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→ Back to School 2.0: Gadgets for Students
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Clocky
$43 to $59

If this alarm clock on wheels doesn’t get Junior out of bed, we don’t know what will. Here’s how it works: Set the alarm, and when it beeps you can hit the snooze button—but just once. After a quick doze (from zero to nine minutes), Clocky will jump off your nightstand and beep and flash while it rolls around the room. The only way to stop it is to get out of bed and chase it. Clocky can make the jump to the floor from up to three feet in the air. It comes in red, chrome, brown, aqua, and white.

Helius Solar Backpack
$99.95

Backpacks aren’t just for lugging books anymore. This solar-powered pack lets you charge small portable electronics (excluding laptops). It comes with adapters for iPods, iPhones, BlackBerrys, and phones from Samsung, LG, Nokia, and Motorola. If your phone’s brand isn’t on the list, no problem—for $4.99, the company will get the right adapter. Electronics charge fully in about two hours, and there’s a port for headphones so you can use the devices while they charge.