According to Danielle Jang, communications manager with Best Buy Canada Ltd., students are looking for two things in their electronics this fall: wireless and being connected through social networking.

"It's about what all these products can do and how they can connect, that is what is huge for going back to school in every product," said Jang. "Wireless and connected is the big message for back to school this year."

But with changes in technology comes a certain amount of confusion.

"There's so many options these days and parents and students are frustrated and don't know what to buy," said Nicole Grima, senior account executive with Weber Shandwick (a PR agency for Best Buy).

Parents must take into account the age of the student and what is appropriate. Middle school students require straightforward and parent-approved technology, while secondary students tend to follow the latest trends, said Grima. University students are looking for mobility as well as the latest, fastest and coolest gear, she added.

Some of the hot ticket items this fall include tablets (computer touch screens without a keyboard), all-in-one laser printers, iPhones, the Blackberry Bold and iPads with Wi-Fi, as well as laptops and netbooks in a variety of colours, from traditional grey to blue, pink and plaid.

"There's a variety of colours for laptops and phones, it's a style choice," said Jang. "A lot of kids like to choose their accessories, it's the same thing with technology."

Harmen Berghuis, manager at Staples in Abbotsford, has seen an interest in coloured laptops as well, and girls tend to like the pink, he said. There's also the year-round awareness towards breast cancer with all things pink.

"Personal taste is huge this year. Everybody wants to be unique," he added.

One option to investing in a trendy coloured laptop is to purchase a skin ($15-$25), which is similar to vinyl wallpaper that students can use to personalize their computer. When they want to change the look, they can just peel it off.

Another big seller on the school list for many students is a graphing calculator ($100-$200), for students in advanced math and university engineering courses. Electronics has not bypassed elementary students either, said Berghuis, who sees a new item on the school list for younger students - a USB storage drive (USB stick), at least 1GB or larger. All students in the district work on computers and they can save their work on the drive and take it home.

"They are electronically taking their homework back and forth," he said.