College students are all about convenience. I mean, no one eats instant ramen because it’s good for you, you eat it because it’s 4 o’clock in the morning and you have a paper due in five hours, so you can’t afford to waste time leaving your room to get actual food. Anyway, technology is all about making our lives easier. With that in mind, here are five different devices and gadgets for college students:
5. Portable Projector
brookstone.com
Dorm room living is tight. In the typical one-room set-up, that single room is your bedroom, living room, office, and (sometimes) kitchen all rolled into one. That can make entertaining friends difficult, especially when all you want to do is watch a movie or marathon a TV show. It nearly impossible when more than two people trying to crowd around a laptop.
Well, there’s the solution: a portable projector.
Imagine being able to project your favorite movie on the wall of your room or even on the side of your building— old-fashioned drive-in style. This one has a bright 100-lumen LED lamp that lasts up to 20,000 hours and projects images up to 80-inch diagonal. The rechargeable battery lasts up to 2 hours (perfect for a watching a movie) and also comes with an AC adapter.
You can buy it here.
4. Portable Charger
bestbuy.com
Nothing’s worse for a social life than a dead phone. While smart phones today can practically do anything, they can’t hold a charge for longer than a few hours. That isn’t a problem when you have access to a power outlet, but that’s not always the case (ex: any airport terminal in the world). That’s where a portable charger comes in. These things are life-savers when you’re in a pinch.
Portable chargers like this start at only $6, but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. This particular model is sold for $12.99, but there are ones that go for up to $50 too.
3. Ostrich Pillow
studiobananathings.com
If there’s one thing college kids are always short of—besides money—it’s sleep. Especially during midterms and finals, it’s not unusual to see some poor soul passed out in the library in the most uncomfortable looking positions.
Enter the Ostrich Pillow, the pillow its creators describe as a “revolutionary power-napping device.” It’s a combination face mask, pillow, and hand rest. Simply pull the Ostrich Pillow over your head and place your head on your desk (or any other flat surface), slip your hands inside the pockets, and sleep.
There’s even a hole for your mouth. You know, you so can breathe.
“Did you know that a power naps of around 20 minutes increases productivity by more than 30 percent?” asks the product’s Kickstarter page. “Seeing as we all spend more and more time at work/in front of a computer screen or in transit, we thought why not create a device that helps you disconnect and dream for short periods of time. That’s how the Ostrich Pillow came to life.”
studiobananathings.com
You can buy it here and make all your friends jealous.
2. 4-Piece USB Bed Lift Set
bedbathandbeyond.com
Everyone knows that the cool thing to do in college is loft your bed. Not only does it increase your under-the-bed storage space, but it also lets you live out the dream of having that bunk bed your parents would never buy you.
This bed-riser from Bed, Bath and Bodyworks not only lifts your painfully narrow dorm bed 7 inches off the floor, but it also has an outlet built in. Each set has a twin 110-volt, 15-amp grounded power outlets, as well as twin USB 5-volt DC outlets with charging light for convenient charging of handheld devices.
You can get it here.
1. iRoomba 650 Vacuum
bestbuy.com
And now, the best: the iRoomba 650 Vacuum.
No one likes cleaning, but especially college students. Instead of living in filth, you can get this cordless, bagless, 8-pound vacuum. It works to clean up messes on every surface. One day, when artificial intelligence finally reaches the level of autonomy and the robots take their rightful place as our overlords, we’ll pay for this, but you might as well enjoy it while you can.
You can get your own robotic servant here.
