back to school guide

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  • You have one day left to enter our Back to School 2014 sweepstakes!

    by 
    Engadget
    Engadget
    09.12.2014

    We have 15 Timbuk2 messenger bags stuffed with a Sony RX100 III camera, the LG G3 from AT&T, a Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 13 laptop and a ton of other gear. One of these awesome prizes could soon be yours -- provided you've entered our the raffles on the 15 posts listed here. If you haven't done so yet, do it now! Entries close at 11:59AM ET tomorrow, September 13th, and we wouldn't want you to miss out. Winner: congratulations to Kenneth T. of Coldwater, MI.

  • Back to School 2014: The 13 best audio devices

    by 
    Engadget
    Engadget
    09.12.2014

    Maybe you're in search of a decent Bluetooth speaker for your next party, or perhaps your band is on the lookout for some new, creative gear. We've got you covered either way, and you'll find even more picks at our Back to School hub. Winner: congratulations to Daniel R. of Los Angeles, CA.

  • Just two days left to enter our Back to School 2014 sweepstakes!

    by 
    Engadget
    Engadget
    09.11.2014

    If you haven't entered our Back to School 2014 sweepstakes yet, do it now! In just two days, we'll stop accepting entries to win one of 15 gadget-filled Timbuk2 bags, so you'll want to make sure you've entered the raffle on each eligible post (you'll find them at the link above). Good luck! Winner: congratulations to Saif K. of Lawrenceville, GA.

  • Back to School 2014: The 8 best HDTV devices

    by 
    Engadget
    Engadget
    09.10.2014

    Even if you aren't hauling a 55-inch smart TV with you to campus, you can do better than watching Netflix on your laptop. Our picks include an affordable Blu-ray player, set-top boxes and a few big-screen stunners. There's more where that came from, too -- check out the rest of our guide here. Winner: congratulations to Anthony M. of Pocatello, ID.

  • Back to School 2014: The 7 best gaming gadgets

    by 
    Engadget
    Engadget
    09.05.2014

    Everyone needs a study break at some point, and there are plenty of consoles ready and waiting to entertain you. We've also included our top gaming laptops for those who need serious graphics. Once you've checked out our top picks, head to the back-to-school guide home page for more gadget goodness. Winner: congratulations to Max E. of London, ONT.

  • Don't forget to enter our Back to School 2014 sweepstakes!

    by 
    Engadget
    Engadget
    08.31.2014

    Most college students are already settling into the fall semester, but it's not too late to nab some updated gear. Our Back to School 2014 guide has plenty of recommendations for laptops, tablets, accessories and more, and our giveaway rounds up some of our favorite tech for 15 lucky winners. Enter the raffle below for a chance to score a custom Timbuk2 bag packed with more than $3,000 worth of goodies. One raffle winner will be selected from each of 15 eligible posts -- to see the complete list, go here. Entries will close at 11:59PM ET on September 13th, so get to it! Winner: congratulations to Quentin J. of Rock Island, IL.

  • Check out our 2014 Back to School guide!

    by 
    Sarah Silbert
    Sarah Silbert
    08.14.2014

    Crazily enough, the fall semester is about to begin. For that very reason, we're kicking off our Back to School 2014 guide, with comprehensive gadget recommendations to fit every budget. Even if your college days are behind you, we guarantee you'll find some new gear worthy of a place in your cubicle -- be it a new laptop or a Rubik's Cube lamp. Click here to check out all eight sections in the guide, and make sure to enter our back-to-school giveaway both below and via the 14 other links posted throughout the month on our sweepstakes page. Winner: congratulations to Pablo H. of Collegedale, TN.

  • Engadget's $50,000 back to school sweepstakes: just 24 hours to go!

    by 
    Zach Honig
    Zach Honig
    09.06.2012

    Have you entered our back to school giveaway yet? If you've already commented on each of 15 eligible posts, you're all set -- you can only vote once on each article (15 times in all), so hang in there and wait for us to randomly select the winners. The rest of you, however, need to get a move on! There's only 24 hours remaining in the contest period, so be sure to get all 15 entries in before the clock strikes noon tomorrow. Good luck! Engadget's back to school 2012 sweepstakes: win one of 15 gadget-filled bags! Engadget's back to school guide 2012: smartphones Engadget's back to school guide 2012: tablets Engadget's back to school guide 2012: ultraportables Engadget's back to school guide 2012: e-readers Engadget's back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops Engadget's back to school guide 2012: gaming Engadget's back to school guide 2012: HDTV Engadget's back to school guide 2012: digital cameras Engadget's back to school guide 2012: portable audio Engadget's back to school guide 2012: accessories Engadget's back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks Engadget's back to school guide 2012: bags and cases Engadget's back to school guide 2012: printers Engadget's back to school guide 2012: fun stuff!

