The iPad happens to be a great student companion. If you're planning to use a desktop computer in your dorm room, you can take the iPad to take notes, read textbooks and more as apps that are geared towards students are developed. If you missed our review just a few months ago in April, we've got an excerpt after the break.

...we believe that the iPad is for those who are interested in the prospects of the device and also for those who do very basic tasks on their computer, like web browsing, sending emails, and watching videos. The iPad also seems to be a strong contender to the netbook, with applications available like the iWork suite to type documents, create spreadsheets or presentations, content consumption applications from Netflix and ABC, and amazing games that take advantage of the touch experience.

- Apple iPad review, April 2010

While the iPad may be a heavy investment for the student on a budget, it is definitely worth it. Over the next few days, we'll be featuring a few iPad apps that are essential for the campus life.

Sure, you still have that Motorola Razr that your parents bought you a few years ago, and it has undoubtedly served you well. It is, however, time to say goodbye to your beloved flip phone and say hello to one of many new smartphone offerings available this summer.

More and more, students are relying on e-mail and other electronic forms of communication to stay in touch with fellow students. With smartphones, staying in touch is easier than ever, with complete access to e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and your undeniably important text messages.

Here’s our rundown of the best smartphones for all the major carriers.

Apple iPhone 4 - AT&T

($199/$299 with a two-year contract and data plan)

Undeniably the most popular smartphone that you’ll find on campus is the iPhone. With its unique and elegant industrial design paired with its immensely large App Store, the iPhone is still the king of the smart phone community.

Disregarding the recent hype over antenna issues with the iPhone 4, it is still the best smartphone we tested this year. Sporting Apple’s Retina Display, the iPhone 4 produces unrivaled image quality and with the iPhone’s FaceTime feature, staying connected to your family and friends is easier than ever.

If you’re on AT&T, getting the iPhone 4 is a no-brainer. While you might have to hold your phone in a slightly awkward way, or take advantage of the free cases Apple is giving away, the iPhone is still head and shoulders above its competition for college bound consumers.

Motorola Droid X - Verizon

($199 online with a two-year contract)
Check out our review of the Droid X.

Featuring an 8-megapixel camera and a 4.3” screen, the Droid X takes the cake for big numbers on a phone. Running Android 2.2 with Motorola’s Motoblur software, the Droid X proves to be a worthy competitor in the smartphone market.

The Droid X comes with a built-in mini-HDMI port, allowing for easy streaming of high-definition video to your TV. In addition, the Droid has a “3G Mobile Hotspot” feature, allowing you to create a wireless network using your phone’s internet. Don’t have internet on the quad or in a classroom? Simply start up the mobile hotspot, and share internet to your laptop with ease.

However, the Droid X is a very large phone, so if slim and sleek is what you’re looking for, we suggest you take a look at the Droid Incredible instead.

HTC EVO 4G - Sprint

($199 after rebate with a two-year contract and data plan)

If you’re stuck on Sprint but still looking for a large screen, Mobile Hotspot functionality, 8-megapixel camera and more, the HTC EVO 4G is perfect for you. The EVO does have the advantage of connecting to a 4G network where available, which will give you peak download speeds up to 10 MBps, faster than most DSL connections. The phone also has a front-facing camera for video calls using apps like Fring, but it is not compatible with the iPhone’s FaceTime feature.

The EVO 4G also isn’t running the latest version of Android, version 2.2, also called Froyo, but it’s expected to receive the update later this year. The new version is expected to give the phone a performance boost in addition to new features.

HTC Droid Incredible - Verizon

($199 online with a two-year contract)
Check out our review of the Droid Incredible.

When our own Ken Addison posted his review of the Incredible, he believed it was the best phone on Verizon Wireless. Even though phones like the Droid X have come out since then, he still holds that opinion. The fit and finish of the HTC Sense UI is unparalleled by any other Android phone, and provides a solid experience.

With a great looking screen and continued software updates working to improve the phone even more, the Incredible is the way to go for any serious smartphone user on Verizon Wireless.

