iPads, Chromebooks or Surface?

[jimlag]

Hi, we are a nursery to 6th Form school and we are looking on either expanding our very few iPads or migrate to Google Chromebooks or Microsoft tablets.

Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks

[tomgrindle]

Hi Jimlag,

 

If it was me I would be taking a serious look at Chromebooks like these ...

 

 

Asus Chromebook C100PA

 

Manufacturer Site

 

TechRadar Review

 

 

Acer Chromebook R11

 

Manufacturer Site

TechRadar Review

 

Both of these devices now support Play Store Android applications .. which in my opinion makes them very versatile devices for school. Predominantly a Laptop, great for writing essays, general research etc ... and then the ability to flip and use as a tablet with fully functioning apps. I'm pretty sure that both Asus and Acer have some newer ones on the horizon and due for release soon too...

 

XMA/Viglen also manufacture quite a similar device. We have about 10 of them so far, they are quite sturdy and rugged. Maybe slightly on the heavy side for long tablet use. Unfortunately the only downside is that they don't yet support Play Store apps but apparently is planned!

Viglen Chromebook 360

 

 

Manufacturer Site

 

I presume that you don't already have a G Suite Domain in place for your school?

[mjk]

We've got some of the new Dell model Chromebooks and they are fantastic!

[Arthur]

I'm pretty sure that both Asus and Acer have some newer ones on the horizon and due for release soon too...

Yeah. 2017 is a good year for 2-in-1 Chromebooks.

 

Acer Chromebook Spin 11 (R751T)

https://blog.google/topics/education/new-generation-chromebooks-designed-millions-students-and-educators/

 

Asus Chromebook Flip C302CA (Note. Very expensive!)

https://www.asus.com/uk/Notebooks/ASUS-Chromebook-Flip-C302CA/

 

Dell Chromebook 11 3189

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/chromebook-11-3189-2-in-1-laptop/pd

 

HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 Education Edition

https://blog.google/topics/education/schools-sweden-have-made-chromebooks-nummer-ett-number-one/

 

Lenovo Flex 11 Chromebook

https://chromeunboxed.com/lenovo-unveils-the-flex-11-chromebook-it-may-look-familiar/

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/lenovo-flex-11-chromebook-2-in-1,news-55391.html

 

Spec Comparison (Some of these are US-only)

https://zipso.net/chromebook-specs-comparison-table/#2017

[andyt57]

We've got some of the new Dell model Chromebooks and they are fantastic!

Seconded. A primary school I support bought 30 Dell Chromebook 11s last September and were so impressed they bought another 30 just before Easter. The only proviso is that there is a one-off cost of £299 and £19 for each device to manage them online. But at least you don't have to buy a ProBook or Mac Mini as you would with iPads.

 

Andy

[smidsy]

We have iPads in various forms some older windows tablets and some Acer Chromebooks. Despite the Chromebooks having been in the school the shortest amount of time I think that they are already having the most impact of all the devices. I am seriously considering getting another set next year to replace our old windows tablets. Find the GAdmin suite setup fairly simple

[tmoon-mint]

+1 for iPads in my opinion. Staff and students are generally familiar with the interface already. Can be purchased via DEP so that they come supervised and enrolled in MDM out of the box without the need for a Mac with AC2. Managed distribution with device assignment means that Apple IDs are a thing of the past. The restrictions available to apply to devices are now pretty good most things the kids can mess with can be locked down now. Monitor and control student devices using the Classroom app.

[mavhc]

Depends what you want them for, what other equipment you have, what your infrastructure is.

[dhicks]

Hi, we are a nursery to 6th Form school and we are looking on either expanding our very few iPads or migrate to Google Chromebooks or Microsoft tablets.

 

We've got on very well with Chromebooks - we bought a bunch of the Asus Chromebook Flip C100PA when they were £200 each, and although they've since gone up a bit in price you certainly get your money's worth. We have a total of 161 at the moment, and we're thinking to buy some of the newer model C302CA when they come out - that rear-facing camera means they'll be able to do everything we want, all in one handy package. We have iPads for our teachers, which work pretty well, however the base model isn't quite practical, so you wind up having ot get the next model up, plus you wind up having to buy a case - the Flip machines have a keyboard to cover the screen, so there's no need for a hard case.

