[K12OSN] thin client laptops/Asus EEE

["Terrell Prudé Jr."]

And let's also add that the 54Mb/sec available with 802.11g is *shared*
among all the wireless devices that associate with that wireless access
point.  Translation:  HUB.  Very bad for LTSP.

If you need to go cheap, go for the MicroClient Jr SX from Norhtec
(http://www.norhtec.com).  They're something like US $85 a pop.  Not
blazing fast video, but it works.  Low power, too, and even mounts on
the back of an LCD monitor.

If you need to go *really* cheap, then get some older Pentium II or III
computers that PXE-boot, and simply pull out the hard drives.  Companies
are *dying* to get rid of these and will happily "unload" them to you. 
HP Vectra VL400's are good choices.  Then, gradually replace them with
MicroClients or something similar as time goes on.

--TP
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James P. Kinney III wrote:
> Ugh.
> Laptops require power, too. And unlike cheap desktops, laptops will
> require new batteries every year or so. So there is a constant repair
> process of $50/year/machine.
>
> Laptop carts are mostly designed to park laptops when not in use. If
> they aren't in use, why have them at all?
>
> Save yourself the headache and buy designed thin clients machines
> (small, lo cost, no moving parts, no Microsoft tax) and upgrade the
> power with the savings in not getting M$ Office (and all the upgrades it
> takes to run it in both software and hardware).
>
> Thin clients can use wireless but not K12LTSP in the default setup. To
> date, there is no way to do PXE boot over a wireless network so don't
> plan on going that route. You can use a flash drive for a base Linux
> system that supports wireless and then remote access X for the real
> stuff but you WILL have bandwidth issues. You could do the whole freeNX
> thing and do a compressed data stream but you will still have network
> security issues. 
>
> Do you _really_ want kids wandering around with the computers?
>
> The Asus EeePC can connect to a remote X session just fine. The battery
> issue will still get you in about a year.
>
> Wireless is a myth. All electrical devices are tethered by a wire at
> some point. Wires are cheap and easy to use and maintain. A 24 port
> switch is under $100. You can't GET 20 students using a wireless access
> point with any usable bandwidth for less than $500. 802.11g is 51Mb/s.
> The cheap wire connections are 100Mb/s and don't care about the concrete
> walls dropping you bandwidth down to 2Mb/s (split between 12 people!).
>
> Wireless will not make heroes!
> On Wed, 2008-04-02 at 12:13 -0400, Will Hatch wrote:
>   
>> Our school is at a juncture where we have to decide between upgrading
>> the electrical system so it can handle a permanent computer lab, or go
>> with laptops of some kind that run off of a cart.  The principle wants
>> to go with the laptops because of cost.  I priced out a couple
>> different models of Dell, that would run Windows XP, and would coexist
>> with our Windows 2003 server.  But the cost is still more than we
>> probably want to spend.  Wireless is a must.  
>>
>> I set up a k12ltsp network a few years back with good success.  But I
>> used desktop hardware and ethernet.  I am wondering how wireless works
>> with k12ltsp, and if there is a recommended make/model of inexpensive
>> laptop that will do the job.  Has anybody successfully set this up
>> with the Asus EEE?  Thanks for any help/suggestions.
>>
>> -Will
>>
>> *********************************** 
>>
>>     
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