Whether it’s a high school senior looking ahead to college and living on his or her own for the first time, or young folk who already completed college and are staring uncertain adult life in the face, the grads in question will need equipment to survive or toys to distract.
As part of our ongoing Dads and Grads Guyd Coverage, we’re offering an unusually eclectic listing of possibilities in a range of prices.
Gadget Gift Guide for Grads
There are infinite gift possibilities for grads heading out of college and high school, and we've picked out a few interesting options.
HGST Touro Pro
The 1 TB Touro Pro is a compact USB backup drive that offers a special service for your grad. He or she gets free remote storage on Touro's servers with their use of the Pro drive so there'll be no losing homework in the future.
MSRP: $79.99
Sir Lancelot Holy Grail iPhone Armor
It never occurred to smartphone designers that maybe a gadget worth about $600 shouldn't have a glass screen. Still, we have the iPhone. The Sir Lancelot Holy Grail iPhone Armor works to make that glass screen virtually bullet proof.
MSRP: $49.99
Booq Boa Nerve
College grads need to realize it's time to leave the backpacks at home and upgrade to more professional gear. The Boog Boa Nerve is a hip messenger bag that works on a bike or in a suit.
MSRP: $125
Sony SRSX5 Bluetooth Speaker
There are a lot of Bluetooth speakers out there, but only a handful wear the time tested name of Sony. The Sony SRSX5 Bluetooth Speaker serves up 20 watts of power in a simple, almost throwback design.
MSRP: $199
Eton BoostTurbine
How do you take something high tech and marry it to an old principle? The Eton BoostTurbine is an external power source for a weary grad's smartphone that can be charged with ye olde hand crank.
MSRP: $69.99
DacMagic XS
There's no real practical use for the DacMagic XS , and that's why your music loving grad will want one. It boosts and sweetens the music coming out of computers, MP3 players and other devices to push playback beyond previous limits.
MSRP: $189.99
Transporter Sync
Moving on in school or into the working world means more data, more devices and more potential networking clutter. The Transporter Sync provides a grad with or her own local cloud service to keep laptops, tablets and smartphones synced up with the same data.
MSRP: $99
VapeXhale Cloud Evo
We don't want our grads smoking. They're the losers at high school who stand out back in the cold, and they're the hipsters in college no one likes. But, if they're still weening themselves off cigarettes, push them along with the high tech VapeXhale Cloud Evo vaporizer. Cigarettes are so 20th Century, anyway.
MSRP: $449.99
BEM Mobile Speaker
About the size of a coffee mug and wrapped in fun colors, the Bem Mobile Speaker charges on its own base and can then be moved anywhere in the grad's apartment or door room.
MSRP $69.99
Stanley Laser Tape Measure
Graduating means moving out on one's own and setting up residences of one kind or another. Gifting grads tools is a great idea to get their collection growing into something they really use. The Stanley Laser Tape Measure combines usefulness with modern technology — and a laser (which any grad will think is cool).
MSRP: $69.99
NuGuard KX Protective iPhone Case
Remember my point about the glass screen on a $600 phone? This NuGaurd NX uses multiple layers of protection to protect an iPhone and save your grad the cost of replacing a broken one.
I know that cost because I've broken four. If only I had a case...Wait a minute...
MSRP: $29