Cheapest way to simultaneously sync 20 iPads?

[misterharrison]

Hi all

 

I'm looking for a cheap solution for simultaneously syncing 20 iPads in a school context. All the trolleys seem to be very expensive, over £1500-£2000. I'm looking for something that's more like a hub than a trolley, and hoping to spend a lot less!

 

The closest I've found is the IQ 16 Sync Charge Box at £938.95

 

Does anyone know of any alternatives, hopefully for 20 rather than 16, and preferably even cheaper!

 

Or am I living in a dream world...?

[XiJ]

Absolute cheapest way is some powered USB hubs and all the iPads plugged in. Although I've never done it with 20 devices

 

I'd really try and go or a sync / charge trolley though - we've found very handy. Monarch do decent trolleys though - we've supplied those before

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Hi @misterharrison I'll drop you a PM. I do believe I've just the solution for you

[misterharrison]

That RM Qube looks perfect, Roisin. Thanks!

[misterharrison]

OK, so it looks these are the options around the £500 mark, all doing 10 ipads at a time:

 

RM Qube

Griffin 10-bay MultiDock

Kensington Charge n Sync Cabinet

 

Half the price of anything else, but I would have to sync in two batches.

[misterharrison]

Does anyone know if decent quality generic USB hubs would work for simple simultaneous syncing with iTunes? Or even with Apple Configurator?

Things like this:

Trust 10 Port Usb 2.0 Power Hub: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Plugable 7 Port USB 3.0 Hub with 4A Power Adapter for UK and EU Mains (VIA Chipset - USB 2.0 Compatible): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

I don't mind if they don't charge, as I think my manager has ordered a charging trolley. I'm just desperate to avoid syncing each one, one after the other!

Edited September 16, 2013 by misterharrison

[ICTDirect_Dave]

As far as I know you wont be able to push out to everything thats connected in the same way you would through a Syncing unit.

[caffrey]

We use 13 port usb hubs here, works okay with 9-10 iPads - any more than that and the hubs go off on one (Could be just the fact they are cheap) got them from kenable.co.uk also the usb hub power is not adequate so the charging solution is a bunch of daisy chained 6 way power strips... Edited September 16, 2013 by caffrey

[Oddbod]

Here you go... 24port monster USB powered hub

 

ThinkGeek :: 24 Port USB Monster Hub

[detjo]

As far as I know you wont be able to push out to everything thats connected in the same way you would through a Syncing unit.

I believe that to be true, too. At least that's what we were told and is why we ended up getting a Lock-N-Charge unit. It's not the charging that's the hard part, it's the syncing .. hence the price increase if you want syncing

[caffrey]

Syncing works fine on the cheap usb hubs, we use configurator

[detjo]

Syncing works fine on the cheap usb hubs, we use configurator

hmm .. then we were fed duff information! Damn that sales guy!!

[Ant]

We went with a couple of RM Qubes and Kensington shortened USB leads having been unable to get hold of the Paraproject Cube seen at the BETT Show.

 

We were after something cheaper than the usual charge and sync solutions and with a smaller footprint, but also had to be a neat and tidy solution, I think the above fits the bill nicely. We also got them from RM slightly cheaper than their online price so that helped too.

 

It looks like the Kensington Charge n Sync unit is identical to the RM Qube and Paraproject Cube, but don't know whose was first on the market. The Kensington looks the cheapest too.

 

I've been pretty happy with the Qubes so far. They have been linked together and we've been using Apple Configurator with them with no issues.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Ant