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Getting in shape is way easier with a personal trainer. Can't afford one with your financial aid package? No problem. A fitness app is a good stand-in, cataloging your calorie intake, monitoring exercise output, and setting you on the road for squeezing into some seriously skinny jeans.

1. GymGoal

WIRED Body map allows you to target and call up exercises for specific muscle groups and/or parts of the body, and see how many days where you worked those areas. Go deep (if you want): Log specific single exercises, or pre-programmed and custom workouts; track measurements for, uh, specific body parts (No, not that! Think: waist, bicep). Cloud patrol: Data can be backed-up on external server. Solid muscle-building, fat-cutting tips with easy-to-grok animated demos and text.

TIRED Exercises and workouts are timed automatically (cool, provided you want to spend your gym-time on your phone; or ignore the timed field). Pre-set whole-body and full-body workouts don't specify rest time or expected duration. Get-to-the-point: Tips on "breathing" are actually, well, pretty long-winded. Only $4!

$4, http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gymgoal

2. FitnessBuilder

WIRED Workout Builder is more intuitive than a pack of chewing gum: Drag-and-dropping labeled JPGs organized by muscle group. Equipment Category: Allows you to call up exercises by barbell, cables, dumbbells and more. Spice of life: Intense variety per muscle group with numerous grips and movement angles (more than 40 exercises for biceps alone, and more esoteric routines like hip abduction). Way more detail and options than GymGoal. Sleek interface design.

TIRED Videos can take forever to upload. $10 = 2.5 times as expensive as GymGoal, which is fine for beginner/intermediate Arnolds. Beginner's beware: A potentially overwhelming number of possibilities (again, 40 exercises just for biceps).

$10, itunes.apple.com/app/fitnessbuilder

3. Lose It!

WIRED Deep, varied catalog of foods/exercises to choose from and log; includes everything from various nibbles like Velveeta and Weetabix to "sports" like badminton and tobogganing (with mostly spot-on calorie counts). Beyond simple to use and keep up. Stripped-down, clean interface. FREE! Automated motivational sharing ("Motivators") allow you to share progress with Twitter/Facebook/e-mail and set reminders for specific goals per meal.

TIRED No backdating any exercise(s) or food(s). No zooming in or examining trend charts and data: i.e. complete and utterly pointless inability to see specific weight(s) on previous days. Using Motivators requires creating a login/password for loseit.com, and specifying said reminders online, not in the app itself.

FREE, loseit.com

4. Slim It

WIRED Time-coded entries! Easy to backlog what you ate for breakfast at, say, 2 p.m. or 11 p.m. "Brunch" is considered a legitimate category. Exercise video how-tos and demos boast high-production values (and attractive femal model*).

TIRED HCUA Alert!: Initial login requires inputting height/weight via the metric system (kg/cm). Curiously incomplete list of foods: No "oatmeal" or "cereal"? Food list also, quite inexplicably, includes 13 separate entries for "ham sandwich," all with different calorie counts. Can't backlog food consumed on previous days. Stretching/exercise demos are video-only (i.e. zero written instructions). *Attractive female model cuts down on productivity.

FREE, itunes.apple.com/us/app/fitness-slim-it

College is about procrastination. More precisely, it's a chance to hone the important responsibility of shirking skills and techniques you'll later use in the real world. So why shouldn't note taking (or lack thereof) be a part of that learning experience?

Eschewing the rigors of traditional real-time (paper and pencil) transcription means you'll need a recorder that's up to the task. The Sony PCM-M10 should be at the top of your list.

Make no mistake, the M10 is not your traditional dainty audio archiver. While it's the smallest in Sony's professional line of recorders, this palm-sized linear recorder weighs in at about 6.5 ounces (with two AA batteries) and is also about as thick as two iPhones or a deck of cards.

Still, if you don't mind hauling this brick along with the rest of your gear, you'll be blessed with some of the cleanest, most pristine audio recordings you've ever heard. That's largely thanks to two omni-directional mics with a wonderfully flat and wide frequency response. Whether you're in a crowded lecture hall or a small round table setting, these mics do an exemplary job filtering out ambient noise while honing in on the voice(s) you want, regardless of the recorder's positioning.

The M10 comes loaded with 4 GBs of built-in flash memory and can be expanded to another 16 GBs thanks to a microSD slot on the left hand side. There's even a handy crossover memory function that lets you record from the internal memory directly to any additional storage you have. No worrying about preemptive cut offs. Max the M10 out at 20 GBs, and you'll get over 9 hours of 24-bit 96 kHz audio. Ratchet down the audio quality to 64 kHz, Mp3 mode and that's an insane 690 hours — enough for a year's worth of lectures.

We also loved the recorder's 5-second pre-record buffer, which captures audio to a continuously filling buffer while the recorder is in the record/pause mode. That means if you happen to miss something ("this will be on the test, class"), you can simply release the pause button and those missing 5 seconds will have been recorded.

When playing back your audio files, you can adjust between 75 percent and 100 percent (double time) in 5 percent increments. The M10 actually lets you preserve pitch over this entire range, however, which is extremely useful when transcribing a lecture or interview.

When it comes to offloading those files, it's as easy as connecting the recorder to your computer via the included USB cord. Drag and drop files onto you Mac or PC and you're done.

Whether you use the M10 as a companion to normal note taking or a tool for fevered last minute transcriptions, you won't find much to quibble with. Yes, it's probably overkill for the needs of the average college student. But you can talk to us about practicality after you've dropped the philosophy major.

