[K12OSN] Any New K12LTSP deployments

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

On 01/17/2011 12:38 PM, Seema Ali wrote:
> My lab is a regular 30 student computers + 1 teacher computer.
> Normally I would agree with you, that $10 000 could upgrade a new lab,
> but our school district has restrictions on the types of computers we
> can purchase. We have a choice of 2 at a fixed price with upgrade
> options. =[
> Todd, right now the Canadian dollar is close to the Americain dollar,
> but I think the cost of our supplies is more. I haven't researched
> computer prices, but I know it is true for books. =]

The exchange rate of the US$ vs. the C$ is only loosely correlated to 
prices in Canada. When merchants see it to their advantage to keep 
prices high in Canada, as they did when the C$ hit historic lows circa 
2004 at C$0.63 to the US$, they'll take advantage of it. When the C$ 
started rising, things didn't necessarily get cheaper in Canada. Some 
things did but not everything.

Computers are a different story. There are huge regional differences in 
the U.S. and Canada for pricing. Toronto has a very competitive market 
for computer parts so even when the C$ was cheap, we could find things 
here for the same price or better than the U.S. in many cases. Check out 
ncix.com. They're a BC-based retailer that has moved into the Toronto 
market. You have to shop carefully because their prices aren't uniformly 
competitive. <http://pricecanada.com/> is a good place to compare 
Canadian prices, though it's by no means exhaustive for a place like 
Toronto where we have many small shops selling computer gear.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326