School is almost back! A look at the Staples back-to-school "Top Ten"

Staples is gearing up for back-to-school by introducing new school products, ten of which their experts predict will be best-sellers. From notebooks to backpacks to pens to calculators, their "Top Ten" list covers the school necessities...and has already hit the stores! The new Staples products emphasize affordability, sleek design, organization, and personalized patterns and color schemes. 

Here are the Staples products that have made the "Top Ten" or are recommended by the Staples experts as must-haves for back-to-school:

The Staples Mini Xeno Retractable Ballpoint Pens are a fun, mini version of a Staples favorite. They easily clip onto a pocket and make more room for other writing materials in a pen/pencil case. The pens store conveniently and are adorably mini! They also come in fun, tropical colors.

Book Jax Book Covers are cleverly designed book covers that allow you to protect and personalize your book all in one. Invented by two high school students, the Book Jax Book Covers have stretchable, expandable fabric that covers books 8" x 10" to 11" x 14" and plastic tabs that protect the spine and corners of a book from wear and tear. The book covers provide protection, are durable, washable, and reusable, and allow you to slide in pictures at the tabs or decorate the cover with artwork to personalize it! They come in solid colors and designs.   

High Sierra Backpacks (including the Swerve, which I have already reviewed as a great backpack!) are hitting the shelves at Staples! The backpacks have several multifunctional compartments, including a laptop pocket that holds and protects a laptop (keeps it snuggly in place on-the-go), an organizational pocket in the front for writing supplies, two mesh water bottle holders, and an iPod/MP3 player jack and tech pocket. Also, the backpacks have lots of vertical storage room (but not a very wide base) for notebooks and binders, adjustable arm straps, and a suspension system that cushions your back and takes weight off of your shoulders. The backpacks come in many vibrant designs and solid colors. 

Dickies Composition Books give the bland composition book a cover makeover. They have the same, standard, 100 sheets of regular white-lined composition paper, and the usual weekly schedule, conversion, and multiplication tables in the inside covers. But they also have fun, original cover designs created by Dickies that spice them up! The cover designs also match the Dickies backpacks, so you can coordinate! 

Built Laptop Cases (another product I love and have reviewed) are now at Staples in a new form: the Built Hoodie Laptop Case that opens more conveniently with a hoodie, not a zipper! These cases protect and cushion laptops with a unique hourglass shape that holds the laptop in place during travel. They also come in fun designs and patterns and work great for protecting a laptop inside a backpack on the way to school. 

The Access Bag N' Pack Flap Top Insulated Lunch Kit, along with the 22 0z. Access Bag N' Pack Stainless Steel Bottle (yet another product I've reviewed and enjoyed!), has made it to the Staples back-to-school collection. The lunch kit has a roomy, main compartment with thick, insulated walls that's great for keeping a drink cold and storing a sandwich and snacks. The lunch kit also has a cushioned top carry handle and a convenient velcro seal. The Stainless Steel Bottle keeps liquids hot and has a plastic top for sipping that hinges open with the touch of a button. Although the button is sometimes hard to open and gets stuck, the bottle can carry a hot winter drink to school and keep it hot until lunchtime.

Omnitech, a trademark of Staples, takes care of creative technology accessories for back-to-school. The Omnitech laptop skins are decorative, protective laptop covers that prevent pen marks, scratches, and damage to a laptop during travel. They can be trimmed to fit any size laptop and have a helpful grid on the back for cutting even, straight lines. The grid peels off and the thin laptop skin sticks to the laptop cover like a sticker. The skins are heavy duty, but leave no residue when they're peeled off. So they apply easily and stick well, but also come off cleanly. These sleek, water-resisant skins personalize, decorate, and protect a laptop and also give it easy identification in school! Omnitech also makes calculator skins in the same fun patterns as the laptop skins. The calculator skins are designed specifically for graphing and scientific calculators, and they're great for stylizing and marking a calculator when lots of students in math class have the same one!

Staples One Subject Notebooks have fun cover designs and perforated, three-whole punched, standard white-lined paper (70 sheets). They're slim, colorful, expressive, and useful; have one for every subject in a different pattern to easily tell them apart and stay organized, subject by subject! 