WIRED Spectacular recording quality in both MP3 and WAV formats. Ten recording modes. Forty plus hours of battery life. Built like an Abrams tank: Toss it in a bag and forget about it. Current street price is actually about half the MSRP. Handy wired remote for controlling things from the comfort of your lap. Can double as a media player and play non-DRMd WMA and M4V files (with metadata).

TIRED Prepare to part with a month's worth of beer money. Bulky. Menu structure can be confusing. Crappy built-in speaker (use headphones).

You are not Ernest Hemingway.

Unfortunately, your undying devotion to Moleskine notebooks will not change that fact. Our advice? Ditch the aspirational pieces of writing bling and cozy up to something more practical.

If you truly want to indulge in a bit of paper-and-pen Luddism, nothing beats the elegant simplicity of Doane Paper's Daily Arsenal Kit.

Instead of harping about his product's (questionable) creative lineage, Chad Doane simply makes high-quality notebooks. And it shows.

The line-up comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, but it's the stationary that's the real star. To wit: the clever grid + lined paper layout, which combines bold blue horizontal lines embedded with smaller (.125-inch) grid formations. Think of it as a mashup of your standard college-ruled vellum with some graphing paper.

The resulting parchment is suitable for everyone from the math ninjas to artists and designers to the average college freshman. Not only is the grid system fantastic for impromptu doodles, but it also works for intricate outlines and even simple lists. Doane even lets you print out sample pages before you buy.

Included in the company's 21-piece uber kit are three large, legal-sized writing pads, three smaller pads, plus a trio of small "flap jotters" for random quick notes or weekly scheduling. Our favorite piece of scribble candy, however, is the 8 x 11-inch idea journal, which comes sandwiched between durable, 80-point chipboard stock and is bound with a double 0-ring wire binding. Throw in three of the best writing utensils in existence — the water-resistant, smudge-proof Sharpie Fine Point pens — and you have yourself a deal that even Hemingway and Chatwin couldn't turn down.

WIRED Grid + lines = awesome. A semester's worth of notebooks in one shot. Buying the Arsenal saves you 20 percent over selecting each item individually.

TIRED Writing pads are lined on one side only. Could use more variety both in writing tools and line spacing. Paper thickness varies across notebooks. Bleed through becomes a problem on some of the smaller notebooks.

Looking for a way to give your note taking routine a 21st-century kick in the ass? Have a gander at the Echo.

Livescribe's latest smartpen comes with all the insanely cool tricks of its predecessor — the Pulse —albeit in a slightly redesigned package. Packed with the same ARM 9 processor, an infrared camera, a built-in speaker and mic, the Echo lets you write, record and then seamlessly transfer all your notes (with the help of the company's free desktop software) to your Mac or PC. Of course, you'll still need that dot-speckled smart paper to perform this magic trick. But with a huge variety of notebook sizes and bundled options, the average student shouldn't have to part with much beer money to get a semester's worth of high-tech scratch pads.

While the overall system remains the same, there have been a few design tweaks to the pen itself. The Echo now comes with a smooth rubber grip plus flattened surface. This, presumably, is for added comfort and to keep your $200 super pen from rolling off your desk. Livescribe has also packed the Echo with either 4- ($170) or 8-GBs of flash memory, a much-needed boost as there's now a host of apps to choose from in the company's app store (many of which eat up a significant amount of space).

In lieu of the Pulse's charging dock, the Echo now has a micro-USB connector at the top of the pen. This lets you both charge and sync your notes and recordings with your computer using the included cord. There's also the ability to name and password protect your pen.

But the real allure of the Echo remains the way the software and hardware work together to make your life easier. Yes, there's something immensely satisfying in seeing your deranged scrawlings rasterize onscreen. And for college students and journalists in particular, the Pencast option is quite simply a Godsend. Simply hit the record icon on the included paper and start taking notes as you usually would. Once you've finished the lecture/meeting/interview, you can not only replay the entire recording, but also instantly move from one section to another by simply tapping on a specific note. The pen will automatically play back the audio from that precise moment. This has the obvious benefit of helping you navigate long, meandering lectures, but it also frees you up to write random or tangential thoughts without the fear of missing important information.

Once your notes have been transferred to the Livescribe desktop software, you can choose to export them as PDFs, audio, or as a .pencast file, a hybrid format that combines both audio and video. Livescribe says that iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone apps are in the works that will allow for Pencast playback, too.

As with the Pulse, plan on recharging your Echo daily. For us, battery life varied significantly depending on the quality (low, medium and high) of the audio recordings we chose. On average, we coaxed about 7 hours of low-quality MP3 audio on a full charge. Not spectacular, but not horrible either.

Our other quibble had to do with the pen itself. While there's undoubtedly a lot of tech stuffed into it, the pen remains bigger than your English professor's ego. Spending an afternoon scribbling notes is not a cramp-free experience, at least for us. Furthermore, listening to the recordings you've made on the Echo can be, well, echoy. While there are three pre-settings (room, hall and automatic), open spaces with a lot of ambient noise can make recordings particularly hard to decipher regardless of the setting you choose.

Also unfortunate is the fact that budding artists or graphic designers won't find the Echo of much use. While the smartpen works fine for rudimentary drawings, illustrations and note taking, anything more detailed fails to translate when transferring to the PC.

Still, as a go between for the analog and digital world of note taking, there's simply no beating the convenience and ease of the Echo. Just don't lose it.

WIRED Ideal for students and journalists who want the best of both note-taking worlds. New 3.5mm headphone jack is now compatible with most headphones. Tons of dot paper options that are relatively cheap. Echo comes with a 50-page notebook. Learn foreign languages, perform rudimentary math, play hangman with a growing portfolio of Livescribe apps.

