JonCarthy Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 If you are interested in a fully integrated computer desk system for your classrooms or suite, check out I-Desk solutions. I have had 41 machines installed. The cabling is covered so the children can't play with it. The response time from order to install was almost unbelievable. The children think that the machines are great. Steve Morgan (the sales executive) is always on the end of the phone and believes in getting schools a good deal - for the benefit of the children. The local MP came and had his photograph taken with them. Ofsted said that they had helped dramatically improve ICT at the school. The parents keep using them and we haven't had any stolen as they are too difficult to take apart. The flexibility of the i-rise system allows the suite to be used as a meeting room too, giving the school far more options for workspace both during the school day and in the evening.
Haptic Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) I-Desk do amongst overs offer some great solutions , if anybody is interested then be sure to pm me your details for more info or even some pricing, Edited October 20, 2009 by Haptic
plexer Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Hi Jon, Sounds like you've had a result there. Perhaps you could share with us the name of your school and what your involvement is? Thanks. Ben
tmcd35 Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Better still what sort of price/spec did you get. Is it wildly more expensive than me buying some cheap desktops, cable ties and CPU brackets (to mount the pc under the desk)?
danIT Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 John do you work for I-Desk lol, Steve sounds like a great bloke to. How much did they cost (ball park)
sted Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 ive had 2 schools with i desks in and apart from the visuals ive never been impressed so far on a suite of 30 ive had 4 with duff ram (they use stuff not on the boards recommended list which if a board has one is imo silly)(and i erally need to test all the rest as a lot seem to do odd things such as not doin software deploy properly whereas a rebuilt one with new ram does just dont have time the hole for the cables is a silly shape and now with the usb/audio sockets on the screen pole a pain to open (why the whole back 3 inches of the desk couldnt hinge rather than a small kidney shaped hole is beyond me) getting cables from one desk to the next can be a pain see previous point
british-wave Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Hi all, We have been using I desk here for nearly 2 years. We now have 2 full IT suites of 30 machines, each with 18 machines using the I-Desk solution and then 12 with the I-Rise solution. The first classroom we spent ages looking for a solution and we could not find anything better for the solution we wanted. Link to pictures are as follows. http://www.wavellschool.org.uk/images/downloads/idesk.zip for pictures of our first installation. http://www.wavellschool.org.uk/images/downloads/idesk2.zip For picture of our third installation We also have put a 10 desk solution into out learning support dept as they had 6 machines in the room and we could not see how we could get more in. I desk came up trumps with this solution. http://www.wavellschool.org.uk/images/downloads/idesk3.zip for pictures of our second installation. We have also got 2 classrooms with the I desk basic as we had already purchased machines and we could not replace them with an I-Desk computer solution. These are the same size as an I desk but the PC sits on top rather than inside the desk. This solution is not as neat as the cables are still exposed but it can give you such a saving on space. Pictures for our 2 I desk basic classrooms can be found here http://www.wavellschool.org.uk/images/downloads/idesk4.zip As you can see not as neat cable wise, nothing that a lot of cable ties and time couldn’t sort, but it does provide a nice solution to save space. We have also just placed an order for a solution to go into our technology atrium. Its an I rise consisting of 23 seats. This was the best solution for a dept which needed and additional IT suite but the school did not have the space for it anywhere else. The desk is going to incorporate a pillar into the design. We are waiting on our next allocation of money to get some of our other rooms done in the same way and maybe take advantage of some of the alternative shapes, wavey lines, curves, hexagon shapes etc. The perception from staff is that it give a fresh clean and more spacious environment in which students are much more relaxed primarily because there is much more space to move around the classroom. Also they know what if something is not working it generally a problem the IT dept need to deal with as nothing can be disconnected. The best thing from a network managers point of view is that they come and do the installation for you. The amount of time its saved me on setup time and support it has been a god send to say the least. I have not dealt with any vandalism (not that its a major issues here) on these rooms but I have in other areas. If you can plan ahead an build an image in advance they will pre image the machines before installation. The rooms are well received by the students as they do have WOW factor especially in the rooms with the I-Rise sections. On a final note our account manager Steve Morgan has even attended site to see how the installations are going, and on occasions assist with the installations. I don’t know of any account managers that would do that !! If anyone wants to come and have look you are more than welcome.
