Gallery: 9 Awesome Gadgets (Plus One Snack) for Broke Geeks
Photo by Ariel Zambelich0109102012-KINDLE-FIRE-HD-024edit
Gadgets cost money. A lot of money. And now that you’ve paid your taxes, you probably have no money. But that doesn’t mean denying yourself the joy of a shiny new gizmo to replace the worn-out junk you should have ditched last year. There are plenty of affordable gadgets out there if you know where to look, and they’ll satisfy your geek needs without making your wallet hurl. We’re not talking dollar-store headphones and flea market knockoffs, either. We’ve vetted this stuff and know it’s all solid. You aren’t getting the best laptop or hottest phone, but none of this stuff will let you down. This is the best gear for broke geeks. Tablet: Amazon Kindle Fire HD, $200 ----------------------------------- The 7-inch [Amazon Kindle Fire HD](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/09/kindle-fire-hd/) is an incredible value and a great tablet for e-books, watching movies and consuming the tons of content you can get from Amazon. Don’t look to it for stellar productivity, but you do get a stunning display, around 10 hours of battery life, Amazon goodies like X-Ray and a solid ecosystem of content -- all for as little as $200. The Google Nexus 7 is another great budget tablet if you’re looking for unadulterated Android. An entry-level 7 costs as much as the Kindle, but the price rises quickly if you start increasing storage and add mobile data. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich / Wired* [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
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Phone: iPhone 4, $1 with two-year contract ------------------------------------------ Sorry, but the iPhone 5 is beyond the reach of a broke geek. Accept that fact, move on and get yourself an amazing phone for the cost of a fast-food hamburger. Yeah, yeah, we hear you back there whining that the [iPhone 4](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2010/06/pr_iphone_4/) is almost three years old. So what. It remains a powerful and competitive phone, with a 3.5-inch Retina Display, 5MP camera, and incredibly sleek design. You can run the latest version of iOS and access Apple’s robust app ecosystem. Sure, the iPhone 4 is an old phone. But it’s a very, very good old phone and better than a lot of the cheap Android and Windows Phone handsets out there. *Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
03virginmobile
Cell Carrier: Virgin Mobile, starting at $35 a month ---------------------------------------------------- Few bills in life are more confusing and frustrating than your mobile bill. Went over your data limit? Surcharge! Talked to mom too long and burned up your minutes? Surcharge! Epic texting flame war obliterated your text limit? Surcharge! Forget all that with Virgin Mobile, which makes life a whole lot easier with its affordable plans. You get unlimited data and texts plus 300 minutes of talking time for a mere $35. Need more time to talk? Another 10 bucks gets you 1,200 minutes. Pony up $55 a month and you’ve got unlimited everything. That’s a whole lot cheaper and easier to manage than anywhere else. *Image: Virgin Mobile*
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Speaker: Logitech UE Mobile Boombox, $100 ----------------------------------------- The Jambox is the latest hip speaker, but broke geeks can’t afford to be hip (at least not most of the time). Go with the [Logitech UE Mobile Boombox](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/12/logitech-ue-mobile-boombox/) instead. It offers comparable portability and sound quality at half the price. The dual 1-inch drivers inside the tiny box pack a surprising punch and get plenty loud without sounding like hell. The Boombox has a tough rubberized outer shell to keep it firmly in place as you rock the house, and you have your pick of a range of colors. Charge it over USB and you get about nine hours of battery life. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
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Laptop: Chromebook, $250 and up ------------------------------- Put aside the utterly expensive Chromebook Pixel and Google’s Chromebooks are almost criminally cheap. A mere $250 gets you a very functional [Samsung Chromebook](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2013/01/samsung-chromebook-3/), and another two Benjamins bumps you up to the [Samsung Series 5 550](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/05/samsung-chromebook-2/). These are solid performers with responsive keyboards and trackpads and plenty of battery life. They’re great for watching streaming video, video chatting and working in the cloud. And you can share them, too, because Chromebooks support multiple user logins. You won’t be able to run any desktop applications, so forget about Photoshop and the like. But if you’re broke and want a solid, cheap laptop that will connect you to all of the Internet goodness, Google’s gotcha covered. *Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
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Portable Storage: HGST Touro Mobile Pro, $70 to $90 --------------------------------------------------- External hard drives are as expensive as they are necessary. But if you’ve got a lot of data and not a lot of dough, go with the [HGST Touro Mobile Pro](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/hitachi-touro-mobile-pro/). It offers performance on par with pricier drives but is a total steal at less than a C-note. The drive is fast (7,200 rpm) and it comes in 500 GB and 750 GB models. It’s a mobile drive in a svelte package that draws power over the USB 3.0 port. HGST has included some extras — you get a pre-loaded cloud backup suite with the drive and 3 GB of free storage to try it out. Plus, the drive is protected with a 2-year warranty. You get a lot for a little with this. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
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E-Reader: Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch GlowLight, $120 ---------------------------------------------------------- [The Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch GlowLight](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/nook-glowlight/) is one of the best deals going on e-readers, especially if you read in the dark. Sure, you could get the Kindle Paperwhite, but for the same price, the Nook is totally ad-free. You’ll also appreciate the light-up touchscreen and physical page-flip buttons and good library integration. Just keep in mind that Barnes & Noble’s ecosystem isn’t as strong as Amazon’s. *Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
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Earphones: NuForce NE-600, $25-30 --------------------------------- You won’t find a better pair of earphones for the price than the [NuForce NE-600s](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/nuforce-ne-600/). They are a cheap, high-performance headset engineered by audiophiles and they sound better than ‘phones costing twice as much. They aren’t the prettiest things you can stick in your ears, but what they lack in aesthetic style they make up for in weight, affordability and sound quality -- which is what really matters anyway. These are hands-down the best value earbuds you can buy. *Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
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TV: Vizio Razor LED TV, $1,000 ------------------------------ OK, so this TV is a bit of a stretch if you’re truly broke. But for $1,000, you get a very big (and surprisingly nice) HDTV in the [Vizio Razor LED TV](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/11/vizio-razor-led-tv-e601i-a3/). A grand is nearly half the price of competing models, and this baby’s also packed with apps that are easy to navigate with the keyboard-equipped remote. Tweak the image with all of the menu options, and choose between a slew of preset viewing options. It’s not a steal, by any means, but is a good value for what you get. Let’s just say the neighbors will think you paid a lot more for it. And hey, you can always sell your couch and dining table for the gadget. *Photo: Vizio*
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Snack: Pop Tarts, $3 for a box of six ------------------------------------- They’re cheap. You can eat them hot or cold. They taste pretty damn good. Enough said. *Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired*[](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/about/#faq13)
