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My Lovely People, I work in a school. We have 13 laptop trolleys all holding 15 laptops each. We have an issue with students pulling keys off the keyboard and damage to the casing of each laptop and the chargers. I've tried to roll out documentation (Spreadsheet with four columns 'Laptop Name', 'Student Name', 'Checked in/out' and 'Damage/Issues') for Teachers and other members of staff to fill out when laptops are handed out but it never gets filled in. Although to me this would be classroom management issue it's fallen on good old IT support to find and roll out a solution. Has anyone implemented anything similar to this and had results?

We have received a letter from Ergo, who provided laptops and a trolley to us a few years ago. The HSE has issued a statement regarding laptop trolleys and their lack of CE marks. HSE - Services - Education ? Information sources / Guidance - Laptop computer charging trolleys safety alert Ergo outlined the issues to us in a letter dated the 10th of October. Firstly the trolleys do not have a CE mark, which doesn't necessarily make them unsafe but without assurances from the manufacturer, they represent an unquantifiable risk. Secondly there is a concern raised about the residual voltage on the pins of the plug which could cause a shock. Thirdly there is a risk of damage to the power cables (being run over for example) which is a particular risk on trolleys using more than one cable. Lastly the HSE requires all none CE approved trolleys to be operated with earth leakage trips either on the disboard, or the mains plug itself. Ergos full response is here… http://www.ergo.co.uk/pdf/trolleys/ergoPDFletter.pdf Ergo today have sent us a compliance pack, which is basically some cable tidy to wrap around the trolleys cables so they are kept together, and some signs warning of potential dangers. They also advise that all staff are trained in the proper use of the trolley (ie. switch off the plug before unplugging it). I suspect this all comes from the guy in Bradford who got zapped last Christmas. Anyone else been contacted? Do you think this is a little over the top, or perhaps an accident waiting to happen?

Hi all Does anyone know where I can get replacement keys for Keep It Secure trolleys? I can't see any website any more for Keep It Secure and only a few links for their products. I know that most of those types of locks use standard keys. Doesn't anyone know whether there are template keys that will work? Olly

Hi Guys Thought I'd just pick your brains. We are looking for a box or bag designed to carry iPad's about without them getting smashed and trashed. The box is only needed for the staff/students to carry the iPad's between classrooms and the iPad charging trolley. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have come across these TheCaseProject: Multi IPAD cases but they look on the expensive side and a little overkill as we don't need the charging feature, though the foam inserts do look like the kind of thing I am looking for. Alternatively, does anyone have any ideas on how easy it is to get custom foam inserts made for a regular plastic storage tub? I'd be curios to see how you've gone about solving this problem in your establishments, too. Cheers for any input.

Hi All If you have any Lap/tabcabby trolleys in your school, have you ever tried to lock the side access doors where the power cables go in to? If so how? I'm absolutely fed up of having to chase missing power supplies for laptops and tablets that staff remove and never put back. I've always been surprised that they don't come with a locking mechanism for the side doors, as I can't imagine many places want staff or students interfering with the power cables and chargers.

Hi All, What problems have you encountered with security of your laptop trolleys? Has anybody had any good ideas or implemented any in-house solutions of any kind for security of your laptop trolleys? We have several trolleys that are of an older design. They are Bretford trolleys. They don't have any kind of in-built lock, only a staple part that you fit a padlock through to secure them. We seem to have nothing but problems with securing the units. We have setup padlocks time and time again. We've setup padlocks with keys. Either the key gets lost or the padlock itself goes missing. We have setup padlocks with a combination lock on. But either staff 'accidentally' change the combination, the students get to know what the code is - even when we change it on a regular basis. Or the padlock goes missing. All of these problems result in the the trolley being unsecured. This is causing us a big headache and IMHO isn't even an IT problem. But to be honest I'm out of ideas now on this topic and wondered the the rest of the IT community thought? Regards, Mark.

I know this question has probably been asked before but can anyone tell me how they keep their laptops up to date with WSUS?! I have many members of staff who don't use the laptops as they are 'too slow' to get going. This is just as much down to the age of the laptops as it is windows updates though. I am in the process of researching new laptops (which will probably be SSD) as well as new laptop trolleys. Has anyone used anything like these uplinks to keep laptops updated? LapCabby Plus - LapCabby I was wondering whether they actually work, as they claim to update the laptops overnight via the inbuilt gigabit switches... Surely they would have to be able to wake the laptops which will be stored (lid closed) in the trolley overnight. WSUS is fussy at the best of times so seems like a stretch too far to think it would be able to do it this way! Just wanting to hear peoples opinions, especially as the uplinked trolleys would cost around £2500!!!

Hi there. I am trying to find a decent laptop trolley to hold at least 6 laptops. I have had laptop trolleys in the past. They were all really well thought out apart from the bit about what you do with the long cables and power supply whilst the laptops are in the trolley charging. What I want is something that will perhaps have a seperate space for the power brick and maybe a system that would allow me to do away with the kettle lead part of the power supply equipment. I would also like a trolley which allows me to easily remove the power supplies from the trolley when they are needed on the desk. Does such a trolley exist. What are your experiences and do you have any recommendations. Thanks in advance for any help. Ed