mthomas08

@Arthur, great research Although are you not paying for the tag "HP", what if you did a comparison with some one like NovaTech. That does seem a high price for a PC and even alienware doesnt get that high unless its a laptop. Maybe I just don't go completely all out on the spending. I am not afraid to admit MACs are more reliable and do turn on and away you go very quickly (almost instant) compared to a PC. Then on the other hand if we all switched over to MACs exactly how long till we have serious problems occuring with them? Comparing to our MACs we have had for a year and 5 months and PCs we have had for that length of time, we have had same amount of issues really. The PCs we purchased last year are for basic use "Internet, Office" and they have been far more reliable then other PCs which have a load of things installed and have fancy cards in them. Personally I just wouldnt spend so much on a PC let alone a MAC, when I go home I dont want to worry about dual boot, I want to turn on and everything be able to work that I ever need to install. Work wise I have yet to see the benefit except the fact that its a turn on and get on with it. In fact some of our staff who are in control of the MACs like that little bit of power and the people who seem to like MACs are not usually IT people. If I am wrong then so be it but that is my experience but I am only 27.

I wonder is that PDF got an updated version? 1 tech per 150 pcs on reliable and 1 per 50 on non reliable is mental. Here we have 3 vs 800+ reliable and in fact getting rid of our NVQ techs actually helped things because they got fixed by qualified staff and not some little student who wants to play cannon fodder

Chucked in the other one

Sshhhhh Dont say that, we could end up having a dishwasher that needs updating!!! Want to use your kettel? please update the firmware!!!!....

It's just what I am being told, I am not a MAC lover at all. Would be much happier if they were banned from the "Work" sector and for personal use only.

Sad to say but totally agree, remember the start of the Wayne Rooney SAGA. He apparently gave commitment to Everton till United put the offer on the table. He then showed United the same Loyalty when he wanted out, he didnt stay for loyalty he stayed for the money.... They are footballers, they earn a lot, cheered by millions when they do well, they have to be physically fit and they go out with Wags. Why should they care about being loyal?.......

Glad you all know these details.

So video editing? and the fact it does what it says on the box. Plug it in, switch it on and away you go (pretty quickly too), still a lot of money for that, I know the OS is more reliable then MAC but as I mentioned before Windows has to be compatible with everything.

I am being told the graphic design software is second to none. The version that MAC offers is much better then versions available for windows. I too am very scepticle on this but thats what I am being told, I have used MAC for playing around and still could not see the difference from MAC version to PC.

Must say some interesting arguements, good thing about Mac is simply a few things. It is much more stable then windows but then thats due to the fact Windows you can do much more and much more compatibility options. It has had to tighten security because 90% of the worlds hackers love to go against Microsoft. That straight away means microsoft spend a lot of time securing their product. Macs do look pretty, we have one here and every person who spots it "Wow, Can I get one". That really does sum up for me as a MAC, its a pretty little box for a professional at Arts. It will also be personal preference, are you liking MAC because of MAC or is it because you hate Microsoft. I am sure if the world was MAC we would be swearing much more, I have been working with both and will always discourage people getting MACs unless you want to use it for simple things. I know some one who got a MAC for her photography art and she is brilliant with it, it works, no problems, no glitches but was it worth her spending a lot of money just for MSN, Internet and photoshop? Our Music DEPT got a class full a year ago and only 1 month ago they actually started working properly, (lack of communication from Music Dept + the guy who set them up was an idiot - mac lover as well). As of now, they are good, they seem to be working well but I will admit it was down to the MAC Idiot who was not Tech Savvy. Maybe that is half the problem, Mac lovers do not seem to be tech know how, they seem to be the typical lover "Its the best no matter what". After using Mac and PC, I would rather use PC but then MACs certainly do have a few good things (not many).

Oh dear, you have my sympathy... We were among the group of BSF to be started just before the government came along and scrapped it. Are we glad? Oh yes. Our head was trying to just get the new "stuff" and keep us on site, he then found out he can opt out of that but no one told him (he found out secretly on the hush hush). He hated the idea of paying per user basis, especially when he likes to accept students all the time. Also he wanted the IT Support side of things kept as they were, we have a quick response time on 95% of problems. Usually instant on the remote support problems as well (as soon as job reported its done). He knows he will not get that with an outsource IT support, plus he loses more control over the ICT system. As for the job, I would start looking else where, what they fail to mention is in about 2-3 years time your job is reviewed. They only have to keep you on for a "length" of time, I believe it is 3 years. I might be wrong on that one though. I even remember some one posting on here telling people the facts of it all and he named and shamed the company, 1 day later he was given the boot.

I am going to ask around to our local Frog schools to see how they got through it, I would rather not add to my manual daily routine. Main reason why I have time on my hands is because I get rid of these routines and get things permanently working (although things still go wrong). As for Frog BETT, I will be one of those goody bag people, I already have a collection and it will be good as onsite promoting and getting the attention of students to have the goodies

I would agree there. Do not get me wrong, I know whats good about MACs for specialist software its fantastic and requires no work, plug it in and it works. MACs are not flexible enough in my book, even the guy I work with loves MACs but when doing IT side of things I still see him swear a lot On hthe other hand its just like Marmite, you love em or you hate em and the arguement over MACs will probably last till the end of timmeeeeee

Some one had to! And for the 1st time its me!

