Engadget's Guide to Cheap Back to School Gear

For gadget geeks, Engadget is one of the go-to spots online to get the inside scoop on the hottest tech gear. This season they didn’t forget all the students headed back to class. The back to school guide focuses on essential gear that won’t cost a fortune.
They’ve looked at a broad range of electronics needs and found the most affordable in categories like laptops and netbooks, mobile phones, digital cameras, printers and more.
Here’s a quick glance at some of the top items on their affordable back to school list:
Alarm & Dock: iLuv iMM153 – Charge your iPod, fall asleep to tunes and wake up on time thanks to an alarm vibrator feature. This is a must-have for any college student prone to oversleeping.
Laptop: Acer Aspire Timeline 8000 – Value meets feature with better graphics, 3G, 1.4GHz Core Solo SU3500, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive.
Netbook: Dell Mini 10v – Tiny display and 92 percent smaller keyboard make this ultra light, ultra compact laptop easy to toss in a back pack. Also offers GPS, wireless capability and an Intel Atom Processor N270 1.6GHz.
Mobile Phone: T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8520 – Quality keyboard, 2 mega pixel camera and a track pad rather than a track ball make this a student-friendly phone. You’ll have WiFi, but no 3G.
Printer: Canon PIXMA MP490 – Don’t worry about getting to the print shop late at night with this compact, quality printer at the ready. It also prints quality photos.
Digital Camera: Nikon Coolpix S560 – Don’t miss a moment at football games, dorm room shenanigans and even class presentations with this simple point and click camera. Comes in black, pink and blue.
Also check out Outfitting Your Digital Dorm Room and How to Create the Ultimate Guy’s Dorm Room here at EduInReview.com.