[K12OSN] thin client laptops/Asus EEE

[Peter]

Will, my school is in the position of getting a grant every year of 12 
laptops. That *seems* fantastic until you start to try to manage all 
those machines. They're wireless too so I've opted not to use active 
directory b/c of the bandwidth and resulting frequent wifi disconnections.
But the only problem is not the software maintenance; laptops are 
horrible investments b/c they're so expensive to repair. We get dell 
latitude d600s and the hinges break and the keys get ripped off. The 
batteries run low and the kids lose their work. They break the security 
cables (or the laptop case). Teachers have to worry about all the 
laptops getting setup, charged, and returned before and after every 
class when they have a laptop cart. The time alone spent keeping track 
of and calling the technician is enough trouble without the actual cost 
of the technician.
I'm trying to move the school away from laptops to computers that are 
cheaper to replace/maintain. A replacment laptop keyboard is $100. A 
replacement desktop keyboard is $5. We're also looking at having 
designated computer classrooms and trying to buy furniture that will 
work well with that. One idea is change the classroom layout: a 
horseshoe layout with the monitors facing in allow a teacher to keep 
students attention (they're either facing in toward the teacher or out 
toward the computers)

but either way: good luck!
-peter

Rob Owens wrote:
> Personally I think getting a decent electrical system is a better 
> long-term investment than any computers you can buy.  That said, have 
> you actually added up the power requirements of a lab using thin client 
> hardware?  I use a few SYM1112 models from Symbio Technologies, and they 
> only use 6 watts of power.  So 30 of them would use the same electricity 
> as 2 or 3 light bulbs.  A 17" LCD monitor uses about 33 watts.
> 
> You could mount the server in another room, on a different electrical 
> circuit, if you really don't have enough juice to lab.
> 
> -Rob
> 
> 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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