TIRED Pen is still bulky and awkward. Plan on sitting in the front class if you want clear audio records. Wireless uploading would be nice. Still no built-in handwriting-to-text conversion.

Got big pockets? And we mean that in both the physical size and money-carrying capacity sense of the word.

At $250, it ain't cheap — and you'll pay extra each month for anything beyond basic service. But more to the point, Samsung's new Epic 4G is a big phone: nearly 5 inches tall and over 2½ inches wide and ½ an inch thick. Its 5.4 ounce heft is light considering the overall size of the handset, but there's no getting around its girth: The Epic 4G makes itself known in your pocket, assuming you can wedge it in there at all.

And maybe that's because this Android phone (version 2.1) has so much to cram into it. Giant, gorgeous 4-inch WVGA-resolution Super AMOLED screen (800 x 480 pixels), 5-megapixel camera with flash. Big-ass slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Sprint Hotspot, which lets you use the Epic as a Wi-Fi access point for up to five other devices ($30 extra per month, by the by). Front-facing camera with video chat support (Qik is required on both ends). And, of course, 4G WiMax data networking (where it's supported), courtesy of carrier Sprint.

Once you swallow its size, there's very little to complain about with the Epic. The screen looks great with games, media, or even just browsing the menus. Audio, both with calls and media playback, is loud and crisp. Photos look good. Webpages load quickly and cleanly. And managing extra services like the porta-hotspot system couldn't be easier (though the speeds we got on our connected PC were sub-megabit downloads).

On the downside: The Epic turned in just 4½ hours talk time, which is pretty sad for a phone with such vast amounts of room for a battery. And we weren't big fans of the slide-out keyboard, which features keys that don't stick up enough and are hard to hit with anything except a fingernail. At the same time, on-screen typing was jarring thanks to the overly-active rumbler beneath the display.

Those are relatively minor complaints, though. If big's your bag, this is one of the best Sprint smartphones you can get.

WIRED Glorious display — extremely bright and crisp. Feature-laden; literally lacking nothing that a state-of-the-art handset ought to have.

TIRED Battery life is substandard. Keyboard is too flat for easy typing.

When the Xbox 360 hit in 2005 it promised to revolutionize gaming. Microsoft got most of the way there (conceptually), but the original 360 hardware wasn't without its ... quirks.

Enter Microsoft's upgrade/redo, the Xbox 360 S. Not only is the chassis slimmer (hence that weird, floating "S"), but it's packed with a lot of the extras that used to be sold separately. The most dramatic change takes place under the hood. Redmond swapped out the 360's power-hungry setup with a much more economical (e.g. smaller) motherboard and an integrated CPU/GPU/eDRAM chip. On top of the spatial benefits, this means that the 360's operating volume — normally a hissy, Harrier-esque din — has been greatly reduced. The difference was almost immediately noticeable. While streaming Nextflix, we no longer had to turn up the volume to drown out the sound of the fan, and the act of the disc drive cycling up no longer made the doors on our entertainment center rattle.

The benefits of this engineering go beyond operating volume. Paired with the console's newly integrated 802.11n, bevy of USB 2.0 ports, and a (finally) built-in optical audio port, the 360 S actually feels like the living room-ready entertainment powerhouse Microsoft promised five years ago. Playing DVDs and/or downloaded video seems like a much more natural extension of the console's capabilities (though we'd still love some Blu-ray love), and the army of USB ports proves nifty for charging gadgets. The aesthetic impact is palpable too. Now that so many features are tastefully built in, the console finally looks like a serious, streamlined home theater device rather than a whirring, blinking gadget with countless peripheral flagella.

To be fair, this revamp isn't quite the second coming either. In vying to be taken seriously, the 360 S has gotten rid of old favorites like customizable faceplates. Also, the power brick is back (though it has gotten smaller), and the included 250-GB hard drive is still proprietary (and not backwards compatible with older 360s). And, of course, there's the largest elephant in the room: If you already have a 360, there probably isn't a huge incentive to upgrade.

In the end this isn't all bad. Microsoft ultimately set out to make a better (and Kinect-ready) version of the 360, and they've largely succeeded. The end result isn't necessarily worth, say, drowning last year's model in the tub and rushing to Best Buy. But, if you've yet to join the Xbox fold — or at least want an inexpensive, quiet, gaming/DVD/Netflix/Hulu box — this year's model is your best bet.

WIRED Leaner, (slightly) meaner and quieter. Inches closer to the all-in-one entertainment box we've been waiting for. Cosmetic touches like touch-sensitive power and eject buttons class up the joint. Thrusts overpriced accessories ($80 for a Wi-Fi dongle?!) into obsolescence. Want to splurge on the Kinect in November? There's an (integrated) port for that.

TIRED In many ways the same console we've been playing since Senior Year. Inter-console data transfers still require a wonky proprietary cable.

For every one person looking for a crazy, pimped out big-screen, there are four others looking for a no-frills boob tube. Sony straddled that line with the KDL-40EX500. This 1080p powerhouse has all the motion-smoothing tech of its pricey brethren, but delivers it in a basic, financial-aid friendly package.

The EX500 offers few surprises in the looks department (See: black monolith), but still has quite a few highlights. An impressive four HDMI inputs make cameos on this bargain display, as well as a healthy helping of composite, component, digital and RCA A/V inputs. At 40 inches it's the perfect size for small to medium-sized rooms, and it's remarkably lightweight -- comparable to an empty keg -- which makes it a cinch to move. In fact, its agreeable heft and swiveling stand made it the perfect display for our 1337-sweet LAN parties. We even clocked the process: From start to finish, we had the set broken down and in the backseat of a car in four minutes.

