witch Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Ahead of BETT I just wanted to ask the collective for any advice on this issue. The ICT co-ord has done a survey and it transpires that the teachers want the children to be able to write docs etc using Office and also surf the net etc, and they do want a keyboard. (I wonder if it is because they are used to this though) So - I think I am looking at small laptops? This is a junior school so they would need to be fairly robust. Any thoughts or places I should go and look at BETT?
steveg Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Bit bigger than a netbook, but we are buying Dell Latitude 3340 laptops for pupil use now. They have rubberised edges (but subtly so they still look nice) and the hinge can fold complete flat on the desk, so not easy for the children to damage them. The most recent set we have ordered have touch screens as well, these went into year 1 and year 2. We have a set of non touch screen ones in Year 6. Steve 1
3s-gtech Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I'm not a fan, but Chromebooks maybe an answer here depending on your infrastructure. We went for Lenovo X131e laptops which have actually been very good - tough and quick enough for word processing and browsing. We stuck SSDs in to be sure. 1
HTCPCP Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I know one of my colleagues has recently had a trial of a Lenovo Miix (even if the spelling does make me want to not buy it on principle) and seemed to think it was quite good. Got the advantage of being able to use it as a tablet. Might be more aimed at staff rather than the kids though. 1
witch Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 I think that the boss would like something a bit more powerful than an Atom processor so probably a small laptop will be the likely choice - but who knows?
Squelch Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I've just replaced 60 netbooks with Ergo Hybrid tablets. They come with 8.1 pro installed, good enough spec to be turned into CC4 workstations and have a detachable keyboard. Go to Ergo directly for the best price. The only downside is that they only have 64gb internal storage which is not upgradable as the memory is soldered onto the motherboard, ours have about 12GB of free space once CC4 + software is installed. http://www.ergo.co.uk/Products/Tablets/Pages/TheErgoHybrid104.aspx
jmak Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Ahead of BETT I just wanted to ask the collective for any advice on this issue. The ICT co-ord has done a survey and it transpires that the teachers want the children to be able to write docs etc using Office and also surf the net etc, and they do want a keyboard. (I wonder if it is because they are used to this though) So - I think I am looking at small laptops? This is a junior school so they would need to be fairly robust. Any thoughts or places I should go and look at BETT? Our ICT coordinator is keen that the kids learn to use a keyboard as well and I think she's right. WRT robust devices, we have had 60 consumer grade netbooks for 4 years now on our infant school. They're out in the classrooms every day and I've had 5 breakages: 2 x hdd probably due to being (repeatedly) dropped, 2 damaged screens (closed with a piece of Lego in the way) and one vomitted into. The hdds might have been better protected in a robust case, but the others would have had the same outcome. I would have had to pay a lot more for robust units. I've spent £70 on 2 new screens and the same on 2 replacement hdds. We had a lot more devices for the same budget with this approach. The batteries are a bit poor now, but I don't think robust units would have made much difference there either. 1
FN-GM Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Netbooks are hard to buy these days. However I am pretty sure Stone Computers still do them. 2
Oaktech Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Ask ICT direct to get you some HP 2540p's 12" laptops with keyboards and DVD drives! Totally awesome! 1
3s-gtech Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Also @witch - don't discount the Bay Trail based quad core Atoms and Pentiums too quickly (Z3***, Pentium J2***, some Celeron J1***, Pentium J3***) Products (Formerly Bay Trail) They really are pretty impressive - especially the Celeron and Pentium parts as they are often paired with 4GB of RAM. We have a number of HP Pavilion X2 tablet/convertibles powered by Pentium N processors and they handle everything thrown at them, including direct video encoding from camera to shared storage and SIMS. Cheap too. 1
Iain.Faulkner Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I've just replaced 60 netbooks with Ergo Hybrid tablets. They come with 8.1 pro installed, good enough spec to be turned into CC4 workstations and have a detachable keyboard. Go to Ergo directly for the best price. The only downside is that they only have 64gb internal storage which is not upgradable as the memory is soldered onto the motherboard, ours have about 12GB of free space once CC4 + software is installed. http://www.ergo.co.uk/Products/Tablets/Pages/TheErgoHybrid104.aspx We've just brought one of these in for our PE department, really impressed with it so far.
witch Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 the boss wants new kit sadly. Wil lkeep an open mind
FN-GM Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 @witch looked at the primary schools netbooks today. They where manufactured 15 months ago so you might be in luck.
witch Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 we have netbooks and have been unable to get more. As for chromebooks -can you put office 2010 on them?
3s-gtech Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 No. They are limited in Office terms - Google Apps doesn't give quite the same range of abilities. That's partly why I avoid them ('cloud' reliance, lack of software I need are some others). They do suit some purposes superbly. Convertible tablets should hit the spot for you - prices are keen, specs are good and the kit is maturing. Get a trial or two in to see.
Arthur Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 we have netbooks and have been unable to get more. Asus' X205 is essentially a netbook... Asus EeeBook X205 (£149.96 + VAT) 1
NotSoFast Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 You can edit Office Docs in Google Apps now, and there's always the Office Web apps. I'd argue that 95% of the time staff and students use only the fairly basic features of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If they regularly need pivot tables, then maybe not...
m25man Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 As far as I'm concerned the clear leader in this sector is the Lenovo 11e available in a traditional clamshell or fully convertible Yoga. Baytrail Quadcore, 500gb HDD 4GB Ram its reinforced hinges protective rubberised edges and other Edu orientated features put this right into the netbook replacement zone. Do not mix these up with previous versions which were Dual core and sold as Chrome books. These are true Thinkpads with the pedigree to match. I thoroughly recommend you seek one out and evaluate it fully. 1
witch Posted January 19, 2015 Author Posted January 19, 2015 I have now been given a budget of >£450 which knocks out one or two suggestions, sadly.
Oaktech Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Ok, new netbook, less than £450, ruggedised... got to be this then... Lenovo ThinkPad 11e 11.6" Intel Celeron N2930 4GB 500GB Windows 7P (20D90008UK) - dabs.com Best of all worlds. But make sure it's the 11e you buy as that is the education version with upgraded hinges and rubber edges. 1
jmak Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Lenovo showing 2 versions on their website. Only difference in spec is smaller HDD and non-pro version of Windows. If you have EES, you save yourself £60/unit... Also, how many do you need? The Dell Outlet store always seems to have a selection of the Latitude 3440 at around the £300 mark. No good if you need dozens at a time though.
witch Posted January 19, 2015 Author Posted January 19, 2015 I haven't got EES, sadly - whether now is the time to go that way - I don't know.. I am looking for a class set so probably 32
sted Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 I haven't got EES, sadly - whether now is the time to go that way - I don't know.. I am looking for a class set so probably 32 it makes life so much easier. If its £60 per unit to get pro on there that's 2k (or near as) towards ees there and you get office as well 1
witch Posted January 27, 2015 Author Posted January 27, 2015 The HT has now decided that we need 70 of these and after gazing longingly at all the shiny shiny at BETT I am not a little confused. The 11e looks very nice but isn't there something that is better than quad-core or is that as good as it gets? What about the latest wireless - they don't seem to be 11ac? As for the EES question, on the number of units originally specified it turned out not to be worth it but now he wants 70, I am not so sure
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