IT Room upgrade

[Uber22]

Hey All

 

I am looking at renewing all the machines in one of our IT Rooms but i am little bit stuck on witch option to go for. Has one else recently done a full IT Room updgrade my options are below.

 

20 x HP G1 i5,8GB,120GB SSD 22" HP Screen

 

20 x Dell E5450 5th gen i5 , 8gb ram , 120gbSSD

 

20 x Microsoft Surface Pro gp or Surface Pro 5

 

now i have a bit of a situation on witch option to go for as all options have good and bad points.

 

if we go for desktops they look big a bulky, great hardware, great price (ICTD) , fix parts easy

 

Laptops , Portable, some parts can be replaced easy, but small screen battery may last year or so

 

Surface pro , very nice to have, expensive, great for drawing on , battery life 2 years maybe , very small screen.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

So applications that will be running

Python

office 365

scratch

3d desgin

2d desgin

note++

 

as you can see nothing out of the normal.

 

 

Any thoughts ?

 

THanks

[Ditto]

If it's a dedicated IT room, desktop only IMHO. If for use in classroom on the desk, you'll need to budget for a secure charging cabinet, but I'd suggest Dell. Based on limited experience I wouldn't go for the MS Surface - flimsy and horrible keyboards. We had one come back, broken screen and chassis, shall we say 'bottom shaped' - clearly had been sat on! Besides, where I've worked in the state sector, the cost isn't justifiable. If you haven't yet, speak to @ICTDirect_Dave.

[XiJ]

A few years ago I often mentioned to schools that if space was tight and/or they wanted flexibility then laptops might offer a good solution.

In practice it means missing power chargers, laptops walking off to other rooms and general anarchy. I’d stick to desktops now.

[ticktock]

Agree with @XiJ. Desktops all the way. Lenovo have been reliable for me over the years.

[robyholmes]

@VeryPC Flex Micro got my vote. Advantages of the all in one but not the disadvantage of it being a single unit.

[Uber22]

I was looking at there all in one but they look pricey, i never dealt with anyone else apart from ict direct as the support is great and i can mostly get a good deal :0 sometimes @ICTDirect_Dave

 

space is not an issue as we currently have hp8000 in there laying flat with chunky lcd monitors.

 

Wireless keyboards and mice ?

[mikeprice]

If you are using python and Scratch then I would suggest that you need a proper mouse and decent sized monitor

 

3d and 2d design make this even more important

 

hence desktop

[SteveB_NI]

Wireless keyboards and mice ?

 

Oh dear goodness no way. We have a hard enough time keeping keyboards and mice in suites and they are cable tied in!!

 

Also our Mac wireless mice had to be removed as this was causing issues with machines too close together.

[keyboards]

I'd go desktop all day long and refurb, nothing on that list won't run on an i3/i5 a few generations old with a decent ram and ssd

[PotNoodleTech]

IT Suite? Desktop only. If it is a stationary room that does not need the PCs to be moved around then Desktops offer better performance, better value and easier and cheaper maintenance not to mention lower costs when it comes to refreshing the hardware. Also less damage compared to laptops or surfaces.

 

And yes I only order refurb PCs too - when you can get an i5 with 8GB ram and 240GB ssd for £190 delivered you'd me mad to spend any more.

[FishCustard]

Echoing the various salient comments about desktop only - if it's a dedicated room, there's no reason not to use desktops, and plenty of reasons not to use laptops.

 

Get the best PCs that @ICTDirect_Dave can give you within your budget. Unless you're doing intensive compute stuff (e.g. GCSE CS, Adobe suite, etc.) you can drop down a Core iX generation or two and save some bucks without sacrificing very much at all.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

For what you're suggesting use-wise, I'd echo everyone else's view here.

 

Desktops all day long.

 

If you wanted smaller ones, we can do something for you in terms of a USDT or a Desktop Mini that will look neater and still do the job.

[Jawloms]

Yep, desktops all day. 120GB might be a bit small though, depends how many different users are likely to be logging in.

[CHiLL]

I wouldn't consider AIO or laptop devices for a suite. I think AIOs have too many points of failure to take out the whole device and laptops are an absolute bugger to get staff to plug them back into the trolley. We have some Windows tablets that are barely used. Not only because they're now extremely slow, but also because they were never charged.

 

We did a mass upgrade 4 years ago and went for some HP ProDesk 400 G1 units. They're small, powerful and can mount on the back of monitors. They were great at first, however we wouldn't be replacing them with a similar form factor (monitor mounted). We've found that accessing the USB ports is an issue, as the whole screen needs to be turned and causes cables to come loose/disconnect. They only have 6 USB ports (4 rear USB 2.0 and 2 front USB 3.0), of which all 4 rear ports are taken by the keyboard, mouse, DVD drive and SMART board...leaving the front two USB ports to take all the constant use (and eventually fail). They only have one audio jack, which tends to fail after a short while of use by different users. Performance wise, they've been fine for the most part.

 

We'll probably go down the SFF route in the future. Slim towers that offer more connectivity.

Edited September 30, 2019 by CHiLL

[caffrey]

AIOs are fine, we have some refurbs that we got from Dave the summer before and they haven't missed a beat

[FishCustard]

AIOs don't fail at any greater rate than other units really, but when they do fail they're often harder to fix - this is the issue.

[crc-ict]

How about the Lenovo Tiny in One?

 

We have those in our suite, and seem to be the 'best of both worlds' between desktops and AIOs.

 

It's a specific monitor, which has a dedicated enclosure on the back where a Lenovo USFF PC slots into, turning it into an all in one. USBs on the front, audio connections on the side, everything tucked away neatly. We've had ours for 3 years or so with no major problems, other than that they are powered by a laptop-style 'brick' and we've had a number of those fail.

[mikeprice]

In situation where the USB ports are plugged and unplugged a lot I have always wondered about using a cheap USB hub - suitably nailed to the base until (possibly literally) so that when someone clumsy finally breaks it it is only a cheap replacement rather than something more expensive/serious

 

only done it once but it worked a treat - it was a teacher's PC and the only remaining USB ports were on the back - the front ones were totally mangled. The usb cable was trailed around the side and glued to the main case - worked fine in that situation

obviously YMMV

[Ditto]

How about the Lenovo Tiny in One?

... other than that they are powered by a laptop-style 'brick' and we've had a number of those fail.

For me, would be enough to eliminate them from being an option.

[crc-ict]

For me, would be enough to eliminate them from being an option.

 

On the plus side, they are a heck of a lot easier to swap out than an internal PSU on an all in one.

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

How about something like this @Uber22 https://very-pc.co.uk/products/classroom-pc/flex

 

It's by far the most popular device for ICT Suites. Neat and tidy cable management, front facing ports for ease of access, height adjustable monitor mount option for ergonomic efficiency/viewing pleasure and secure with rear cable shroud.

 

If interested I'd be delighted to price it up.

 

Best,

Col

[StoneGroup_Joseph]

Stone group have a range of products, both new and Refurbished, offering various solutions to Classroom IT issues so just give me a shout should you require any further info and I'll be happy to discuss in more detail.

 

Many Thanks

 

Joe