[Haptic]

Howdy @jimlag - as Google For Education Partners, we work with all major Chromebook manufacturers - happy to discuss some demo units or provide some more info on Chromebooks.

 

Feel free to PM

 

Joe

[mjk]

+1 for iPads in my opinion.

 

Not wanting to apple bash, but the problem with ipads is that they don't come with keyboards which makes work processing really difficult.

Chromebooks on the other hand are ideal for this, but also have touchscreen tablet interfaces and can run Android apps. thus chromebooks give you all of the advantages of the ipad along with the advantages of a laptop, but without the complexity of windows and for less money.

[mavhc]

What are the filtering/monitoring options on each? Can I block keywords?

[Sylv3r]

We predominantly use iPADs here for bookable resources but have one set of Chromebooks that I think are much better as a bookable / shared resource. Our iPADs effectively get used as 'research' tools to go on the internet with. We are likely to be increasing the number of Chromebooks over the summer - I also agree that the management of the chromebooks is relatively painless using the google management console.

[Alis_Klar]

We currently use iPads (& Lightspeed MDM) with foldr as our main solution on site with Pupils. We also use BGfL 365 (O365 with GroupCall IDaaS and j2e bundled product from incumbent Local Authority ISP Link2ICT) as our e-mail solution and teachers have fat Windows laptops with foldr for remote access to on-premise storage. We use cloud based ScholarPack as our MIS.

 

I plan to buy 6x Acer R11 Chromebooks (or equiv Chromebook with Android app support) for evaluation of the G –Suite Chrome managed device solution. We have an existing GAFE/G-Suite (education enabled) domain.

 

Going forward I think the Android app capabilities will become important for us. Are android apps second class citizens in terms of manageability on Chromebooks? Would you say android apps on a Chromebook with a Chrome device management license are as manageable as Android devices with MDM license or even iPads with MDM?

 

My medium term plan is to buy more Chromebooks and to deploy a dual cloud solution where our MIS syncs with both O365 and G Suite. We would then look to replace the iPads and foldr and possibly phase out O365 in the longer term.

 

If this solution is successful I would recommend rolling it out to the other schools in the Leigh Trust Academy chain.

 

Our current GroupCall IDaaS does work but we have no access to the Microsoft admin interface and the IDaaS management interface is very dumbed down and limiting. There is no way for example to disable an account without manually asking Link2ICT to do it and currently Link2ICT disable the Teams functionality of O365 as there is one shared tenancy for all their schools and isolating different school date from each other has been the issue for them. In addition to disallowing students from creating their own teams.

[AlanD]

The first question to answer is "what do you want to do/achieve with these devices". If it's just web based stuff..and that might include google docs ...then chrome books are arguably just what you need. Android offer more flexibility if you want to run apps including office 365. But I have to say I like iPads because they just seem slick and more intuitive....and although some of the better apps cost money and they are more expensive devices....

 

If you want to run full versions of office and pc apps then there are a number of surface like tablets ...

 

Once you are clear what you are going to do with devices it will practically dictate your choice.

 

The current teaching is now seemingly focussed on "programming" ... and while there are web based and tablet based activities...probably only Microsoft devices are going to give you a broad platform for these activities.

Edited May 9, 2017 by AlanD

[Bev]

We have both iPads and Chromebooks. The iPads are very popular but I think more work gets done on the Chromebooks and they were cheaper and last longer. I have Samsungs that are 4 years old and while I have replaced a few screens, they are still working fine.

 

The big question is, do you want to be able to type? The ipads get used for web browsing, making videos, taking photos, but the Chromebooks are used for creating slideshows, leaflets, writing essays, spreadsheets, all your office type stuff (using google docs), the tech department using them for Cad (using an online app).

 

I think they get used more than the iPads and they never cause me any grief.

 

Surfaces are very expensive laptops, and personally, I'd buy laptops before I'd buy more Surfaces. Our staff have them and we have loads of trouble with them. I will be reluctant to buy more (they were purchased before I arrived) as I think a normal laptop does the same as the surface for half the price and less hassle.

[dhicks]

we're thinking to buy some of the newer model C302CA when they come out

 

Sorry, my mistake - that should be the ASUS Chromebook Flip c213. Release date of "Q3 2017", around £400, complete with rear camera and stylus functionality.