Laurev03 Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 I'm a student in my last year at a specialist computing school, we have loads of these desks and think they are great. The one that goes up and down is really good but me and my friends think they are all really good, they make nice shapes around our class rooms and not like the old rooms here that are boring. In our media lesson we have the screens up but in Maths we have them all down its great we have 2 classes in one. My little brother will be here next year and can't wait to use the IT rooms. I don't know how much they cost but my teacher will so you will need to ask her. L03
synaesthesia Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 They're lovely and neat, I'll say that much. The USB/front panel connectors on the stalks however look tacky and are built rather less well than I'd like to see when given to a bunch of vandalistic kids My opinions however are marred as wheover installed them also did the servers in one of my schools. They provided, along with the idesks, terminal servers, file servers and installation, a particularly virulent copy of Conficker (of course that doesn't mean anything for the i-Desks!)
JonCarthy Posted October 20, 2009 Author Posted October 20, 2009 good to see so many people replying to my post. Lots of positive experiences coming through from idesk. I wanted to sing their praises as I had bad experiences with Dell and RM previously. Computer solutions will always vary in price and whilst i-desk are not the cheapest, they provided me with a flexible solution in a school short of space and I am a firm believer in 'you get what you pay for' and that goes for customer service as well as product.
DMcCoy Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 I often love a product so much that the first thing I do on any relevant forum is post about how good it is. "Ofsted said that they had helped dramatically improve ICT at the school" How? I'd quite like to see the exact wording from the report as I'm curious as to how a fancy desk can improve ICT in isolation beyond the fact that it's also a desk. "We haven't had any stolen as they are too difficult to take apart" Does this not hinder maintenance and moving options? Do you get a discount for posting nice things in relevance places? Unit cost per station without computer and monitor?
JonCarthy Posted October 20, 2009 Author Posted October 20, 2009 I pleased you are so happy DMcCoy. I'll address your points in turn After a particularly bad mention in our previous ofsted, our new suite was given particular attention in the letter published to pupils. Why would I need to move a suite design that had been carefully planned? Any maintainance, e.g. PAT testing on equipment etc. is done through lockable access hatches. I would love to get a discount for my school (as we all would under best value practice and FMSiS), but why lie about a product just to get it? If the product and/or service was no good, why would I want more of it? I couldn't tell you what the cost is per station without the computer/monitor as that is not how they are ordered. I hope that this helps you - have a great evening
synaesthesia Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Worth noting that upgrade paths are next to non existent, they'll struggle with anything particularly taxing for a basic PC. Within a few years not only do you have obsolete computers but furniture to go with it. Oh, and short of the cable coming out of the back, why would any PAT tester need to look at the stuff inside? Don't like to be negative, but all the pro's and con's need weighing out for people. Is the extra cost worth it in the long run?
tmcd35 Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 All this and still no costs? I've come to the conclusion, as with most things of this nature, if you have to ask the price - you can't afford. I don't think this'll be something I'd be able to afford to introduce here!
torledo Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 I've come to the conclusion, as with most things of this nature, if you have to ask the price - you can't afford. I don't think this'll be something I'd be able to afford to introduce here! what's involved in making a basic desk or work surface ? some sheets of MDF, some table legs [price depending on budget] appropriate equipment ie band saw[depending on size of materials], jigsaw, routers[possibly], power drills, measuring tools. Plus some sheets of laminate and those large plastic crocodile clip type things to set the laminate in place. Plus appropariate joinery skills [not necessarily mastercraftsman]. The amount you'd save if you had or could get in what was required to do all that in-house, would allow you to spend the rest of the budget on a really nice suite of all-in-ones like the sony vaio or the apple imac. just a thought. not saying you could afford either option.
mac_shinobi Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 I've come to the conclusion, as with most things of this nature, if you have to ask the price - you can't afford. I don't think this'll be something I'd be able to afford to introduce here! Yea I was just thinking that, also thinking apple might not be too happy about the trade name / mark of an i-desk Reminded me when I was looking at the buggati veyron web site, you can configure one but they don't show you the price ( at least not that I have seen as I may of missed it ) bugatti.com - Veyron 16.4
torledo Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 The perception from staff is that it give a fresh clean and more spacious environment in which students are much more relaxed primarily because there is much more space to move around the classroom doesn't look from those first set of photos that there's much room for the kids to stretch their legs with that installation in the centre of the room ? I bet that one cost a pretty penny didn't it ?