Samsung Galaxy S - T-Mobile & AT&T

($199 after rebate with a two-year contract and data plan)

We’ve only tested the Samsung Vibrant, T-Mobile’s version of the Galaxy S, for a day or so, but we’re already convinced it’s going to become a popular contender in the smartphone market. It has a bright 4.0-inch AMOLED screen, 5.0 megapixel with autofocus and HD video capability and depending on the model, comes loaded with entertainment and multimedia content.

The screen can’t compete with the Retina Display on the iPhone 4, but the it is bright and vivid. You’ll also be able to connect with all of your social networks with the Social Hub feature Samsung has built-in. Access your Twitter and Facebook streams (plus many others) through the home screen widget with a flick of your finger. The other Android phones we’ve mentioned also include this functionality, albeit in a much slicker form.

Overall the Samsung Galaxy S is certainly something to consider if you’re on T-Mobile or AT&T, while Verizon and Sprint versions won’t be out until later this year.

It is perhaps one of the most popular notebook computers on the market today, with its sleek aluminum unibody enclosure and LED-backlit keyboard. We're talking of course, about the 13" MacBook Pro from Apple, and we're featuring it to kickoff our 2010 Back to School Guide.

Lucky for you, a free 8GB iPod touch is part of the deal Apple is running until September 7th, so make your choice wisely over the next few weeks as we feature the tech essentials and more in our guide. The 13" MacBook Pro features a fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, a 250GB or 320GB hard drive and up to 10 hours of battery life. One benefit of getting a Mac for school is the added security and peace of mind that it will give you. No need to worry about viruses and spyware, at least for the time being. And if you're worried about not being able to run a Windows-only program, Macs can run Windows too, with tools such as Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion, and Apple's own Boot Camp.

We're just scratching the surface here talking about the benefits of buying a Mac for the upcoming school year, Apple has a whole page on their website.

Looking for a cheaper Mac notebook? The 13" MacBook (sans Pro) is just as good of a performer, if you're willing to sacrifice that gorgeous aluminum enclosure. You'll save $150 in the process.

Buying a laptop is essential for any college or university, and there’s a lot of things that you can consider in your purchase. Here are some tips you should follow when buying a laptop before you head off to college this fall.

1. If you already have a decent laptop that you can use in the interim, hold off on buying a new laptop until October when Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista, is released. If you can’t wait, you might be able to upgrade for free, but check your manufacturer for details. Dell is offering free upgrades if you purchase a laptop between now and December 31, 2009. The same rule applies to Macs, except upgrading to Snow Leopard will cost $9.95 if you buy a new MacBook Pro today.

2. If you don’t need a full-fledged laptop (if you have a desktop in the dorm or at home), you’ll probably be fine with a netbook. A netbook is a mini notebook computer designed for web browsing, email, and taking notes. In this day and age of cloud computing, a netbook is great for the student. Battery life can last a whole lecture and then some, but you might want to play with one in a retail store to see if a miniaturized keyboard will work for you. A great choice is the Asus Eee PC 1005HA Seashell netbook with a stunning 10.5 hour battery life.

3. Don’t buy a desktop replacement laptop since you’ll be lugging around 7-8 pounds all day and you’ll probably regret it. Aim for a 13- or 14-inch widescreen instead which you can always hook up to a larger 20- or 24-inch display.

4. Get a laptop with 3 or 4GB of RAM, the more the memory the better. You’ll be able to have more than a few applications open at a time and run more complex programs such as Photoshop.

These are just a few tips to take into consideration when buying a laptop for college, and if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to sound off in the comments below.

As part of our Back to School coverage this year, we'll be taking a look at a few laptops that would make perfect companions for any student. Today we're taking a look at the Gateway NV series. More specifically, the 15.6" Intel-powered Gateway NV5807u.

Let's start with the basic specs. With the 5807u, you get a 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo backed by 4 GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive. In addition, the system comes with a dual layer DVD burner, Gigabit ethernet, and b/g/n WiFi. This packed feature set lays the groundwork for a great laptop. However, most laptops in its price range come with similar specifications. Is the new Gateway laptop worth its $599 price tag? In a word, yes.

