a serious look at PDF Expert. There's a Pro version of PDF Expert available for iPad and iPhone, plus a "free" enterprise version designed for use with a backend solution from Readdle. If you're in the market for a full business solution, the Enterprise version offers additional features like group sharing options. %Gallery-132889%
Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me take notes at school
Dear Aunt TUAW, Now that most of the country's college students are going back to school, I need recommendations for note-taking software for my Mac. In the meantime, let me say, "Boo-hoo Microsoft for not making OneNote for OS X." Sincerely, Kenny M Dear Kenny, If you're looking for an OS X app that hits many of OneNote's sweet spots, consider the US$39.99 Pear Note from Useful Fruit. Developer Chad Sellers tells TUAW, "Pear Note is often looked at as a more focused Mac alternative to OneNote." If you record lectures as you take notes, Pear Note may be the app for you. It integrates your typed notes with audio, providing many of the same kinds of note-taking features as OneNote. Timestamps for each keystroke allow you to associate what you typed with what was being said at the same time. Just click on the text notes to jump to the point in the recording when you typed it, and start listening again to that topic. If you plan to use an iPad and a Mac, the upcoming Pear Note for iPad will coordinate with the Mac version via Dropbox. Do recognize, though, that Pear Note is for creating notes, not organizing them. Sellers says, "I wanted people to be able to use whatever organizational tool they like with Pear Note. So, some organize their notes in folders on the filesystem, some throw them all in Documents and use search to find things, and some use Yojimbo, Together, or Evernote to organize them." Now, if you're more of a visual scribbler than a listener, Auntie suggests the $29.99 Circus Ponies Notebook. Notebook shines in its ability to add diagrams, flow charts and sketches to any page and provides full stylus integration. You can import PDF documents and add notes on top of that material. Plus, you can "...'clip' selections from web pages and other apps straight into your Notebooks," according to Circus Ponies' marketing text. Notebooks stores the URL with the clip, allowing you to return to pages that you've taken notes on. Perhaps your prefer an outline approach? Auntie's got a suggestion for you, too. How about the $39.99 OmniOutliner? It provides excellent outlining tools. OmniOutliner lets you collect and organize information using a traditional outliner on steroids. With it, you can build multi-columned documents that include many spreadsheet enhancements, so your outlines can come to life. If you're a bullet-point style note taker, OmniOutliner probably provides all (if not more) the functionality you need for in-class organizing. Got another OS X note-taking app to recommend? Drop a note in the comments, because Auntie loves hearing from you. Hugs, Auntie T.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: gaming
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we're getting our game on -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Let's be honest, balancing coursework with recreation is just as important as maintaining a balanced food diet -- perhaps even more. After you spend countless hours hitting the books, cramming for tests, and writing papers, you're just going to need something to turn your brain to mush. Don't worry, we have just the thing: video games. It doesn't matter how many midterms you have, we're sure we can find something to help you slack off. Of course, it's not going to be easy; you'll have to wait until next semester (at least) to get your hands on the PlayStation Vita, but that doesn't mean that you don't have options now. Jump past the break -- we can probably help you find something to get you through mid-terms with your sanity intact. Don't want to shell out cash to have fun this semester? Enter our back to school sweepstakes! Simply leave a comment below for a chance to win, and drop by our giveaway page for more details.
Magic Numpad turns your Magic Trackpad into a number pad
So you love your sleek, compact Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad, right? Who doesn't? There's not a wire or cable in sight and you're workspace couldn't be more clutter free, functional and oh so pleasing to the eye. Until, that is, that dreadful day comes when you need to do some serious number crunching. In that moment, it's safe to say, you wish you'd gone for Apple's wired keyboard with a numerical keypad built into the side. Well, thanks to the good folks at Mobee, now you don't have to compromise. For $29.90 you get the Magic Numpad -- a pack of three custom film layouts that you apply to your trackpad. Depending on how intensive the number crunching you're about to do is, you can apply either the classic numpad (that leaves you some tactile surface on your trackpad), the full numpad or the numpad with customizable keys. With the overlays and a free download of Mobee's free Snow Leopard or Lion compatible software, your Magic Trackpad will be transformed into a fully functioning Magic Numpad. The Magic Numpad is up for pre-order now on Mobee's website. Availability is set for October. Head on over to Mobee's website for all the details. [Via This is my next]
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: accessories
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got a slew of accessories -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Fall's slowly, but surely creeping back in, and we bet you've already started to gather up the necessary gear for your return to the residence hall. Sure, you've got the basics covered, with a computer, smartphone, MP3 player and even a tablet at the ready. But wouldn't it be nice to start the school year off in style with some handy accoutrements to trick out those digital crutches? Let's face it, you're going to need a lapdesk buffer zone between you and your laptop's scorching heat for those countless hours spent churning out term papers. Or, an external hard drive, so you can store those full seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and bring the late night funny to your stressed-out friends. However you manage to make it through the year and snag that 4.0 GPA, we've got a selection of accessorized aids to match your collegiate budget. Oh, and don't forget, we're giving away $3,000 worth of essential back to school gear to 15 readers, and you can be among the chosen few simply by dropping a comment below! Click on past the break to start browsing.