In terms of picture, the EX500 delivers all the goodies. Thanks to Sony's on-board BRAVIA Engine 2 processor, our Blu-ray collection was surprisingly crisp and vibrantly colored. Even exceptionally dark flicks like The Dark Knight — virtual kryptonite for LCDs — displayed convincingly deep blacks and grays. Fast and furious visuals like gaming and sports were handled with equal aplomb courtesy of 120-Hz video processing and blur reduction. Not only did this make midnight marathon movie sessions a visual treat, but the 10 hours we spent speeding through Split/Second's raceways proved remarkably easy on the eyes.

Though we're huge fans of the EX500's cross section of price and visuals, we did have a few gripes. For some reason Sony went twinkle toes with the audio. The display's underpowered duo of 10-watt speakers not only produce brittle sound, but also ruin some of the awesomeness of the visuals. If we're to believe we're jumping across platforms trading rockets with other Xbox Live-ers, then it shouldn't sound like we're shooting spitwads. Also, the display's lack of advanced features like web connectivity or even Sony's trademark XrossMediaBar makes us suspect the EX500 won't age gracefully.

Still, even with these setbacks we can't deny the sweetness of the EX500's value proposition. If you can live with a sharp-looking TV that's better seen than heard (and possibly shelling out for a surround sound system to makeup the difference), then the EX500 is worth a look.

WIRED The meat and potatoes TV for the rest of us. Great colors and high-speed motion performance. Ambient light sensor automatically adjusts brightness and contrast. Easy setup out of the box.

TIRED Speakers lack oomph, bang, crash. Light on advanced features. Completely forgettable remote. 120-Hz video processing can give standard-def video that dreaded soap opera look.

Home brewing tends to be a deliciously messy and involved process. The Beer Machine promises to change that with a simple, all-in-one kit for making your own brew at home — in 7 to 10 days, no less.

To be completely honest, our beer lust was only matched by our skepticism. In the end, The Beer Machine turned out to be less of a letdown than we were expecting, but not by much.

Since the relatively compact unit functions as a fermenter, conditioning vessel and dispenser, careful assembly was required. Getting the main (and cheap-feeling) plastic barrel set up was easy enough, but piecing together all the valves (a pressure release and a spigot for dispensing) and checking the corresponding seals took a few tedious tries.

The included instructions and website both offer a number of useful pointers, but we suspect first-time brewers might be a little perplexed by some of the more esoteric steps. For instance, ensuring a proper airtight fit on the main barrel involves soaking the main rubber seal in warm water, so that it's malleable enough to manage a snug fit. Little steps like these aren't necessarily deal breakers, but we were expecting a little less work for a such a pricey all-in-one solution.

After tackling assembly, pressure tests and sterilization of ... well ... everything, getting the brew started was a relative cinch. Our particular kit shipped with the basics: a straightforward ale mix and brewer's yeast. At this point, the old "just add water" adage rang true. We poured everything into the barrel, sealed it up and began the waiting game.

Though this was the easiest part of the process, we still had a minor gripe. At 2.6 gallons the capacity of the Beer Machine is on the light side, yielding about 27 bottles. Although this is enough to get a Gadget Labber (or three) adequately tipsy, we've encountered more than a few, less-expensive DIY kits that yield 5 gallons or more. Otherwise, checking on the progress midbrew was simple, thanks to the opaque drum, integrated temperature and pressure gauges, and spigot for the occasional taste test.

Aside from a few precarious location swaps to maintain temperature — thank you, California heat wave! — we were ready to start bottling. In addition to the very basic spigot, the Beer Machine sports a bottle holder and tubing for spill-free bottling. Despite its inelegance — both the holder and tubing reminded us of cheap aquarium accessories — we had no problems filling the six resealable bottles with the relatively quick tap. No fuss, no muss.

Ay, there's the rub. Though the Beer Machine definitely works, it isn't really anything special. The build quality leaves a lot to be desired, and we suspect even first-time brewers would quickly outgrow the device — especially when the market is flooded with cheaper, higher-yield alternatives.

It does a decent job of simplifying peripheral brewing tasks — checking PSI, bottling, taste tests, etc. — but the advantages are rather minor. Our suggestion? Do a little more research and brew up a better kit.

WIRED Does what it promises: Liquid gold in about 10 days. Ships with six reusable PET bottles and caps. Includes a CO2 injector (and three cartridges) for giving your brew pep. Company website includes video tutorials. Light at just under 10 pounds.

TIRED Geared more towards the just-add-water hobbyist. Only fit for smaller batches. Assembly is more involved than common DIY kits. Kind of a pain to sanitize, and that's nonnegotiable for brewing.

Okay. We know what you're thinking. This chair looks like a melon-busting death trap.

In reality, the Gravity Balans from Variér Furniture is far less nefarious and cranium cracking. Though it's not the newest piece of furniture to hit the block, we'd heard a great deal about its ergonomic benefits and decided to give it a spin in our quest to find the perfect marathon gaming/lounging chair. The verdict? Gravity lounging > Gravity gaming.

Cracking open the box revealed one of our worst fears: two allen wrenches, a bunch of boards and screws, and a page of crudely drawn instructions. The two-man assembly (one to interpret the images, the other to clumsily execute) was complete in a little over 20 minutes, having us parked in front of the TV in no time.

