Review: Top Gear for Elementary School Students

Primary school is a time when your tykes first learn about the wonders of the internet and the benefits of technology. And what better way to send them into the world than equipped with gear that's both fun and functional?

Top Gear for Elementary School Students

Learn How We Rate ##### Wired

Colorful illustrations are awesome! Pockets make staying organized easy. Perfect size and very comfortable. Available in smaller capacity Go-Might size for .

• 1/10A complete failure in every way
• 2/10Sad, really
• 3/10Serious flaws; proceed with caution
• 4/10Downsides outweigh upsides
• 5/10Recommended with reservations
• 6/10Solid with some issues
• 7/10Very good, but not quite great
• 8/10Excellent, with room to kvetch
• 9/10Nearly flawless
• 10/10Metaphysical perfection

Dell Latitude 2100

The 2100's most striking feature is the matte, rubberlike coating that envelops the netbook. Its grainy texture repels dirt, grime and the occasional candy collision. When one Wired editor put it to the test by grinding a peanut M&M into the façade, we were able to brush the chocolate off with a quick swipe of a damp cloth. The buttons are well spaced and there's enough of the "clickety-clack" tactile feedback to make touch-typists happy. The 10.1-inch display is bright and does well in both bright sunlight and under the harsh fluorescent lighting typically found in public school classrooms. And with the 80-GB hard drive, there's enough storage space to toss in pictures, homework and maybe a Hannah Montana video or two.
— Priya Ganapati

GAMA-GO Go-Right Messenger Bag

GAMA-GO decks out its bags with colorful images of animals and music paraphernalia. The large main compartment is lined with handy organizational pockets — two of which are see-through and perfect for finding elusive small items. Two surprisingly roomy zippered pockets in front provide the quick, on-the-fly access students need for things like bus passes and keys. A laptop sleeve would've given this bag a home run, but alas, its lack keeps it to a solid base hit.
— Kelsey Hazlewood

FretLight Guitar FG-421 Standard

The FretLight guitar trains you to shred with unmistakable visual cues that are provided through a series of "fret lights" mounted beneath the guitar's fingerboard. These strategically placed LEDs are of no use without the system's specialized software. Unfortunately, this was where the process first becomes tedious. The FretLight training system consists of a number of separate discs — an intro DVD, an installation CD-ROM and an additional DVD featuring four free lessons for use with the system's Video Player — which could prove a little daunting for folks simply looking to plug and play with minimal fuss. While it may lack the idle appeal of something like Guitar Hero, the FretLight is a quality product that is as accessible or as challenging as an individual user needs. It's certainly no game, but it does manage to inject some fun, flexibility and much needed freedom into the realm of musical instruction.
— Ken Denmead

WIRED Quality instrument, genuinely innovative functionality, accessible at all skill levels, continually upgradable via additional lesson packs.

TIRED Cumbersome install process, overly specific software.

$500, fretlight.com | Read full review

Tech Group WipeOut Chalk Dust Gun

There's a safer, lighter, much less messy version of paintball — only it doesn't use paint in any form. It's called WipeOut, and it comes as set of two guns, each of which holds and can shoot foam-tipped darts that leave a smear of chalk dust when they hit. The kit also comes with two pairs of safety glasses, because of course chalk dust in the eye would not be much fun. The guns are spring-loaded, so their range is considerably more limited than paintball guns, but as a parent I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
— Matt Blum

WIRED Like playing paintball ... but without the sting.

TIRED Foam tipped darts don't travel very far.

$40, hktdc.com | Read full review

O'Reilly Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments

Today is the DIY era, and we don't need a set to learn about chemistry. All we need is the internet and the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Bruce Thompson.

The book is a hefty tome with over 400 pages. The initial chapters focus on preliminaries such as maintaining a laboratory notebook, safety, as well as two huge sections on equipping a home laboratory with glassware and chemicals — remember, you can't rely on a set to give you everything you need. Next comes a laboratory skills chapter, covering measurements, filtration, separations and so on.
— John Baichtal

WIRED Awesome experiments in chemistry that kids and parents can perform together.

TIRED Printed on paper. What is this, the 1500s?

$30, oreilly.com | Read full review