localzuk Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 Seems like a bizarre idea - cramming everything into a small case like that, with limited cooling. What it effectively does is either limit you to low heat devices (lowering the max spec available), force you to install lots of fans for cooling, or put extra stress on the CPU etc... due to a higher ambient temperature (causing a quicker fail rate). Would the OP care to post the specs of these machines, and how long their warranty lasts? Add in the fact that you are now tied to that company for replacements and future upgrades, and it seems like, from a financial point of view, a poor option. What's wrong with all in one PC's? There are loads of manufacturers of them, with varying sizes of design (to allow for top of the range hi-spec components, down to super thin super low power devices).
K.C.Leblanc Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 We got some quotes for I-Desks, they were about a grand per seat.
tmcd35 Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 We got some quotes for I-Desks, they were about a grand per seat. 'nuff said! Should I guess the spec (Celeron, 512mb, etc)?
Ric_ Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 We got some quotes for I-Desks, they were about a grand per seat. Not cheap compared to a solution from ISIS Concepts that lets you use whatever hardware you desire (at approx. £500 per seat plus computer costs).
sted Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) while i dont like them much they are upgradable you just remove the "cartridge" and its all standard micro atx inside so a new matx board/chip/ram and away you go (as long as its not too tall) and if the cartrudge you have dosent have a 5 1/4 drive hole tough luck if you want a dvd/cd/blueray/card reader last lot i had were passively cooled with a big low profile heatsink on cpu and ram with a huge heatshield. Spec was ok iirc dual core 2gb ram enough hard drive. I just wonder about long term reliability i have had 4 so far with duff ram (and thats obviously duff i need to test them all one day) I still think you wouild arguably get more space by shoving the pc against the wall and bringing the power switch/usb/audio onto a desk panel i can think of lot of ways to make them better bigger openng to get to cables so 3" or so at the back hinges and locks, power button not small and hidden in a recess, allow the monitor arm to tilt forward as well as sideways (ive had to wire up a 19" tft infront of the normal screen for a visually impaired child), move the usb sockets from a cheap looking orange block on the monitor stalk to the desk itself either a nice panel or just a decent sized vertical groove where drives can be plugged in and dosent look like an afterthought. infact for teh cost personally id cable laptops to the desk so the desk can be completely cleared as needed and it still wouldnt cost as much and id have a portable computer as well Edited October 21, 2009 by sted
british-wave Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 All I desks are made with a 26mm moisture resistant MDF with a melomime finish with edging strip. This is machined on CNC machines. The legs and chassis are powder coated. Add that to the fact that they come and install the desks think of the time saving alone on producing it. Also I have not seen an "inhouse solution" that is of the grade you are proposing. Add in the maintenance of a £500,000 CNC machine and its milling bits I can see that the solution is very reasonable. As for the post about cramming everything into a small case. There is more space inside one of these cases than in a laptop or for example or a HP DC7700 DC7900. We have had no problems with ours and I did speak to other people who have had Idesk installs done, one of which had done an in house upgrade. The components inside are standard PC parts. Nothing bespoke about them except the case that it sits in. The furniture stays the same. Specification wise Intel Dual Core e5200 2x 2.5 2M 800MHz 45nm Hard Drive 160GB SATA2 Memory 2GB DDR 2 Ram 800Mhz Optical Drive - CD-Writer / DVD Reader "Storage Card Reader 3.5"" Internal" As for some of the people who are wanting a solution of a higher spec or want to do major graphics rendering etc etc dont be cheap skates spend the £££ on the spec. Tell I desk what you want and they can accomodate with a higher spec motherboard (the motherboards in ours are ASUS) or they can fit a graphics card solution. You tell them what you want they will supply a solution. As has been said before you get what you pay for. They can provide a Mac solution although this is something we are currently not entertaining here. On the IRise solution on space for legs there is plenty or room. As I have said if you want to have a look at a solution contact Steve and he may be able to arrange a viewing at a school near you. The ISIS desk incroaches on space underneath the desk. Having tried the ISIS desk im only 5'7 I imediatly commented on the lack of space underneath we have some students well over 6' here. This was also the case for a few other we looked at. Hope this helps with some of the points raised.
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