Back to school: Top 5 accessories for college students

 

 

The past few days was the back-to-school tax-free weekend in North Carolina, so I thought I’d give my take on the top 5 notebook accessories for back-to-school for college.

 

1. Carrying case. Make sure that the case is large enough to carry your notebook computer plus your books, notebooks and other essential items. Backpacks are easier to carry when riding a bike but some people may prefer a messenger bag.

 

2. Cable lock. The call of nature can interrupt even the most focused student but it’s not the most convenient thing to carry your notebook with you. Lock down your notebook to make sure it doesn’t walk away from you.

 

3. High capacity battery. An additional 9-cell battery (I think most schools that use ThinkPad notebooks are using mostly T60’s or R60’s) can give you hours of additional computing time when you’re far from an electrical outlet.

 

4. Flash memory key. The easiest way to share file with friends is with a flash memory key. They’re really small and you just simply plug them into your USB port. When memory keys first came out, they could only hold about 4-8MB of data but now I’ve seen them as large as 8GB.

 

5. Travel mouse. Some people just prefer a mouse to a trackpoint or touchpad.