  The Staples Game Controller Calculator is where number crunching meets...video game playing?! This calculator looks more like a Play Station 3 controller than a tool for school. It makes math fun, but might get confiscated by a teacher, because of its uncanny resemblance to a game! This slim, lightweight calculator carries out simple math functions, making it handy to have for quick computations...but it shouldn't be THE calculator for class, because of its limited functions. The calculator doesn't actually have any games on it, but it might be a little distracting in class; even the on/off buttons are fun to play with! The calculator is small, slim, and compact (pocket-size), with gigantic "equal" and "clear" buttons!  It comes in white or black. The (+,-,x, /) signs could be easily mixed up, though, because they're all on one button! This calculator can number crunch, but it's all fun and games!

The 3-D Book Sox Book Covers are stretchable fabric book covers in 3-D print designs that pop off the cover with the use of 3-D glasses. The glasses are included free with the cover. The covers protect books with a little 3-D fun added in (although you probably won't use the 3-D glasses after you first get the covers). The book sox are reusable and washable. They're also easy to put on and all the patterns come in the jumbo size, which stretches to fit books larger than 10" H x 8" W. The covers personalize a book for school while also protecting it from spills, pen marks, and wear and tear. They also keep book covers in the same condition as before they were used, which is especially helpful for books and textbooks that need to be returned at the end of the school year. These covers customize books for easy identification in the classroom when everyone has the same one! And they protect books that need to be carried between the classroom and home. The covers come in four eye-catching patterns: shimmer, confetti, cold fusion, and wicked.

www.staples.com/btspr displays Staples back-to-school products and has updates on their back-to-school line! You can also view more of their back-to-school collection online at www.staples.com.

Mom Central's Teen Reviews Central is giving away one set of Staples Back-To-School must-haves inside a backpack, thanks to the team at Staples! The Staples Back-To-School giveaway includes:

1 High Sierra Swerve Backpack

1 Omnitech Laptop Skin

3 Omnitech Calculator Skins

1 One Subject Notebook

1 Access Bag N' Pack Flap Top Insulated Lunch Kit

2 Mini Xeno Retractable Ballpoint Pens

1 Dickies Composition Book

1 Book Jax Book Cover

1 Game Controller Calculator

2 Book Sox Book Covers

Congratulations to Pamela from PA for winning the Teen Reviews Central Staples Back-To-School Set Giveaway!

Also, thank you to everyone who entered.

Interested in more giveaways? Browse through the Mom Central Giveaways & Freebies Roundup!

Mom Central received review samples of back-to-school products from Staples.

Comments

[Pam Lynn]

would love to win this prize - times are hard....would really help....

[Marcela Beatty]

I absolutely love the calculator! All of these items sound so great for my son! We would love to win! Thanks for the giveaway!

[DeAnn O]

This looks like a great giveaway! I would love to win this one for my son. :)

[Rhonda Herrera]

My son would absolutely love that calculator. But it would probably get confiscated by the teacher.

[Becky S]

My daughter just freaked out, we just got her a laptop and she saw the skins and has ordered me to go to Staples and get her one. Will be going on Saturday, thanks for the top 10 list.

[Mikki]

Wow! I didn't even know about this great site! Will be sending my DD's this way!! Count me in on this!

[Mikki]

I Tweeted this!! http://twitter.com/ReviewsbyMikki

[Katy]

These products are awesome. I'd love to win!

[Peg Damon]

this is an awesome top 10 for my tween....tweeted as well http://twitter.com/sweetheart4171

[tanyetta]

this is a perfect giveaway just in time for back to school. please count me in to win. thank you so much.
tanyetta at hotmail

[Crystal Bruns]

This is another amazing giveaway! Wow, what great stuff!

[Priya]

What a great giveaway!

[Priya]

I tweeted about this: http://twitter.com/priyabradfield

[Ginger Simmons]

Great suggestions. Teens are always looking for the best and latest in items. As a military family costs are always a factor and staples always seem to lure me in with great deals.

[D P]

my oldest dd would LOVE this!!! talk about making back to school shopping a lot easier too!

[kentuckymom3]

My oldest would love this what a great giveaway.....

[Laura D]

Super giveaway, and just in the nick of time. School starts in a week and a half.

[Jen]

This is the best giveaway! I can't believe we are talking school aleady.

[icefairy]

Thanks for the neat giveaway!

[Abby Joy]

What a great way to go back to school! Count us in!

[Tracey Lumpkin]

This would be a huge help with 2 kids needing so much for back to school. It seems every year their lists get longer and longer.

[nancy holly]

I want to go back to school!!! Thanks for the awesome giveaway, teen guru!

[Carol]

Love the bookcovers

[Marcie]

Great givewaway and much needed in tight times

[Lucy]

Those backpacks look fantastic