  • There are just four days left to enter our back to school sweepstakes with nearly $50,000 in prizes!

    by 
    Zach Honig
    Zach Honig
    09.03.2012

    During the month of August, we published 14 back to school guides, covering product categories ranging from cameras and printers, to smartphones and ultraportables. With each post, we offered a selection of gadget must-haves, but we also gave you an opportunity to enter our massive back to school giveaway, including 15 identical bags stuffed to the brim (and far beyond) with some of the hottest devices of the season. You want these gadgets, and we want to help! The contest runs through noon (ET) on Friday, September 7th, so there's still plenty of time to enter -- simply leave a comment at each of our category pages, along with the giveaway post, to secure 15 chances to win. And to make things even easier, we're including links to all of our posts just below. Good luck, and have a fantastic semester! Engadget's back to school 2012 sweepstakes: win one of 15 gadget-filled bags! Engadget's back to school guide 2012: smartphones Engadget's back to school guide 2012: tablets Engadget's back to school guide 2012: ultraportables Engadget's back to school guide 2012: e-readers Engadget's back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops Engadget's back to school guide 2012: gaming Engadget's back to school guide 2012: HDTV Engadget's back to school guide 2012: digital cameras Engadget's back to school guide 2012: portable audio Engadget's back to school guide 2012: accessories Engadget's back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks Engadget's back to school guide 2012: bags and cases Engadget's back to school guide 2012: printers Engadget's back to school guide 2012: fun stuff!

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: fun stuff!

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    08.31.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. The good news? We're on to the fun stuff, the gear that isn't always practical but will definitely help you let off some steam after a tough mid-term. 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! Laptops, phones and e-readers might be slick pieces of tech, but they'll all be used for business while you're buried in term papers during the semester. We're rounding up a set of gadgets meant purely to lift your spirits -- whether it's zapping fellow froshmates in a game of Lazer Tag or an electric motorbike to blast through the countryside on a long weekend. We've even got a few borderline sensible gadgets, such as a robot that will clean up after a wild party at the dorm. Jump past the break for our full collection of antidotes to the end-of-summer blues.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: printers

    by 
    Billy Steele
    Billy Steele
    08.29.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we have printers on our minds and on our desks -- 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 series we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! It's safe to say that, at some point, you'll need to print out a collection of assignments this fall. We're looking to save the environment just as much as the next set of folks, but physical outputs are still required for a number of things -- especially in the realm of academics. Now that WiFi has become a standard option on most ink-to-paper peripherals, the ability to print from mobile devices has become a hot commodity. A number of our selections offer just that, allowing you to get the job started without needing to be in front of a computer. Enough chatter, though... head on past the break to peruse our picks for the back to school season this year.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: bags and cases

    by 
    Joe Pollicino
    Joe Pollicino
    08.27.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're helping you keep all your gear organized -- 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! Trying to pack a load of gadgets, peripherals and a laptop into your average book bag usually isn't the most ideal setup -- especially when it's time to grab what you need throughout the day. To solve that dilemma, we've selected more than a handful of sacks and cases that'll keep your gear at hand and organized so that you'll spend less time rummaging for your gizmos and more time exploring your campus. Best of all, you can rest assured knowing many of the selections past the break are goods that we here at Engadget even rely on to get our gear in and out of the various events we attend -- jump past the break to see our picks.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks

    by 
    Sarah Silbert
    Sarah Silbert
    08.24.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we have speaker docks in our sights -- 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. If there's any post-adolescent period that deserves its own soundtrack, it's your college years. Sure, our portable audio picks will let you jam on the go, but the best collegiate experiences are shared with friends -- and listening to music should be no exception. Even if you'd prefer to keep your playlist out of your friends' feed, be it in person or online, you'll still need to wake up each morning, and what better way to ease into the waking world than with your favorite tracks? These speaker docks offer more functionality than your average smartphone clock, and they're certainly better equipped to play DJ when it comes time to close the books. Join us past the break for our 2012 picks.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: accessories