The NV5807u takes advantage of the Intel T6500 processor which, while not Intel's most powerful creation, is a very good processor for the price range that the 5807 falls into. At 2.1 GHz with 2 MB L2 cache, the processor is a perfect fit for media-loving college students. However, one drawback to the T6500 processor is that it runs relatively warm compared to other Intel processors. Ultimately, the T6500 offers a good mix of performance and battery life. On average, we clocked between 3.5 and 4 hours of typical usage and while there are laptops with better battery life, 4 hours is definitely respectable.

One of the most appealing aspects of the NV5807u is the beautiful 15.6" LED backlit screen. The 16:9 aspect ratio makes the laptop perfect for watching widescreen movies, supporting a resolution up to 1366x768 (1080i). The screen is bright and responsive, and because it is LED backlit, power efficient. While the 5807 doesn't have a DVI output, it does have both VGA and HDMI outputs, making streaming videos from your laptop to your TV a breeze.

Throughout our testing, our one major complaint lies in the keyboard on the NV5807u. While it does have a full numpad which is not very common, the keys are entirely flat and the spacing between keys is minimal. As the keyboard is not backlit, typing in the dark becomes a nightmare at times. In addition, the trackpad is relatively small and does not support any multi-touch commands and, because of the numpad, it is not located in the middle of the laptop. Instead, it is offset about an inch and a half to the left to match up with the middle of the typing keyboard. This is also disorienting when using the laptop in the dark. However, given a few days use, using the keyboard becomes a more natural experience.

Above the keyboard lies a row of function keys. You have a button to enable energy saving mode (dims the screen), screen brightness, sound, WiFi, trackpad toggle, and one that takes you to MyBackup. Gateway did a good job making this software incredibly easy to use, allowing you to add automatic backups of anything on your hard drive to removable storage or the local disk. In addition to simply selecting folders to backup, MyBackup will also search for categories of files to backup, including multimedia, internet favorites, e-mail, and office files. All of these categories seem very pertinent to the student population, so I applaud Gateway for their inclusion of this nice tool. Whether or not people actually use it is a whole other story.

The NV5807u comes with plenty of USB ports (4), standalone microphone and headphone jacks, a 5-in-1 card reader, and a telephone jack. It seems a bit odd to even include modem compatibility in recent laptops, as WiFi is virtually everywhere and external USB modems are always available if absolutely necessary. At any rate, you also get a standard notebook lock port to protect your collection of saved term papers, ripped DVDs, and ever-important passwords.

Another nice college-oriented feature is the included 1.3 MP webcam. While the quality is decent, we've seen better in other laptops. However, it's a nice addition to an inexpensive laptop that allows students to easily video chat with their parents back home. I'm not sure if anyone actually does that, but it's a nice concept in theory.

In our PCMark Vantage tests, the notebook received a score of 2949, a moderate score for a budget laptop, but not too bad overall. In our CINEBENCH graphics tests, the NV5807u received a score of 4761 using both cores and a score of 2455 using a single core.

Bundled with the laptop is a 60 day trial of Microsoft Office and Norton Internet Security. My suggestion is to ditch Norton, as it is possibly the most frustrating anti-virus software I've come across (stick with AVG instead). You also get a "sponsored" copy of Microsoft Works which has irremovable advertisements on the right hand side of every document you're working on. Just buy a copy of Microsoft Office, or if you're cheap, download OpenOffice. You also get copies of NetZero and some Gateway sponsored game pack, both of which should be uninstalled the second you get the computer. Save that hard drive space for something useful, such as the latest season of Lost or a copy of The Hangover.

All in all, the $599 Gateway NV5807u is a great option for students looking for a powerful yet affordable laptop to head back to school with. Weighing 5.84 pounds, the NV5807u's weight is pretty typical for 15" laptops (Apple's 15" MacBook Pro comes in at 5.5 pounds, a mere .34 pound difference). This portability, tied in with the expansive feature set and brilliant display makes the NV5807u a great addition to Gateway's product line and ultimately a great choice for students returning to school this fall.

Pros

• Beautiful 15.6" 16:9 widescreen display
• Good performance and battery life
• Built-in webcam
• MyBackup solution works well

Cons

• Keyboard is difficult to use, especially in the dark
• Trackpad relatively small and sometimes insensitive
• Relatively thick (1.5" tall while closed)

Another school year is just around the corner and the craze for purchasing students laptops, iPods, and all other necessary college devices has just begun. However, often overlooked is the software needed to help fully utilize and protect all your new toys. We're going to be taking a look at both the PC and Mac options for certain categories of software and help you prepare for the upcoming year of partying learning.

