TheHyperTechie

Bambu labs (A1, A1 mini) is the go to really.

Yondr pouches appear to be "go to" for secondary schools near me.

Tamper proof asset labels which states "Property of ******" and damn, they really are tamper proof! I am learning this now (the hard way) - as we are looking at trading in some desktops. We also have a zebra label printer, that I sometimes use if a device needs to be more easily identifiable.

WMI might be corrupted - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/wmisdk/wmi-troubleshooting

Action1 is your friend here. Free for 200 endpoints, and will allow you to begin the management process of the devices e.g. manage updates, asset management, remote desktop, scripting, deploying apps. If you have a Google Workspace tenant already, I would look into GCPW, or if you would rather use Microsoft then Intune (but this route will be more costly than Google's). You will need one or the other to lock them down correctly, as Action1 is just an RMM tool. As @synaesthesia mentioned, you could look at Chrome OS flexing the laptops, I believe a license for this is currently ~£27 but it is a one off, and stays with the device until it is no longer in use. Staff could use the Google suite (docs, sheets, slides) which is free - even on the fundamentals tier. But first and foremost, I would be getting Action1 on them - just to see what I was dealing with.

To be fair, I had the same mindset - We spent a decent amount on a low-mid range set and it broke within a few months. Just very flimsy. Returned it and spent a bit more and it was 100% worth it.

Currently using my Apple Watch Gen 1 - love it! I am also a big fan of my "tactical" style watches Luminox, Traser, G-Shocks etc.

Easier to spin up a new DC promote it, and re-add all of the roles. Essentially high risk, low reward to in-place them.

All I would recommend, is getting an ISO fix swivel setup... emphasis on the swivel. Much easier to get them in/out of the car - and saves your back! edit - just realised you are discussing strollers/prams. However ^ my point still applies for a car seat! 🙂

I have always done the Security > API controls > App Access Control "way" to configure/block access to an app, and can't say I've ever had any issues.

I have always just stuck to the no DC and no SQL rule when it comes to in place upgrades. Never had any issues.

Have a look at the OpenIntuneBaseline on Github - very useful starting ground for covering the basics in Intune.

What is your budget for the laptops? As @DrCheese mentioned, in my experience Windows laptops for students never tend to be the best option. I remember at my last school we had 2 trollies of Lenovo's, and every day I was down at that trolley troubleshooting them. They were domain joined as well. If you insist on windows laptops, I would look at Stones range maybe the Edge-R. Trolley wise, I have always used Zioxi and have never had any issues. If you are open to chromebooks (imo far superior for student use) I would look at a 14" model, funnily enough - one of my suppliers sent me through a deal the other day. ASUS CXI4 14" chromebook, with AUE until 2035 for £110 a unit!

Glad its working!

I have to disagree (sorry!). I’ve seen countless scenarios where ChromeOS Flex has kept machines in a usable state for well over a year. I’ve even done it myself. With the current cost of RAM and desktops (even refurbished), a £30 one-off license fee is much more appealing than replacing an entire fleet. Personally, I’d wait for the AI bubble to burst (if and when it does) and for prices to return to normal. Most schools already have a Google Admin console, and setting up SSO between the two isn't very difficult.

I would say by looking at this information here, you need the full stop. You could test by adding .pdf, and then sending yourself one? this should rule it out.

Have a look at classroom cloud.

Do you have a helpdesk? We used to put all of this kind of info on our freshdesks site.

Completely agree. To be honest, the issue in question comes more from the MAT. I suppose they don't want to open themselves up to potential issues when they already have an SLA in place. The MSP would be open to it, as I know they support other schools/MATs and collaborate with the in-house teams on a closer level. But ultimately, it isn't their decision to make. As others have said, when you are a "Doer" it is frustrating having to wait hours for a print driver to be installed. I suppose, as you mentioned - it just creates a unnecessary "barrier" to workflow. I think the school finds it especially hard, as they have had an in house technician for nearly 15+ years.

The educational free tier has no limit on devices 🙂 https://school.mosyle.com/#:~:text=Pick between Free or the,Single Sign‑on

To be honest, not sure at the moment. I was the NM of our previous Trust, but we got absorbed by the new one, and they use an MSP so didn't really want my involvement! I am still the NM of the original school I started at, and retain access to and manage pretty much everything here...

I find this funny, as my current MAT (and their MSP) won't even let me have an admin account to their O365 tenant! I will pass this info onto them.

In my old Trust we used MDT heavily, as we were no where near migrating to Intune. Every summer I remember doing hundreds of PCs, I think at some point I started seeing the progress screen in my dreams! I wonder what they will do now - I suppose it could be a push to get everything shifted to the cloud.

I use an M3 Macbook Air. I love it, it's portable, super quick, and the battery life is just another level. I know it will be also be supported for a long time, considering the M1 air was released in 2020 and still receives updates. I mainly opted for mac as well as we have loads of iPads, so I can just use AC2 easily for restoring etc. Also iMovie is very useful!

I did exactly this, a few months into my role at my current school. 1. Didn't need AD anymore, all users using GCPW. 2. Didn't need a file server anymore, I migrated each on-site file share to Google Drive 3. Wanted to remove the server, so migrated our DNS and DHCP to our Juniper firewall via RM. 4. Printers were already handled through the cloud (Ricoh Cloud Print) so we didn't need a print server. It was a great decision, and meant that the school didn't need to fork out for a new server, and AC for the room. Just the licenses for GCPW which was about a fifth of what it would have cost if we went down the other route.