    by 
    Billy Steele
    Billy Steele
    08.22.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. 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! Sure, you may need ultraportables and such to get the bulk of your work done, but you also need a few add-ons to make tasks just a bit easier. In this installment of the back to school guide, we'll offer a collection of accessories that will do just that. From extra batteries to external hard drives and peripherals, what you'll find here should help you get through a day of back-to-back classes, without the need to worry about losing all those term papers if something goes wrong with the SSD. Of course, not all of these are meant to aid in serious, head-down studies. We also tackle a few options for keeping fit and iPad-powered study breaks, too. So head on past the break for the rundown on a gadget stash that'll help you ease back into the flow of things this fall.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: portable audio

    by 
    Joe Pollicino
    Joe Pollicino
    08.20.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're taking our audio with us -- 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! With all of the studying and on-campus traveling you're about to delve into, sometimes adding a bit of music to your step can spice up those mundane times in your daily routine. That's why we've rounded up a selection of portable speakers and headphones that'll not only help you rock out whenever the mood strikes, but also go a step further by letting you take phone calls without skipping a beat. It may not be audiophile-grade gear in the official sense, but it won't matter when you're enjoying good sound just about anywhere your smartphone-connected life takes you.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: digital cameras

    by 
    Zach Honig
    Zach Honig
    08.17.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we've got our optical viewfinders set firmly on digital cameras -- 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! Your smartphone can take pictures, you say? Well, sure it can, but try snapping away at a frat party -- you're likely to walk away with a blurry mess. Your Facebook friends and future employers deserve an accurate account of those glory days, and you'll need a proper snapper to get the job done. College is as good a time as any to learn responsibility, but don't expect to walk out of the experience with all your gear unscathed. To that end, freshmen should look long and hard at our point-and-shoot picks, which include models that you won't be afraid to toss around, or drop in the jungle juice. After that come the mirrorless ILCs, which should satisfy the more advanced photogs in the bunch, followed by our digital SLR picks, which, sadly, may be out of reach of all but photography majors and deep-pocketed private school types. Finally, you'll have yet another opportunity to enter our fantastic giveaway at the bottom of the page, just after the break.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: HDTV

    by 
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    08.15.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're settling down in front of a few of our favorite HDTVs, but 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 series we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Students today can catch high-quality video on a variety of screens -- computers, phones and tablets are probably always within reach -- but nothing can truly replace a TV's role as the center of entertainment. Whether it's a quick Madden or Call of Duty session, inviting a friend over to catch a flick or just zoning out after class, having the proper setup makes all the difference, and there are plenty of options at every price point. Of course, walking into any big-box electronics store to peer down aisles of seemingly identical flat screens could drive anyone mad before they ever step on campus, so we've narrowed down the list for you, and even suggested a few other items to plug into those HDTVs. Expanding feature sets and universal pricing have raised average prices a bit over last year, but we can find something to fit whether your budget ranges from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: gaming

    by 
    Mat Smith
    Mat Smith
    08.13.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. 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! It's time to balance out that daily grind at school with some well-deserved leisure. Fortunately, many of our choices walk that fine line between work and play -- if you're willing to stump up some more cash beyond a normal laptop, you could get something capable of handling the latest PC titles. Some of our other choices may be a harder sell in the education stakes, but we all need some stress relief, right? And with bigger consoles nearing the end of their life cycles, there's never been a more wallet-friendly time to get involved. Jump in after the break for our favorite gaming choices. If all your money's been earmarked for learnin', then you should certainly enter our sweepstakes. Leave a comment after the break for a chance to win, and visit our giveaway page for all the details.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops

    by 
    Sarah Silbert
    Sarah Silbert
    08.10.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. 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! Freshman year of college may no longer be the gateway to the magical world of laptop ownership, but even if you already have a notebook, who can resist a new machine in the spirit of starting fresh when September rolls around? Whether you're looking for a Core i5 companion to get you through semesters of paper-writing, Facebooking and WoWing, or a super-sleek centerpiece to your bare-bones dorm, there's a vast playing field of machines to choose from. While sifting through the countless options would surely get you back in the academic research frame of mind, it's a daunting task. We're here to take some of the work off your plate with nine solid mainstream laptops that should satisfy every budget.

  • Engadget's back to school guide 2012: e-readers

    by 
    Brian Heater
    Brian Heater
    08.09.2012

    Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're flippin' through the pages on our e-readers -- 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! Most of us are still walking around hunchbacked from years of carrying heavy textbooks in our overstuffed backpacks. Thankfully, an e-reader can significantly lighten the loads for students everywhere. Sure, we've still got a ways to go before electronic devices can replace textbooks altogether, but in the long run, they could significantly impact the postures of backpack wearers all over. Jump past the break for our recommendations, and another opportunity to enter our back to school giveaway. Simply leave a comment at the bottom to be entered to win, and head over to our giveaway page for more details.