Document Editing / Presentations

Windows: Microsoft Office 2007
While a big change from the beloved Office 2003 layout, Office 2007 has taken the stage as the predominant suite for editing documents and creating PowerPoint presentations. While not the free choice, many colleges offer the product at significant discounts (if not for free) so price becomes less of an issue. Plus, the new templates added to PowerPoint and the overall ease of use added to Excel make Office 2007 a step up from its predecessor, regardless of its somewhat confusing interface.

Mac: iWork '09
Let's face it: Office 2008 for Mac is awful. The layout is ugly and difficult to use, and nothing matches its Windows rival quite in the same way. In addition, Office 2008 doesn't collaborate well with Office 2007, so let's just count that out of the picture. This leaves us with iWork '09, Apple's beautiful response to document and presentation editing. It works well, gets the job done, and costs only $71 in the education store.

Free option: OpenOffice
If your college doesn't provide a discount for the software, and you're not interested in shelling out the money to purchase either, OpenOffice is always an alternative. It might not be as pretty as either of the Microsoft or Apple products, but it is compatible with both. For free, OpenOffice does its job well and is a viable alternative to the commercial options.

Web Browsing

Universal: Firefox. Enough said.
Firefox is years ahead of even IE8 on Windows, and Firefox 3.5 is bound to be even faster than Safari 4 on Mac. Therefore, there is hardly competition as to what browser you should be using. If you're on a Mac, and love Safari, keep using it. But for Windows, you'd have to have something wrong with you to go with a browser besides Firefox.

Communication

Windows: Pidgin + Skype
For your typical AIM/MSN/Yahoo (who uses the later two?) and even Facebook conversations (with a plugin), Pidgin for Windows gets the job done. As far as voice and video chat go, Skype is the leader in that field and should have you covered. Plus, both applications are free, which is always a plus.

Mac: Adium + Skype
Adium is by far the best instant messaging client I have ever used. From it's amazing flexibility to the wide range of supported protocols, it is simply second to none. Again, it is free, along with it's companion, Skype.

Data Backup

Universal: Amazon S3 + Jungle Disk
For the low price of 15 cents per gigabyte (per month), Jungle Disk allows you to backup your data to Amazon's massive S3 content storage network which is the safest option for your data backups. In case of theft, fire, or any acts of God, Amazon will still have your information stored on their redundant network. Nothing is worse than losing a paper you have been working on for weeks (although, let's face it, it's always the night before anyway), so backing up your data is a critically important step.

Anti-Virus

Windows: Grisoft AVG
It's absolutely free, does all the necessary scanning, has active database updates, and looks nice while doing it. For free software, it is hands down the best anti-virus you can get. Just remember that the best way to protect yourself from viruses is to not download .exe files claiming to be MP3s.

Mac: None. While certain companies offer Mac anti-virus solutions, there has yet to be a Mac virus that has had a widespread effect. For the mean time, enjoy your advantage over Windows computers.

Music

Universal: iTunes
The de facto music player does a lot of things right. Purchasing music, managing it, and putting it on your iPod or iPhone couldn't be easier. Then again, if you use something other than an iPod (why?), iTunes might not be your best option. However, with the recent "Buy a Mac, Get an iPod" promotion, who won't have iPods for college?

Photo Management

Windows: Google Picasa
Picasa makes managing your digital photos extremely easy and intuitive. The program automatically manages your camera, allows for easy gallery creation, sharing, and printing and even features a service to remotely print your photos (for an obvious fee). Best part about the program: it is completely free.

Mac: iPhoto '09
The wonderful photo management software that ships with every Mac is your best option. Supporting albums, geotagging, face recognition, image tweaking and much more, iPhoto makes managing photos on your mac a breeze. It even integrates with Facebook to help share your photos with friends and family while you're away at school.

Wrap-Up

Ultimately, the software you choose for your computer is very specific to what you like to do. However, the software above is virtually indispensable in your every day activities. Keep checking back for more Back to School tips and products and we'll be covering them all the way up to this coming fall.