Papers 2 and Papers for the iPad: the ultimate journal reading combination
It's that time of year again: time to head back to college, grab those books and kickstart the academic term. This year, why not cut out paper from your scientific journal research workflow with the ultimate in journal management and reading for the Mac and iPad? Management Papers 2 takes journal management to the max on your Mac. Across academia and industry, Endnote is pretty much the gold standard as far as referencing goes. Yes, there are apps like Bookends, Refworks and BibTex, as well as a plethora of others including the new cross-platform offering from Mendeley, but none of them, including Thomson Reuters' offering, come close to Papers 2 when it comes to actually managing those hundreds of PDF files, importing them, sorting them, reading them, and most importantly, searching them. Papers 2 creates a database of references, grabbing their metadata from Pubmed, Google Scholar and directly from science repositories like Science Direct, and attaching the PDF files. If you have a PDF, but no citation to import, you can just import the PDF into Papers 2 by simple drag and drop. From there Papers 2 can scan your file for a match, but if it can't find it automatically, it's just a case of manually editing the reference and hitting "Match." That'll kick you into a search form where you can just drag to select text and search for the reference with it, whether it's the title, author or journal, it'll scan the science directories for the matching reference and bind all the metadata accordingly.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: laptops
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today we're getting down to the very important business of helping you sift through laptops, and you can always head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Ah, laptops. Some of us received our first notebooks the summer before college if not later. But times have changed and we're sure for many of the kids reading this freshman year is just an excuse to upgrade from the clunkers that carried them through high school. Either way, this one's pretty much mandatory -- unless you're a serious gamer who insists on a desktop GPU for marathon sessions of CoD: Black Ops, you're going to need a laptop for pounding out last-minute term papers in the library, taking notes in class and posting incriminating photos on Facebook. The problem is, the market's overrun with laptops that purport to be just perfect for the back to school set. They can't all be worth your money, though, so we whittled the list down to a handful of choices for each budget -- and if you're lucky you'll get your very own HP Pavilion dm1z for the pretty price of, well, nothing. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details. So wipe off the glasses, grab your clicker, and get ready to jump past the break for a top-level overview of this year's picks for back to school.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: bags and cases
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we're walking around with new bags in tow -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Cutting a bag free from an oversized cardboard container isn't nearly as exciting as unboxing the latest, well, anything else -- but you're probably gonna need one, unless you don't mind biking around campus with a laptop under your arm. We've rounded up some of our perennial favorites that are sure to keep your gadgets safe on any budget. And see that messenger bag up above? It's stuffed full of some of this season's hottest gadgets -- and we're giving one away to 15 of you. Simply leave a comment below and at each of our other back to school guides to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: smartphones
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we're tapping away on our smartphones -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Now more than ever, collegiate studies require a wide variety of devices to help you get that prized "A." The thirst for knowledge you so desperately seek can strike at any time, and you're not always going to have that desktop or laptop nearby to find the answer to a burning question. Perhaps you just need to hurl birds at pigs for a while to blow off your stress. Whatever the case, you'll need something to help you study, store (and edit) all of your important term papers, keep you in touch with classmates or family, and everything in-between. What better way to get all of that than with a smartphone? We've picked nine respectable candidates that can help you through your upcoming semester -- three for each budget level. Oh, and while you're looking, we're giving away $3,000 worth of essential back to school gear to 15 lucky readers, and you can be one of them by simply leaving a comment below! So, which phones are most likely to help you get smart? Head past the break to find out.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: fun stuff!
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Since the weekend is finally upon us, we figured now's as good a time as any to sit back, relax, and have some fun. Play along with our fun stuff picks -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! It's Friday, and that can only mean one thing: two days of parties, sleeping in, and seeing your campus transform from a vehicle of intense education to a spring break-like haven of drunken delight. We've rounded up a few toys to help you relax before you head back to class -- a memory card reader that doubles as a pocket mirror, an Arduino-powered car that can stream video from the dorm hall, and an electric-powered sports car that can drive you and a friend far from campus for a pricey weekend getaway -- so kick off the shoes and prepare to embrace these 48 hours of freedom. And when it's time to get back to the books, we have the gear for that too -- and we're giving it away! Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: desktops
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we're settling down with desktops -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Truth be told, if you only have the money to swing one computer, it should probably be a laptop. Better, we think, to have the option of relocating to the library when your hallmates launch an impromptu game of beer pong as you're trying to wrap up that 10-pager on Othello. And yet, we can still appreciate why some of you might want to kick it old-school and opt for a desktop instead. Maybe you're planning on using a netbook or tablet as your day computer, and can afford to leave a desktop parked in the dorm. Or perhaps you're a gamer, and have long since sworn off mobile GPUs. Whatever your reasons for bucking the trend, we found a selection of towers and all-in-ones aimed at game fanatics, power users and folks trying their darndest to save money and space. Oh, and you haven't forgotten about all of the other gear you need for the semester, have you? We're giving away $3,000 worth of stuff to 15 lucky readers, and you can enter to win simply by leaving a comment below. So what are you waiting for, folks? Follow us past the break and see what made the cut.