Heading off to college for the first — or last — time? Then check out our top five must-have college essentials. Running the gambit from practical to plain fun, these gifts will make a perfect addition to any wishlist.

Practical Gifts
Gift Idea: Amazon Kindle
Textbooks, novels, newspapers — with so much to read, study, and carry, life as a college student is anything but easy on your back or the environment. But what if you could conserve all that ink and paper into a lightweight, easy-to-hold device that stores 200 book titles, newspapers, and even blogs? You’d be thinking of the Amazon Kindle. Fresh off the assembly line, it’s the latest in e-book readers and boasts an on-the-go wireless connection for downloading digital data. From catching up on required readings to finding out the latest with RSS feeds, keeping up-to-date with your reading has never been so easy.
Price: $399
Website: http://www.amazon.com

Gift Idea: Webster’s New World Dictionary on USB Drive
Feeling perspicacious? Need to measure an apogee? Want to expound upon the finer points of anthropomorphism? If any of these phrases has you confused then it’s time to boot up your word knowledge. In college you’ll need the right language skills whether you’re writing papers, taking exams, or just trying to figure out what your professor’s saying during lecture. But before you start lugging around a three-pound dictionary wherever you go, check out Webster’s New World Dictionary on USB Drive. You’ll find polysyllabic words instantly deciphered with the click of a mouse thanks to this device that holds all the intricacies of the English language in an easy-to-carry — and transfer — electronic form.
Price: $42.99 – 64.99
Website: http://www.centon.com/usb/websters

For Fun Gifts
Gift Idea: iKaraoke
Searching for a way to bring life to your next dormroom party? Look no further than the iKaraoke by Griffen Technology. It’s an iPod add-on that takes your favorite tunes and turns them into instant karaoke classics by removing vocal tracks before it sends the signal to your stereo. With the mere flick of a switch you can be rockin’ out to your pipes singing the latest top hits. And if you really want to feel like you’re hitting the stage, turn on the reverb for some authentic echoing. It’s the perfect gift whether you’re an aspiring American Idol or simply want the craziness of a karaoke bar without the high prices.
Price: $49.95
Website: http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/ikaraoke

Gift Idea: Smarty Pants for the Wii
No dorm is complete without a Wii videogame console and the party games to go with it. That’s why you’ll want to add Electronic Arts’ latest offering, Smarty Pants, to your holiday videogame wishlist. Combining trivia with the Wii’s interactive motion sensors, the game asks you to put on your thinking cap and your dancing shoes. You’ll go from answering questions about the periodic table of elements to using the Wii-mote to “crank” the in-game spinner, and with up to four people playing at the time you’ll work up some laughs as you hone your competitive edge.
Price: $49.99
Website: http://www.ea.com/smartypants/

Practical and Fun!
Gift Idea: Speaker Frames
If there’s one uniting factor amongst college dorms across the country, it’s that they’re all small. Painfully, excruciatingly, small. So in the spirit of college students who have to save space by doubling up on item uses — look mom, it’s a combination crate/table/footstool! — American Science & Surplus store is now marketing the Speaker Frame. It’s your average everyday 5″ x 7″ wooden picture frame with an added feature: a speaker hidden in the back. Snag a set and get ready to conserve desk space while adding a touch of pizzazz to old high school photos.
Price: $29.50 each
Website: http://www.sciplus.com/singleItem.cfm/terms/13980

- Genevieve M. Blaber