Being a student today means being more connected than ever. It means you need power and portability, seamless integration with the cloud and all your apps. You computer needs to be flexible, but still powerful, long-lasting but lightweight. It needs to be a monster at note-taking and adaptable to everything from English Literature to Advanced Biochemistry to Color Theory 101. It means you need to outfit not just a laptop and a phone, but also a dorm room where space is at a premium.
Microsoft Surface Pro 3
$799 to $1949
When it comes to a portable powerhouse of flexibility, it's hard to beat the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Running a full version of Windows 8.1 on top of an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor. It's one of the biggest tablets out there with a gorgeous 12-inch display, but it's still lightweight (under 2 pounds), thin (0.36 inches), and still lasts up to 9 hours on a single charge. And there's a full bevy of accessories you can add on, including the excellent Type Cover ($129.99), a desktop docking station ($199.99), and the Surface Pen ($49.99) for high-quality on-screen drawing.
Nokia Lumia 1520
$99 on-contract
You need a phone that's dependable, has a huge screen and a great camera, and works with Office? Then you need the Nokia Lumia 1520. Sure, there iPhone and Android have Microsoft Office too, but nowhere is Office better than on a Windows Phone. The Lumia 1520 sports all of the latest Windows Phone 8.1 features, including the Word Flow keyboard and Cortana virtual assistant. With Office, OneDrive, and OneNote all integrated, it's hard to beat.
Jawbone Jambox bluetooth speaker
Mini Jambox: $129.99
Jambox: $149.99
Big Jambox: $299.99
Jawbone is the leading name in Bluetooth speakers for a reason. The Jambox was the first portable Bluetooth speaker with decent battery life, great sound, and a stylish design. That continues to today, with today's Jambox line diversified into three sizes to meet all of your music needs. It's good for tunes in the dorm room, or out on the quad.
Office 365 University
$79.99 for 4 years
Office moved to a subscription service a few years back, and while Microsoft has free Office for students deals with a lot of colleges, they don't have them with all schools. So there's the Office 365 University subscription, one of the best deals in the cloud. For $80 you get four years of the complete Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access), installs on 2 computers or tablets and 2 phones, a full 1TB of cloud OneDrive storage, and an hour of international calling each month from Skype for that semester abroad.
Starbucks gift card
Totally up to you
Coffee is the fuel on which college students run, and there's one coffee shop that you're practically guaranteed to find near — or on — every campus: Starbucks. Set them up for success with a daily dose of caffeine, that most precious of fuels. There are even apps on Windows Phone to pay with that Starbucks card, so that's one fewer thing to have to keep track of.
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