To be fair, the Gravity isn't really a rocking chair; instead of remaining in one position and rocking back and forth, it's designed to rest in one of three positions. The upright position resembled that of a stiff office chair, forcing us into school-marmishly proper posture. This position proved useful for activities like movie watching and gaming, though we felt the need for a little slouchy leeway after about an hour. The next position was a very basic 3/4 position reminiscent of a traditional recliner. As a whole this middle position ended up being the sweet spot for comfort and utility. The final position (which is what lends the chair it's namesake) rests all the way back on the rear of the slats, creating an oddly floaty, fully-reclined sitting position. Once we got over the initial fear of death (roughly 10 minutes), we fell ... in love with this chair. It essentially provides the spongy weightless feeling of a hammock with the back and leg support of a proper chair. Even subtle movements like sneezing or even a heavy sigh makes the entire thing gently bounce in response. It's a completely alien, yet surprisingly comfortable experience (as far as sitting goes).

Still, we have to be realistic. Even with all this zero-G sweetness, we had to wince at the price. We love sitting around and sleeping on the job as much as the next slacker, but the low-four-digit price makes our beds, which we crash on nightly for eight hours, seem like a much better investment. If you've got the funds lying around and fancy yourself a napmaster, it's worth a look. Otherwise, we'd suggest avoiding the Gravity and choosing a chair that's much more down to earth.

WIRED It's like regular sitting ... BUT IN SPACE. Relatively light and easy to move. Absolute nap magnet when fully reclined. Adjustable headrest is great for the no-necked. Leg rests allow even the giraffe-legged to truly stretch out.

TIRED One Gravity Balans = A full semester's tuition ( ... at a state school). Fully reclined position elevates your feet above your head, making TV watching problematic. Upholstery reminds us of a baseline Honda Civic. Moving between positions takes practice, coordination, fearlessness. Allen wrench to assemble furniture is totally Freshman Year.

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It can take a note-taking app just to keep track of all the note-taking apps out there. Until someone makes it, here are three of our favorites.

1. Simplenote

WIRED 100 percent free. The only app that truly lives up to its name. Clean and simple UI looks and functions the same across all platforms. Automatic syncing keeps all your notes tidy and uniform. Recent update adds tags and word count to the mix. Time machine for notes! Awesome slider bar lets you go back in time and access multiple version of your notes. Dead simple e-mail sharing.

TIRED Limited to Apple's mobile devices: iPhone, iPod and iPad only (although there are 3rd party clients for other devices). New version requires that you sign up for an account. No SMS sharing.

FREE, simplenote.com

2. Evernote

WIRED Platform agnostic. Syncs notes across Mac, PCs and web. Notes automatically include geo-locations. OCR for your text-in-picture OCD. Let's you search for images according to the text contained in those images. Accepts record voice memos in addition to notes.

TIRED Web interface is fussy and complicated. Only premium version gives you the ability to search for text in PDFs. Clipping web pages often borks formatting.

FREE, evernote.com

3. Awesome Note

WIRED As close to a do-everything app as you'll get. Most flexible of the bunch. Combines notes, to-dos, calendars and a completely customizable folder system. Integrated alarms with iOS4 version. Plop images and maps directly into your notes. Full sync with Google Docs and Evernote. Backup your notes directly to Google Docs. Clickable links for web pages and phone numbers. Supports badge icons.

TIRED While there's a free lite-version, the normal app is $4. Suffers from feature overload. We could care less about backgrounds in a note taking app.

$4, bridworks.com

Unless you're majoring in spandex and minoring in too-cool-for-school at Steephill State, you may not need a road, fixed-gear or a mountain bike.

Consider REI's Novara Fusion commuter. Sure this hybrid 8-speed won't get you anywhere in a mega-hurry, but you'll likely enjoy getting there. The aluminum frame, mustache-style handlebar and soft Velo saddle provide the mellow stability of a cruiser. But we found the thinner Vittoria tires and Shimano shifters and internal hub to give the ride a decidedly peppier vibe. The whole package weighs in at 34 pounds and we found ourselves huffing and puffing carrying the thing upstairs. But with that heft comes luxury and convenience: The front and rear alloy fenders minimized puddle splashback. And that kickstand? It actually works really well. Plus, we were able to load up that rear rack with tons of "books" (OK, beer). The biggest advantages of the Fusion versus, say, the sportier, infinitely more customizable Swobo Crosby are the drop-top tube and pedal-powered LED headlight.

You can literally hop on this sucker in a hurry and take it for night rides without worrying about changing or charging the batteries. We recommend using the extra brain cycles to figure out what to do with all the PhD candidates who throw themselves at you for having such a smart ride.

WIRED Below-the-bar and tigger shifters are right at your fingertips, and both on the right side (frees up the left hand for coffee or BEER). Headlight's pretty darn bright. Kalloy Cozy Comfort handlebar is as it sounds: comfy. Anti-smear campaign: Chain guard protects pants. This is the Ziggy Stardust of 8-speeds: Drop-tube frame isn't explicitly masculine or feminine. Bell integrated into the handlebar isn't obtrusive or visually-arresting.

TIRED Roller disc brakes are finicky, difficult to adjust. $950?! Taillight isn't pedal-powered. Surprisingly, the alloy fenders scratch and dent somewhat easily — out of the box, the front fender arrived more smashed than Peter O'Toole. At a wake, at a bar, with free drinks!

Anyone who knows anything about computers inevitably has the conversation with a friend who's nervous about buying a new laptop. He knows nothing about computers and is worried to death about getting ripped off. He's scoured the web for reviews but now he's shopping around for a good deal. Eventually the question is put to you, "What about Acer?"

Formerly a rock-bottom budget brand, Acer has been clawing its way into the second tier of PC vendors, and with high-quality hits like the Ferrari line, it's done an admirable job of getting there. And more impressively, Acer has also done good work in keeping costs down, often undercutting the competition so effectively that buyers have to wonder if they're getting rooked.

