As students settle into their residence hall rooms, houses and apartments, some of the newest technology accompanies them.

As more and more technology becomes available, the aim of new products on the market is convenience for consumers.

Advancing from the days of remote controls and cordless telephones, students are now purchasing five-disc DVD/CD systems, hands-free headsets for their cellular phones and camera phones.

These camera phones, made by companies such as Samsung and Sanyo, range from $100 to $300, and hands-free headsets start at $8. Five DVD/CD-changing home theater systems, also made by Samsung and Sony, cost between $180 and $1,000.

Gary Cooper, sophomore in LAS, has one of these systems in his residence hall room. Cooper said the system in his room cost about $300.

“I really never have five DVDs in the system,” he said. “But it’s still really nice to have.”

Paul Nowak, sophomore in LAS, owns a hands-free headset for his cellular phone. His headset, made by Motorola, came with his phone.

“It works really well and I’ve had no trouble with it,” he said.

Nowak also said he finds the hands-free system very convenient to talk on.

In terms of computers, students are now bringing printers that also fax, copy and scan, wireless keyboards and mouses, and camcorders that record directly to DVD.

Combination printers start around $100, direct record camcorders cost about $1,000, and a wireless keyboard and mouse cost about $50 each.

“I love the wireless mouse. It works great,” said Tim Hopper, freshman in LAS. “It is very convenient compared to using a regular mouse.”

Other products providing convenience for students include rechargeable batteries, digital cameras with direct printing stations, digital music players, automatic coffee makers and more.

Some electronic companies such as Best Buy and EB Games have promotions this time of year to attract students to their stores.

This week, some students were even handing out coupons for a variety of products at Best Buy.

EB Games, located at 616 E. Green St. in Champaign, also distributes coupons around campus.

The store carries video games, computer games and console systems like the Playstation 2.

Playstation 2 systems are currently priced around $150 and can also be used as DVD or CD players.

Hopper said he also has a Playstation 2 in his dorm room.

“The system is nice because you don’t need to have a DVD player too.”

Brand names and prices are courtesy of bestbuy.com and amazon.com.