Picking the right computer is probably your first priority in selecting school-related equipment, but a computer by itself isn't enough. You'll almost certainly need a printer, too, and you may want a scanner as well, for tasks ranging from scanning images you can insert into reports to scanning handwritten class notes to read on your computer screen. And don't forget to consider relaxation time as well when choosing your gear. You might want to make sure the printer you get can handle photos well. Or you might want a projector to plug into your iPod so you can watch movies on any handy wall.

Portable printers, like the HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer and the Canon Pixma iP100 Photo Printer, are well worth considering. They're small and light enough to easily carry between school and home even on short breaks, and they don't take up much space on a dorm-room desk. They're also acceptably fast, with output quality that's more than good enough for school. Both print photos at reasonably high quality as well, and both can print from batteries, so you can take them along with your notebook computer to print wherever you like.

These portable printers have a low paper capacity (50 sheets in both cases), but that should be enough to handle the amount of printing you'll likely be doing at school. A potentially more important issue is their price. If you're willing to do without portability, a desktop single-function printer like the HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Printer or HP Officejet 6000 Printer will be a lot easier on your budget.

If you need a scanner too, getting an all-in-one (AIO) like the Epson WorkForce 310 All-In-One is a better choice than getting a separate printer and scanner, if only because it will take up less space in a crowded dorm room. It's also easier to make copies with an AIO than try to coordinate a separate scanner and printer by way of your PC.

As the name implies, the WorkForce 310 is designed for a small or home office, which means it includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning multi-page documents. This is usually considered an office-centric feature, but if you need to scan or copy more than one page at a time, it's a handy extra to have. If you scan or copy multiple pages on a regular basis, it's essential.

In the definitively non-essential category, consider a small-size projector you can use to show photos, watch movies, or play games at large size in your dorm room or anyplace else with a large enough blank wall to use as a screen. The Optoma Pico PK101, for example, fits in a shirt pocket and can connect to any composite video source or to an iPod. One step up in size, weight, and brightness, the BenQ Joybee GP1 can connect to a computer as well as a video source.

Here's a quick look at each of these printers and projectors.

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BenQ Joybee GP1 ($499 direct)

The BenQ Joybee GP1 is the most impressive palm-top projector yet. It's highly portable, at just 1.4 pounds by itself or 2.9 pounds with its power adaptor and cord; it can read photo, audio, and video files from a USB memory key; it can connect to a computer or composite video source; and it even has its own surprisingly high-volume built-in sound system. Most important, it's unusually bright for a palm top, and it delivers reasonably good image quality for both computer and video signals.

Canon Pixma iP100 Photo Printer ($249.99 direct)

Exceptionally fast for a portable printer, the Canon Pixma iP100 weighs just 4.4 pounds by itself or 5.1 pounds with its AC adaptor and power cord. Despite the small size, its speed and output quality are both well within the range you would expect from a desktop ink jet, and it offers a PictBridge connector for direct printing from cameras. Options include a Bluetooth adapter for printing directly from cell phones and a rechargeable battery that Canon says is good for printing 290 pages.

Epson WorkForce 310 All-In-One ($129.99 direct)

The Epson WorkForce 310 prints, scans, and copies. It lacks some photocentric features, like the ability to print directly from cameras and memory cards, but it offers fast printing for text and graphics. And because it's aimed primarily at small and home offices, it includes an ADF for handling multipage documents, a highly useful feature.

HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer ($249 direct)

The HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer offers ample capability shoehorned into a package that weighs just 4.5 pounds by itself or 5.3 pounds with the AC adaptor and power cord. In addition to printing over a USB connection, it can print directly from memory cards and PictBridge cameras, with WiFi and Bluetooth options available as well. HP also sells a battery option, which can print 480 pages on a full charge.

HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Printer ($119.99 direct) or HP Officejet 6000 Printer ($89.99 direct)

If you don't need the scan or copy features of an AIO, the HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Printer or the nearly identical HP Officejet 6000 Printer (which lacks only the automatic duplexer and WiFi support) offers fast printing in a larger, and less expensive, package than a portable printer. The 6000 lacks common photocentric features like direct printing from cameras or memory cards, but it prints photos reasonably well and does a particularly good job on graphics.

Optoma Pico PK101 ($300 street)

Weighing just 4 ounces and small enough to fit comfortably in a shirt pocket, the Optoma Pico PK101 is the most impressive example of the latest, and smallest, generation of portable projectors. It won't connect to a computer's VGA port, but it will connect to a composite video port or to an iPod. You can plug the PK101 into a wall socket for power, but it also runs off rechargeable batteries that Optoma says will last 2 hours on a full charge in low brightness mode or 1 hour at high brightness.

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