Acer's mainstream Aspire 4820TG represents a solid rung on its quest for upmarket glory, though the computer lacks anything so remarkable to merit overly special notice. A 14-inch (1366 x 768) wide screen with backlit LED is plenty bright, and the 4 GB of RAM and 500-GB hard drive are state of the art for the category. On the other hand, the 2.4-GHz Core i5 CPU turned in the lowest benchmark numbers we've seen for computers using the chip — though not by much — while the switchable ATI Radeon 5650 graphics (the system drops down to integrated when you need to save power) were almost exactly on par with other 5650-based computers we've tested. The three hours of battery life is good but not exceptional, considering the low-power mode that kicks in when you unplug.

Where does this leave the 4820TG? At $700 this notebook would have been a must-buy, but at $900 (which it actually costs), it flirts dangerously with the premium category, a world where lazy performance and uninteresting, lower-end build quality ensure it can't compete. The Aspire ultimately lands in an area of no-man's land where it doesn't do quite enough to justify its price. Nice little machine otherwise, though.

WIRED Bright screen, though clarity is a bit muddy. Lightweight for its category. Good for gaming.

TIRED A little pricey for an Acer. Acceptable yet uninspired performance. System likes to override Windows power settings without asking. Keyboard travel too short.

With the kinks ironed out of early versions of its latest smartphone and custom Android skin, Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10 finally reveals itself to be a contender in the blood-soaked gladiator floor of the smartphone world. And this model should have substantial appeal for a younger, socially focused demographic.

Primary among those fixes are massive improvements in performance and battery life that turn the X10 from a clunky brick into a surprisingly capable handset.

The X10 marks Sony Ericsson's big push into Android, skinned with two features called Mediascape (for managing your music collection) and Timescape (for managing your social network updates and more). Mediascape is just an overblown music manager, but Timescape is more ambitious, a bit reminiscent of what Microsoft tried to do with the KIN. Basically it puts everything you do into a chronological stack, whether that's photos you've snapped, Twitter updates or phone calls. It takes a little getting used to, but it quickly becomes an enjoyable way to skim through your recent past, provided you're not a compulsive update junkie.

Other features on the phone are compelling. The X10's 8.1-megapixel camera is as good as any you're likely to find on a mobile phone (and the selectable "photo light" — don't call it a flash! — is useful when you're up close to your subject), call quality and audio playback are both quite good, and the display is exceptionally bright.

The tall screen (big at 4 inches diagonally) is great for wide-screen content, but Sony Ericsson does nothing with the format when it comes to input. Data entry is certainly this phone's greatest weakness: Touch typing is erratic and almost impossible to get right without going embarrassingly slow despite the available space. Your iPhone-touting friends will be giggling as you try to tap out a text only to end up with something illegible for your trouble. (Hint: It's actually easier to type in portrait, even with the narrow, baby-tooth sized keys.)

All told, the fun and promise of Timescape mostly outweigh the problems with the phone's interface. And with upgraded battery life that now tops 6 ½ hours, the X10 now at least has enough power to enter the realm of usability for a full day of work. Or play, more likely.

WIRED Nice camera, even including face recognition and a variety of camera modes. Impressive audio quality and loudness, if you're one of those people that still talks on his phone.

TIRED Troubling data entry problems. Sony skin can get overwhelmed for heavy Facebookers and Twitter friends. Ancient Android version (1.6) installed. Still suffers from a few performance stutters here and there.

Beyond calorie counting, regular exercise or counter-intuitive strategies like the "Cookie Diet," one of the easiest ways to boost your chances of losing and maintaining weight is ... a scale (duh). Self-tracking can be tedious, though, especially if you're keeping tabs on a number of metrics. Hence, automation is as good as it gets.

The Wi-Fi Scale from Withings isn't the only web-connected digital scale on the market, but for now, it's the best we've stepped on. Aside from weight (to a tenth of a pound), the scale immediately calculates Body Mass Index and fat/lean mass (based on measurements like height, which you self-report upon signing-up online). Nice part is that if your computer's not on, the scale will save data and upload it— in a matter of seconds — next time you log on. Better part is that multiple people (read: your roommate who borrows everything) can use the scale, too. If your weights are very similar and the scale isn't sure who's who, the data will be attributed separately to an "unknown" user for you to claim and add to your user name. (Our account tracked three separate people, and only one weigh-in was unclear).

Sleek, sexy and simple, the online interface not only lets you quickly chart trend data for all of the metrics and set and track specific goals, but publish and/or share data in a multitude of ways including Twitter, Google Health and Training Peaks, which allows you to log workouts. Speaking of which, there's no reason you have to be tethered to a desktop to check out your progress. Withings' free iPhone app is a particularly solid approximation of the browser experience. Portrait shows you the numbers by day. Turning the phone to landscape gives you a chart of your weight over time. After all, knowing really is half the battle.

WIRED Minimalist digital display is easy-to-read (large digits) and bright (backlit). Modern design lines and slim-and-trim. Display turns off to indicate measurements are complete. Price has dropped $20 in the last year.

TIRED Glass is streak-prone and hard to clean (even with Windex!) Noticeably larger square-footage than a lot of analog scales. Plastic feet bottoms look cheap and come with adhesive that's weaker than Harold Wormser (front middle). It's still $160.

Dashing good looks and cutting-edge performance don't have to come at a steep price, and for scholars heading back to school this fall, there's only a handful of machines that strike this trifecta.

