(MONEY Magazine) – Endowed chairs

A cramped dorm room doesn't have to cramp a student's style. Take Anywhere Chairs, available through Alsto's Handy Helper (www.alsto. com; 800-447-0048), come in six colors and two sizes. And at $34.95 and $44.95 (plus $7.95 shipping), they're an inexpensive yet comfortable alternative to space-eating couches. Students can store a few in the corner during the day and bring them out for evening get-togethers--study groups only, of course. --BROOK CRANDELL WILKINSON

Computing 101

When it comes to desktop computers, you can't go wrong with the value and topnotch tech support offered by Dell (www.dell.com; 800-999-3355). For most students, the company's Dimension L-Series 677 is a good choice. This $1,299 computer comes with a Pentium III chip and a DVD player. An Ethernet card, which most students will need, costs an extra $40. For the games or graphics obsessed, we recommend Dell's powerful $1,809 Dimension 4100, an 800MHz machine that features a souped-up graphics card.

Laptops generally offer less bang for your buck, but if mobile computing is what your student needs--either for conserving space in a dorm room or for fleeing the dorm altogether for the library--we suggest Toshiba's just-released, Ethernet- equipped Satellite 1695CDT (left), which lists for $1,663. Don't be put off by the computer's second-tier Celeron processor--it's powerful enough for all but users of the bulkiest graphics programs. --BENJAMIN RYAN

You can go home again

Travel costs can add up for those who live far from campus, but special discounts for students can help. If your kid flies between two of the 31 cities served by AirTran (www.xfares.com), take advantage of its X-Fares, which offer 18- to 22-year-olds $47 tickets for standby travel until Dec. 14. The caveats: You can't check bags and you can't fly on Fridays or Sundays.

--The TWA Youth Travel Pak (800-221-2000) buys four one-way tickets for flights in the continental U.S. for $548.

--Students who fly the Eastern corridor to and from school should check out four-pack coupons for the Delta (800-221-1212) or US Airways (800-428-4322) shuttles between New York City and Boston or New York City and Washington, D.C. On Delta, for example, four off-peak flights are $244.

--And $20-a-year Student Advantage memberships (800-333-2920) provide 15% discounts on Amtrak and Greyhound trips. --NATASHA RAFI

Love in a box

No time to bake and send cookies to a hard-working student? Several companies will send CARE packages on your behalf. For $35 plus $6 shipping, www.cpackages.com delivers a battery of supplies for snacking and--if necessary--combating heartburn in those wee hours leading up to a term paper deadline. If only cookies will do, www.mrsfields.com will, for $46, send enough cookies and brownies to fuel half the dorm through finals. --Andrea Bennett

Extra credit

These days students can easily get credit cards without parental backing, so use what influence you have to make it a low-interest card without an annual fee. According to Cardweb.com, the lowest-rate college card as of mid-July is the no-fee USAA College Start Mastercard or Visa (800-945-3608), which charges 13.4% interest. If your kid will stand for a little fiscal discipline, the AmEx Charge Card for Students (800-582-5823) has a $55 annual fee but doesn't allow you to carry a balance from month to month (and thus charges no interest). --Lauren Shepherd

Celling out

In the past year, cell phones have hit campuses with a Pokemon-like frenzy, so don't be surprised if your student expects his or her own. The good news is that many cellular services, including the Sprint PCS Free & Clear plan (www.sprintpcs.com; 888-253-1315), include long-distance calls in the monthly fee. The 180-minute plan is $30 a month; 500 minutes cost $50. The Motorola V2267 (right) is compatible with Sprint PCS service, features changeable rubber and plastic covers (which earn it high grades for style) and sells for about $100. --B.C.W.

One size that fits all

You may not know this, but in order to accommodate oversize athletes as well as students of ordinary stature, most dormitory mattresses are half a foot longer than standard-size twin beds. Many colleges send a catalogue to aid in your search for extra-long sheets, but we found an impressive selection and reasonable prices at www.bedbathandbeyond .com, which offers the stylish Twister Dots sheet set (above) for $25 plus $5.95 shipping. --B.R.

Instant gratification

Keeping in touch via phone can get pricey, so many students opt for online communication. A current favorite: instant-messenger services, which enable you to conduct real-time on-screen conversations for free. One of the most widely used, AOL Instant Messenger 4.0, can be downloaded at www.aol.com/aim in about 10 minutes and doesn't require AOL membership. Another popular version, MSN Messenger Service 1.0, is available at messenger.msn.com. Both parties must have the same program, but not the same ISP. --L.S.

Phoning home

The best long-distance plans for students are usually not the ones offered by their colleges. Calling cards are one good alternative. At 10[cents] a minute on evenings and weekends, the Sprint Foncard (www.sprint.com/college; 800-366-2273) is a fine choice--if you can schedule your chats accordingly. But it goes to 40[cents] on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so if that's when you do most of your talking, choose AT&T's card for students (www.att.com/college; 800-654-0471), which offers a flat 20[cents]-a-minute rate all the time. Personal 800 numbers, which let students call you toll-free, are another inexpensive option. Our favorite is AT&T Easy Reach 800 Service (800-858-3718), which charges 10[cents] a minute plus a $2.95 monthly fee. --B.C.W.

A textbook case

Campus bookstores have long held a virtual monopoly on classroom texts. No more. Online textbook sellers are breaking into the business with discount prices on both new and used books. Our favorite, www.ecampus.com, allowed us to shave about $100 off a sample semester's worth of books, some of which were 50% off the on-campus price. There's no charge for shipping. The site also features a small but growing auction page where you can buy and sell used books, and it will buy back your texts later in the term (for significantly less money) when extra cash might come in handy. --L.S.

Alternative music

There was a time when a brawny stereo system--tower speakers and all--was a necessity for the true college experience. These days students are as likely to store their music collection on a computer hard drive as on CDs or cassettes. And any computer with a CD-ROM drive will play conventional CDs as well. That means you can save by forgoing the stereo altogether and buying speakers that hook right into a computer. One good choice is Polk's AMR-150, a 57-watt, five-speaker, surround-sound system with a subwoofer and four satellites. The $170 system is also, of course, ideal for computer games. --Scott Medintz

Packing list

Our interns tell us there are appliances students need: coffeemakers ("it's either java or NoDoze during cram week--you decide"); vacuum cleaners ("dust bunnies make bad pets"); halogen lamps ("banned from many dorms but still popular") and microwaves ("must have popcorn")...and those they don't: modems ("it's all Ethernet these days"); ISPs ("most colleges have their own"); answering machines ("voice mail is part of the phone system") and stereos ("MP3s rule!").