Classroom system, any suggestions

[laserblazer]

At present some classrooms have a dedicated computer driving the IWB and some teachers use their laptops. It looks like there may be funds available to put a dedicated computer into every classroom. Space is limited in many of the rooms and just getting access to towers hidden under a pile of rubbish is a nightmare. I'm considering laptops, which also gets around the problem of having to split the video.

Advice would be most welcome.

[Sylv3r]

You could look into the all in one solutions with integrated PC and Monitor or ITX PC's which will take up less room.

Personally I much prefer a dedicated PC in the classroom, it makes life much easier for support and with teachers moving from classroom to classroom.

[sted]

how about something like the e keyboard ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

or an imac esque pc? ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

or just a small form factor pc as i think those are both less than cheap

[glennda]

I would suggest a desktop alot easier to maintain etc - we have started buying machines with a two outputs (vga + DVI).

Thanks

Toby

[synaesthesia]

Quite fond of RM One machines with dual output - especially useful for SIMS in classrooms and what not. Also means teacher laptops can be used for teachers and moved around with minimal fuss instead of having to play around with cables - especially nasty fragile VGA cables! Would certainly recommend something static in which case and believe the Acer Revo's are great bits of kit for this purpose! The ION powered ones are very powerful for their size and are easily mounted well away from anything nasty - even on the wall if need be!
If your whiteboards are on adjustable mounts it's also easy to fit them to the rear of the board - absolute bliss for tidiness!

[SneakyBeaky]

We have just replaced all the teacher laptops that were running the IWBs with Dell desktops. Much better as the teachers were daily plugging and unpluging the laptops leading to problems witrh the connectors. The desktops need a video splitter however so that they can drive the IWB and the monitor at the same time.

[dhicks]

I'm considering laptops, which also gets around the problem of having to split the video.

As mentioned by Synaesthesia, I'd go for Acer all-in-ones or similar small enough to be screwed to the wall. As well as being neat they are also cheap - we got ours for around £200 each. You can also avoid having to install a wall socket unit to plug VGA cables and similar in to, just plug the cables from the projector straight in to the PC mounted on the wall. You don't have to split the VGA, teachers can just use a decent wireless keyboard and mouse to control the PC from wherever in the classroom they like. I've not had any problems with the simple, cheap £5-a-time two-in-to-one VGA splitter cables. Teachers could also control the projected screen via VNC from their laptops.

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David Hicks