Not PC as such but I hate one thing. MACS

I would agree there but then secrets were much easier to keep back in those days where as today anything and everything is broadcasted. Just have to remember coppers are just like us, real normal people. They are not perfect, they didnt have perfect upbringing or backgrounds, only real difference is they wear uniforms and they are supposed to be the law which is ego boosting.

Worked for me

must admit, an easy one for me. I would stay in the current job and mention it to the boss that I am currently looking for other jobs due to finances. Is there extra responsibility that you can take on to help you get promoted? paid more? Some times its best to keep a technician along who knows the system and is able to grow, then it is to get some one who doesnt know much for a low pay. Are you able to get promoted at all? It happened here to me, I was just a techy and the previous NM left so I had to learn. One year later the System Officer left and we got a new guy in. Between me and this New guy we really have made this system in to something special, not only does it work but we got computers, equipment every where and it works well. So I guess in a way, make your self worth keeping perhaps? Or just simply stay there until you find something safer and better? try and learn more?

Afraid I must agree because of that last statement, was going to let him off but because he argued thats it. Now if he is breaking the law technically he should be arrested but if he is being booked just because he argued then thats something else. Personally I see nothing wrong in telling some one to slow down to avoid a penalty, I had some one do it to me near Guildford now I was already going the right speed but the driver did it anyway. Is it really breaking the law when you flash a car that was already going the correct speed? when technically there is nothing wrong with that. Problem is lets face it, they pulled him in because he argued not because of what he actually did. Its like a night out, theres nothing wrong with getting drunk but when an officer tells you to keep it down and you argue saying your not being loud and they pull you in. I have to say but it sounds like a typical American Sheriff from a small town who treats it like his own house. But then this country is getting too fussy.

Funnily enough we did this here about 5 years ago, now the questions were best answered by a freshman out of Uni. We didnt actually employ him, we went for the one who did okay on the tests. We totally didnt regret the decision to take him on and has actually been a blessing. Some one experienced may not be so quick to answer questions spot on although would be able to do a range of things, some one fresh out of uni would probably do the questions in record time. Just a FYI for you. Must admit, I am surprised at your practical choices ;-)

My nephew followed his father and supports Liverpool. You can imagine the words I got when Liverpool stuffed United a while ago, life being Karma you can guess what I say to them now

Very useful to see all these posts about Frog, we are seriously interested and nice to see that it is not a perfect product. I guess the big boost is, its constantly being developed. If people are still having problems, hopefully you can say

Sorry to bring this thread back to the front but were any of these issues fixed? I noticed this post is some months old! We are looking at frog and really want it by April, have a gov meeting in 2 weeks to persuade them. At the moment we have Year7 on the year they started then username so 06BobsYourUncle but yr12+ are BobsY. So does that mean I will have to alter their usernames? does sims still do some kind of over write? we are aiming to pretty much go for everything. Secure/Parent gateway etc, we have AD for the link and really hope to have little issues.

Well we have made our mind up, problem to me seems is moodle would be more work? I will say what we want and what we might want in future. SecureGateway (this is remote access from home for students to access our system and do their work as if they were at college) - Our service provider EIS have a number of firewalls port blocking etc etc so we would have to go through them and get it setup. One school has already done this. Connection to SIMs and parent/staff access to their student details, attendance, lessons, subjects. Parents can see everything about their kids and only their own. Staff can issue work, mark it, create online resource areas, upload anything. Media area, show videos, tutorials, recordings. Look and feel good, this has to be something that looks good, feels good and really does make a student feel like its their area. So in a way their own social site but with us in control. Frog does all the above with little work, minus SecureGateway which is a bit of work for me. The default template can easily be altered - this is important because I want some DEPT staff doing their own department pages. Now I know Moodle can do anything but what we got worried about was the amount of work required, it has taken us 4/5 years for our current VLE to be up to scratch but only the guy who made it can do anything with it. It is all SQL based. Frog basics can be easily done by anyone with little training and thats why I like it. All the core of creating APPs I know will be hard I know and a lot of work too. Not really after a comparison of moodle/frog but if people are using moodle that they purchased roughly what was the cost and time? As for Frog, as I mentioned: Have already used the demo site and know pretty much everything, seen the creation side and the modify side. So in a way its already won me over, also noticed the other vote thread where frog came second. So I guess I am after people who have frog, would they leave it? anything I should know which people would rather I not know? Thanks for your replys already, all the info I can get is great. I know frog is not that old and I also know one of the first frog schools in kent (not sure if they were the actual first or not).

Happy new year everyone, hope we had a great Xmas and break. For those who got one! Right, FROG, this is something we have been highly interested and have looked around and really does seem the best option. We looked at Moodle but in all honesty none of us have that kind of time and talent. For those who are using frog can you tell me, what you use it for, how well it does it and are you happy with the product and support. Also have you created any new *widgets or apps for it etc and again what are they? If there are any flaws again please say, we have a Gov meeting soon in about 2-3 weeks not long after BETT and we have seen the demo, used the demo and very impressed. So apart of this Gov meeting we are hoping to know as much as possible to persuade them to go for it. Personally I think FROG is something special and the ideas of it all is simply moodle style where "anything" can be done but with less know how. Any opinions on FROG is fine, ideas, so simply anything! Thank you