College Setup

The 2013 Deathadder is a good mouse. I still use one at work everyday. At home, I upgraded to the Deathadder Elite and love it. With good mice, I find a mouse pad really helps. Cheap, low resolution mice do not need a mat. I actually carry a mat with me now. The mat really shines when it comes to any precision like CAD. I have cheap earbuds for travel, but much prefer over the ear headphones. I end up using the built in mic more than I expected. Especially now days where we video chat vs meeting in person. Personally, I am not a fan of noise canceling as over the ear headphone already block much of the background noise. The conversation about headphones can go one for a long time depending on the games, music and budget you have. When it comes to music and for the cost and quality of the sound we still like the Audio-Technica ATH-MX50x. For gaming, I have both the Kraken 7.1 USB and the Kraken 7.1 THX external DAC. Both are great. I prefer the THX for music more, but do not know why. A Kraken headset on sale is a good value. Just remember that all headphones will need to be broken in. I will break them in for a week before I pass any judgement. College is a fun hyper learning time. Do not get behind in classes as it is really hard to get caught up. Enjoy gaming, the experiences and the people you meet. Get out of your comfort zone. I am an engineer and I joined student government. I still use what I learned in student government working in corporations. Have fun and let us know what you end up buying.