Imagine this: You’ve packed everything and are ready to hit the school year. You are more prepared than ever. Every box is full to the brim with technology. You know just how much it will help you on your student journey. But all your dreams and hopes collapse when you open the dorm room door and get a glimpse at the small space assigned to you. Your dorm room tech is essential, but also something to be mindful of.
All this amazing tech will end up piled on top of each other and will gather dust. It will remain mostly unused until the time to bring it back home comes. To avoid this dreadful scenario, you need to be smart with your back-to-school tech shopping spree, especially when it comes to dorm room tech. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to have that mighty computer, a monitor, and other essential accessories. Things like headphones, a camera with lots of accessories, and even a sound system. With the right planning, the dorm can accommodate a ton of tech and still look awesome. Here is how.
Small Space, Big Dreams
Before unpacking even one sock, take a look around and assess the layout of your dorm room. Most likely, you already have some furniture, such as beds, desks, and shelves. Check what you can move around on your own and what you can negotiate with your roommate(s). Maybe you agree to bunk the beds to make more space or move the desks near the window to benefit from natural light. Maybe you can install more shelves and hooks or create a storage space under the bed.
A small space is restrictive but also inspiring and cozy. Love it, and it will love you back. Use this time to think about where you would like to study, where you’d prefer to store the things you rarely use, and those you use every day. Things like headphones, tablet, phone, camera, etc. Also consider where you need to keep the space empty to hang out. Even if it is a small dorm room, you still want some empty space and lots of light.
In small spaces, organizing is key. For example, all the camera gear you use as a photography student may be stored in a drawer, provided that you use organizers or boxes for different accessories, such as lenses, batteries, memory cards, and cables. If you find that the room doesn’t have enough storage space or the available space doesn’t fit your tech, mindfully adjust it before you unpack your things.
Smart Lighting
Speaking of light, no tech works without electricity. So, where are the power sockets in your dorm room, and how many do you have? They need to be accessible and able to power up lots of gear. It helps if you have tech that uses the same charger, for instance, a USB-C one, a power adapter, or a power tower. This way, you can reduce the number of chargers and cables lying around. As my grandmother used to say, “A clean, nicely arranged hut becomes a palace.” Thus, think about cables and chargers when you buy tech for a dorm room or any small space, for that matter.
To brighten up the room, you need natural light but also smart artificial light. Although you may prefer to have the computer and monitor benefit from sunlight most of the day (providing you have curtains or blinds to avoid having direct sunlight on your screen), you also must consider adding lamps, light panels, and/or reading lights in your space. Make sure they provide the right light intensity and color, too (colder light for studying, warmer light for reading). Sun doesn’t keep up with the hectic student schedule. Especially if you study in a field where image quality is essential (e.g., art, photography, film, architecture, CAD design, etc.), you want the right type of ambient light and the option to customize it.
The Sound and the Dorm Room
For a small space such as a dorm room, headphones seem to be the only choice, right? You can listen to your favorite music or podcast without disturbing your roommates, study at any hour, and, thanks to the advanced noise-reducing feature on new headphone models, sleep undisturbed by the noises around you. You can take them on your morning run and listen to an audiobook whilst exercising. Nowadays, most headphones connect via Bluetooth, so no wires are needed here.
However, consider having a sound system, too, especially if you study music, film, rhetoric, and other fields in which sound quality matters. Sound systems adapt to the environment’s acoustics and provide high-quality sound even in small spaces. You get exquisite voice and music quality, which may be helpful with your studies, socializing, and relaxing. Choose small speakers with as few cables as possible, such as wireless, portable speakers you can place anywhere in the room. If you’re considering a career in videography, broadcasting, or podcasting, opt for sound systems with high-quality, built-in microphones.
Gaming Monitors? Why not!
Image quality is essential not only for art and film students, but also for those in other fields. You’ll spend a lot of time at your computer, doing schoolwork, studying, communicating with family and friends, and, of course, for fun. A large, high-quality screen, alongside the right lighting, may protect your eye health and help you keep a correct posture.
Gaming monitors sound like an all-fun-and-no-work type of accessory, but they are pretty good for all sorts of computer work. For example, they have a lower brightness than other monitors because they are designed to work in low-light environments, lit mostly by artificial light sources, which is the definition of a dorm room. In addition, gaming monitors have a lot of ports for peripherals, which may be helpful for hooking up all your student tech (e.g., the small laptop you use to take notes and the powerful computer you use in your room).
Because they are large, monitors must be placed near a wall. Stick the desk to the wall and use a monitor stand to ensure you have a correct posture and make the most of the space above your desk. Make sure the light comes from the right direction (not directly into the screen) and that you can adjust every detail of your dorm room office (e.g., stand height and angle, light intensity, color, arm and hand support, desk height, etc.).
The Mighty Computer
Student life without a computer is a thing of the past. Nowadays, students own at least a laptop for taking notes. However, the best laptops for students do more than take notes. They support powerful software for engineering, computer science, audio and video editing, gaming development, and everything in between. They support a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for use in the dorm room and feature ports for all sorts of other accessories, such as headphones and external microphones. At the same time, they provide enough battery life to be taken everywhere stress-free.
A laptop is easy to accommodate in the small space of a dorm room. However, you need a proper working station because the long hours in front of a screen will take a toll on your health. If you don’t use an external monitor and keyboard to force you to stay at your desk, try to use at least a laptop support to maintain a good posture, get some wrist support, and avoid looking down all the time.
All Things, Large and Small
Keep in mind that a powerful laptop may not be as lightweight and compact as you wish. As a result, it may not be feasible to take it to class to take notes, to the library to study, or to the campus café for a video meeting with your high school buddies. At the same time, doing video editing or CAD design on the 15-inch screen laptop you use to take notes may be challenging, to say the least. At some point, you may find yourself with one mighty computer waiting in the dorm room and a slim laptop accompanying you around the campus.
Regardless of whether you choose the slightly more compact Apple iMac, a sturdy Windows computer, or a heavy laptop with an external monitor, you need a dedicated space for it in your dorm room. Try to place the large, heavy unit under the desk and the monitor near a wall, on a stand, to save some space. Choose items that use as few cables as possible, such as monitors with USB-C Power Delivery ports that receive and send power to connected devices. A docking station may come in handy as well because it extends the computer’s connectivity and takes up a minimal amount of space. It can recharge your accessories, as well.
Final Thoughts
Managing the ton of tech in your dorm room starts with finding the products you need and then adjusting the small space you have to your new lifestyle. As a rule, consider practical storage solutions (e.g., cable organizers, compact charging stations, etc.), make use of vertical space with shelves or hooks, and don’t overlook the value of regular decluttering and reorganizing. Take advantage of Adorama’s back-to-school offers and have an amazing start to the year. With mindful planning and shopping, your dorm room can become an inspiring place for studying and having fun.
Be sure to sign up for Adorama’s EDU program for even more discounts.
