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Tick, tock. The last days of summer are upon us, and the school year is inching closer as those carefree sunny afternoons fly by. Once you get back from that sweet summer getaway, though, the reality of the last fleeting weeks of freedom sets in: You're going back to school—and soon! That means getting geared up for the new school year, and we're not just talking about getting a slick new computer setup. Oh, no—you need the tops in tech gadgetry to have a bit of fun between classes. Here are six gizmos that will be must-haves when September rolls around:
| A Compact Digital Companion |
 Few people have more misadventures than college students. We all remember our knack for getting into some pretty crazy high-jinks in addition to the usual campus fare of football games, freshmen mixers, and dorm parties. A compact digital camera like the Casio Exilim EX-S770 is just the right fit for
cramped dorm rooms, and it's the perfect size to shove into your jeans pocket or bookbag to have on hand for whenever craziness ensues.
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Booming Sound for Your iPod
 One of the best parts of moving out of your parents' house is being able to play your music as loud as you want without Mom or Dad banging on the door screaming "keep that racket down!" Snapping your Apple iPod into the Logitech AudioStation will transform the tunes you've been hearing
through those teeny, tiny earbuds into room-filling sound. This docking/charging speaker system delivers powerful sound—as all Logitech audio products do—in a sleek design that looks like an old-school boombox.
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Get your gear for back to school at Circuit City. We've got
great deals on notebook PCs, printers, software and more to
help you study hard. But don't forget to check out our
selection of MP3 players, digital games TVs and video games —
everything you need for a study break.
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Rock Out with Sweet Buds
 Speaking of earbuds, it's time to trash that dinky set that came packaged with your MP3 player. Shure's SE210 offers fine sound reproduction with a bass boost for modern tastes that's subtle enough to keep things sonically clear. We understand that $150 for a set of in-canal earbuds may seem a bit on the steep
side—especially on a college student's budget—but in the past, you'd have to drop close to $400 for our Editors' Choice Ultimate Ears to get sound like this out of your high-end MP3 player. These, we think, are a bit more your speed.
Slick Widescreen Picture
 College students do a lot more on their computers than just type papers and do Internet research. A quality widescreen display is crucial for watching DVDs, streaming video, and keeping a flood of AIM, webmail, Microsoft Word, music, and video programs running and visible at once. With its fast pixel response, solid image quality, and sleek lines, Samsung's SyncMaster 971P strikes a balance of style and functionality that caters well to student needs. It's got a pretty slick design and a swivel base, too.
A Stylish, Trendy Notebook
 If there was an "it" laptop PC for college students, whether they were into design or just ease of use, then a sleek new Apple MacBook would be it. And, unlike the pricier MacBook Pro notebooks, it's perfectly priced for parents. It runs Intel components, so you can actually load a
Microsoft Windows operating system on it, too. The perfect portable machine, it has the right mix of sexy design, a smooth OS, great graphics capability, and a well-above-par processor.
Remote Tunes for the Gym
 Hoping to combat the freshmen 15—or 20—a lot of college students try to get themselves into a workout regimen. And nowadays, working out without music is unheard of. Everyone tucks their iPod along for the ride when they're doing their treadmill time or hitting the weights. The new Ironman wristwatch from Timex features
i-Control that syncs up to your iPod so you can shuffle tracks from your wrist as well as monitor your heart rate, track your laps run, and a host of other workout-friendly features.
For more gift ideas, check out
our Back-to-School Buying Guide.
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