Select Box with Links, need code tweak, php + script - php

Question

I'm trying to make a select box with links that a visitor can click, select an item from the list, and be directed to that page in a new tab. The select box should display "Select" by default which is just a placeholder and doesn't link to anything.
I have two codes that almost fit the need, but they're a little different and both come up short. The first one puts script in the head, and doesn't open in a new tab. The second uses script at the location and tries to find the "Select" page, which ends with 404.
Is there any advantage to using script in the header, versus
being part of the code snippet?
Can we somehow combine these,
using whichever version of code is better, to implement a "Select"
placeholder properly but open in a new window too.
What happens if a user has disabled scripts in his browser? Is there a way to account for that?
First:
<form action="dummy" method="post">
<select name="choice" size="1" onChange="jump(this.form)">
<option value="">Select...</option>
<option value="http://yoursite.com/test1/">Test 1</option>
<option value="http://yoursite.com/test2/">Test 2</option>
<option value="http://yoursite.com/test3/">Test 3</option>
</select></form>
Second:
<form name="form1">
<select name="menu1" id="menu1">
<option selected>Select...</option>
<option value="http://yoursite.com/test1/">Test 1</option>
<option value="http://yoursite.com/test2/">Test 2</option>
<option value="http://yoursite.com/test3/">Test 3</option>
</select>
<script type="text/javascript">
var urlmenu = document.getElementById('menu1');
urlmenu.onchange = function() {
window.open(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value);
};
</script>

Answer 1

I wouldn't recommend this, it's likely to be blocked by the browser. However:
$('#menu').on('change', function() {
window.open($(this).val(), '_blank');
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select id="menu">
<option selected disabled>Select an option</option>
<option value="http://stackoverflow.com">StackOverflow</option>
<option value="http://google.com">Google</option>
</select>
If you open your console when you run the snippet you may see it's been blocked.