And Gateway's ID series — embodied here in its ID49C07u — has all three. Specs include an Intel Core i3 at 2.26 GHz, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM and a 500-GB hard drive. Performance is impressive for a sub-$1,000 unit. While gaming chops are basically nonexistent, general app performance is on par with machines that cost twice as much. There's no Blu-ray on this unit — and only Intel's integrated HD graphics — but those are trade-offs worth the uber-affordable $680 price tag.

No slouch in the looks department, the ID49 rocks a modern design, with a platform keyboard and, intriguingly, a track pad that illuminates from beneath when clicked. The gesture area is, unfortunately, a love-it-or-hate-it feature. The entire pad is one big button, depressing into the unit completely when you click on it. While it's an interesting design choice, clicks require too much effort, and if you don't have your fingers positioned over the very bottom of the pad, your clicks won't register at all — although the pad will still depress and make a sound. The light-up effect can also be distracting when the machine is not in use (and the screensaver effects kick in).

The 14-inch (1366 x 768 pixels) wide-screen laptop manages to stay under five pounds while keeping battery life at 2 ¾ hours long and screen brightness exceptionally high. If your academic achiever is looking for a slightly smaller machine than the usual 15-incher — but still wants a machine that performs well and feels plenty spacious — Gateway's ID series is full of win.

WIRED Solid performance for a great budget price. Modern styling. Well-positioned USB ports. Very portable, fairly lightweight and quite slim.

TIRED Still not used to the mega-click touchpad after a week of testing. Keyboard has next to no travel. Needs a serious kick in the graphics pants.

Along with your lunch, you might want to consider bringing Epson's lunch pail-style photo printer, the PictureMate Charm, the next time you decide to work off campus. This portable print machine churns out surprisingly good photos that will likely win you more raves from classmates than dorm-hall meatloaf.

Weighing just over 8 pounds with the optional rechargeable battery ($50) installed, the PictureMate Charm is heavier than we expected but that's probably because it's no lightweight when it comes to print quality. The Charm uses a single four-color dye ink cartridge that'll give you excellent 4x6-inch prints with sharp detail and bold if slightly oversaturated color.

We stuffed the PictureMate Charm into a custom made carrying case ($34) from Epson along with a packet of Epson paper and headed out to the New York Botanical Garden to photograph plants, flowers, trees and assorted wildlife of the Bronx variety. Though the bag made carrying the printer easier, after an hour or so of trudging around in the hot sun, we were ready to settle down and make some prints.

We parked ourselves next to a small waterfall in a shaded forest-like section of the Botanical Garden, popped the SD card out of our digital camera and inserted it into the Charm's built-in card reader. Images popped up right away on the printer's small flip-up 2.5-inch LCD. Photos on the low-resolution screen looked coarse and slightly pixilated. We'd recommend using your digital camera's LCD to judge sharpness and image quality before you print.

Printing can be done with one touch or, if you feel like it, you can make some basic edits such as removing red-eye in portraits or converting your beautiful nature shots to Ansel Adams-like black-and-whites or oldy-timey sepia tones.

Once you hit print, the Charm is a verifiable speed demon. Our 4x6s at the maximum (5760 x 1440 dpi) resolution spat out of the printer in 45 seconds and were dry to the touch. As stated already, image quality was unexpectedly good; rivaling dedicated photo printers we've tested with six or more inks. Inspect your photos closely and they'll fall short of what you'd get from a lab with some noticeable loss in detail, but that's to be expected. On the plus side, the prints are water and scratch-resistant.

Designed like a white box with (HWD) dimensions of 5.7 x 9.1 x 6.7 inches and a handle, the Charm is stylish looking but doesn't feel particularly durable. We'd love to see a more rugged, rubberized version to bring on some serious field trips but this portable PictureMate is certainly not without its charms.

WIRED Fully charged battery can print up to 100 photos. Estimated 200-year print life when photos are stored in an album. Relatively low 25-cent cost per print.

TIRED Can't print from USB flash drives. Needs pricey battery and bag to be truly "portable." Can only print up to 4x6-inch size.

For easy access to your gear, a messenger bag beats the straps off of a standard backpack any day, and it invariably offers more room to play with, too.

Mission Workshop offers three messenger bags, and they're clearly made with real messengers in mind instead of wannabe hipsters.

The bags are tough, nylon beasts, with weatherproofing a key focus. The exterior is made from truck tarp and the interior compartment is completely coated in waterproof urethane. Even the zippers are rubberized. Plastic clips and massive Velcro pads round out the closures: If water does somehow get into the bag, which seems unlikely, it can be upturned to roll right out without a fuss.

Tough and rugged, these bags can clearly take a beating — well beyond those described by the typical "ballistic nylon" marketing talk that most packs rely on.

Available in three designs, the only major difference among the Monty, Rummy and Shed bags is size. The pint-sized Monty measures 16" x 10" x 5" while the Shed stretches out to 20" x 12" x 6." You also get a few more internal pockets with the two larger bags.

Otherwise they're all available in the same five colors and the operation and usability is about the same. Consider the number of textbooks and the size of the laptop you'll be hauling and purchase accordingly.

WIRED Good balance. Reasonable color and size selection. Feels military-grade in construction quality. Jumbo-sized shoulder pad. Top can fold down or roll up, as you like.

TIRED Access to all compartments is a little tight; vast, monolithic interior may not be practical for carrying anything beyond books. Hardly aesthetically appealing.

Sure, calisthenics work. But when was the last time a push-up made you laugh so hard, you actually got in a decent ab workout? Say hello to the infamous Shake Weight, a device that's been spoofed so rampantly (see SNL's faux commercial) that most people probably don't realize this thing's actually a real product. But whether it's a legitimate alternative to weightlifting or traditional calisthenics remains to be seen.

