Don’t let anyone tell you that press events are glamorous. I stayed in a hostel for the majority of Gamescom, and was promptly shouted at by an aggravated French man named Gérard for waking him up too early (his fault for FaceTiming until 3am).
In many ways, a hostel is sort of similar to a college dorm — shared rooms with very limited space for peripherals. Your tech choices have to be both ultraportable and space conscious, while guaranteeing the best ergonomics wherever you choose to work. If you don’t have these, you’ll never get any work done, and given my frosty relationship with Gérard, I was nervous.
Entering study mode soon? You need a good machine. Whether you just need a solid notetaker or something more powerful for creative courses, here are my personal picks for the best laptops for college students.
But with the ProtoArc XKM01 Keyboard and Mouse Combo, I never missed a beat. This foldable keyboard combo feels great to use, is ultra portable, and a cinch to set up quickly for peak comfort working in any tiny nook of desk space you can find.
Productive and comfortable wherever I was
The real superpower here is its ultraportability. Everything fits into this durable case that you can throw into your backpack, while adding barely any additional weight to it at just over 1.2 pounds.
And setting it straight up to work again takes literally seconds. The switch for the keyboard is built into the folding hinge mechanism to activate the moment you unfold it, and there’s a switch on the back of the mouse. Oh, and that hinge? It’s built around an internal aluminum structure that has been tested to survive over 10,000 folds.
Even better? Longevity is assured. I got nervous about the battery life on a keyboard this thin and a mouse this small. I went through a week of 8+ hour working days and didn’t face any low battery warnings whatsoever!
Surprisingly impressive ergonomics
But even with this focus on portability, ProtoArc hasn’t forgotten about what’s important here — it has to feel good to use. The keyboard keys have a great tactile depth to them with a nice cushioned impact on each one. It’s not going to be a game-changing mechanical feel, because chiclet boards never are. But this does feel damn good to type on.
Pair that with whisper quiet switches, and a mouse with three DPI levels to work on multiple surface types like wood, mouse mat and glass, and you’ve got a serious productivity-focused setup.
Do I prefer a bigger mouse arch to fill my hand? Absolutely. But in terms of having a quick pointer on-the-go, the subtle curve atop this is more than good enough for a portable workstation like the one I was lugging around.
Ultimate portable workstation
No matter whether it was on the show floor or back in the hostel room, I was working at my best on-the-go with this ProtoArc setup — a real ergonomic tactility with impressively quiet switches so as to not wake up anyone taking a nap.
And feeling like I was going back in time to my college days with these cramped conditions only demonstrated just how this is a phenomenal low cost investment into your studying future. That laptop keyboard and touchpad may be good, but this is on a whole different level.
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