The company claims "six minutes with a Shake Weight burns as much muscle energy as 42 with a standard dumbbell." How it works: "dynamic inertia," whereby shaking the oversized plastic dumbbell with short, rapid movements force your muscles to tighten (submaximal isometric contraction). Holding the weight with one or two hands, or engaging in different motions targets the biceps, chest or triceps.

Needless to say, we were skeptical of the ultimate wonder weight. After familiarizing ourselves with the fine print — i.e., "Keep the Shake Weight at least 6 inches away from your face" — it was time for the instructional DVD. On its own, the 6-minute routine demo starring a glistening, shirtless personal trainer was almost amusing enough to warrant the weight's hefty price tag.

In practice, however, the "workout" wasn't terribly satisfying. We'll admit you do feel reasonable tension in your muscles. However, jerking this 5-pounder only got our max heart rate up to 114, which pales in comparison to a standard weightlifting session, let alone back-to-back sets of push-ups. More importantly, after a few days of use, our muscles didn't feel nearly as sore as they do from weightlifting. And, as everyone knows: no pain, no gain.

WIRED You can tell people you actually have one, or better yet, show them. Comes with a DVD (also, excellent for entertaining). Getting your roommate to go halvesies on it means you're only down $15 (cheaper than a gym membership).

TIRED People visiting your dorm room might see you actually have one. Shake Weight won't balance end-on-end (our weight tipped over and almost broke a shaving mirror). Doesn't compare to a legit regime of weightlifting, push-ups or pull-ups.

If you're heading out on a field trip, the last thing you want to lug around is a big, bulky 17-inch laptop. At the same time though, doing on-the-fly "research" on the web on your smart phone's tiny 3-inch screen just doesn't cut it. The solution? Get a netbook.

Sure, most netbooks out there are so underpowered, cheaply made and downright fugly looking they'll get you laughed off the school bus. That's changing as manufacturers learn that along with supreme portability, students want power and style in their mobile rigs. Netbook pioneer Asus has tried to meet those needs with a slick little machine boasting decent specs that costs just a hair under $350 — the Eee PC 1018P.

We took the Eee PC 1018P on a self-imposed field trip to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and found that, despite some limitations, this chic netbook has the goods to be your next travel companion. Sporting a black brushed-metal lid and a digit-friendly, if cramped, chiclet-style keyboard, the 1018P looks and feels pricier than it is. With a fairly standard 10.1-inch screen, the ultra-slim Eee PC is less than an inch thick and slid easily into our backpack. It's also lighter than other netbooks in this class, at just a smidgen under 2.5 pounds.

At the Botanical Garden, the 1018P booted up into Windows 7 Starter in less than a minute. The brushed metal on the lid is carried over to the netbook's snazzy bezel and palm rest, giving the Eee PC some quality interior styling. Though the raised keyboard was easy to touch type with, the right shift key is annoyingly small. We also hated the single bar mouse button that was so stiff we had to use two fingers to press it down.

Otherwise though, the 1018P with its 1.66-GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and 1 gig of RAM is more than adequate to handle basic tasks while out in the field whether it's surfing the web or word processing. The 1024 x 600-pixel glossy screen could be better — especially under afternoon sunshine, which caused it to wash out — but for this price, it's not bad. The 0.3-MP web cam utilizes a sliding plate over the lens as an "on/off" switch, is pretty ghetto though and unless you're recording yourself in good light, you'll look like a pixilated shadow.

On the bright side, the 1018P runs extremely cool — that's a huge plus on the 90-degree day we spent with it tromping around the garden. Battery life was also excellent, giving us over eight hours of internet use, word processing and assorted sophomoric shenanigans on a single charge.

WIRED The 250-GB (5400 RPM) hard drive offers more than enough room to store your field notes. Memory card reader and three USB 2.0 ports will help you show off those photos and videos you shot of insects and plant life. Stylish, sleek design means you'll be Mr./Ms. Popularity in the back of the bus.

TIRED HD video clips jittery in playback. Black metallic lid gets easily smudged by sweaty fingers. Script font used for Eee PC badge on bezel looks cheesy.

In keeping with the company's general direction of late, Sony's entry into the pocket camcorder market is overdesigned and underfunctional.

The big draw with Sony's Bloggie versus, say, similar offerings from Flip, Creative or Kodak is the inclusion of a swiveling lens, which gives the user immense flexibility in how it is used. Aim forward and shoot the kegger you're at, or swivel it back to capture your vimeo ready-reaction. After all, YouTube is so 2006.

Another handy feature: The Bloggie can shoot still pictures (5 megapixels) as well as HD video (1920 x 1080p); separate buttons let you mix and match as you see fit.

Sounds good, but the problems soon become evident once you start really using the Bloggie. For starters, simply taking a shot of either type is difficult due to the awkward button placement; they're too small and hard to hit accurately whether you're holding it righty or lefty. The zoom feature is dog slow, and changing settings with the five-way pad is awkward, too, as some menus are created vertically and some are built horizontally. The slide-out USB connector for uploads and charging is also badly placed, and it's difficult to get the camera to hang onto your PC without an adapter cable.

The 2.4-inch LCD looks big until you realize that fully half the screen is taken up by status information and useless junk like the time and date. It's better at least with playback, if you turn the unit on its side the exhaustive display goes away.

Video quality is roughly as credible as any other pocket cam — though perhaps on the low side — but don't forget to buy a Memory Stick Pro Duo card for the unit; storage isn't included, either.

WIRED Rugged and tough, yet compact enough for easy pocketing. Swivel lens also works as a protective lens cover.

TIRED Difficult to use single-handedly. Controls are unintuitive and slow to respond. Included PC software is limited.