[SGVLUG] Still shopping for school computers

[DYN: Jim Workman]

My wife teaches at a middle school, and wanted computers for her
students to do word processing & research.  We got 4 donated laptops
plus a refurbished switch from Frys for $8.  Based on her classroom, the
space for separate desktop, monitor, and cables would be prohibitive.

I put Open Office on the ones without MS Office and changed the default
file formats to be compatible with XP .doc & .xls.  I am putting Xubuntu
on one of the older laptops, but have not delivered it yet.

I highly recommend laptops over nettops.  For the current difference in
price, you may save money by putting two laptops per room with ~5 on
your rolling cart for special occasions.  Also laptops can be used at a
student's desk.  BTW, the extra laptops could be used in the library
when they are not checked out.

Most people don't see the need to switch from MS on moral grounds.  (or
for Mac proponents, theological grounds;-)  I agree that it is easier to
start with Open Source applications to avoid licensing charges.  There
is probably not a substantial saving between MS and Linux on new Dells.

Jim Workman

-----Original Message-----
From: sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net [mailto:sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net] On
Behalf Of Dan Kegel
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 3:08 AM
To: SGVLUG Discussion List.
Subject: [SGVLUG] Still shopping for school computers

[More notes, mostly for myself]

I'm still poking at which computers a new charter school
in LA should get.  They are considering either four
desktops in each of five classrooms, or a cart with
twenty or so laptops on it that they can wheel from
room to room.  After some looking around, I came back
to their Ubuntu computer page:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=e
n&s=dhs

For $279, they have the Mini 9n nettop:
 Atom N270 (1.6GHz/512K cache)
 Ubuntu Linux version 8.04.1
 4GB4 Solid State Drive
 1GB2 DDR2 at 533MHz
passmark score: 306 (see http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php )
Weight: 2.3 lbs

For $349, they have the Inspiron 15n laptop:
 Celeron M 585 (1MB cache/2.16GHz)
 2GB RAM
 160GB1 SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
 Ubuntu Desktop Edition version 8.10
passmark of a Celeron M 1.86GHz is 453, so this one's probably ~500)
+$25 for a T4200, with passmark score of 1200
Weight: 5.8 lbs

For $378, they have the Inspiron 350n desktop:
 Dual-core Pentium E5200 (2MB L2, 2.5GHz)
 2GB RAM
 320GB1 Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
 17" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
 Ubuntu 8.04 with DVD Playback
passmark: 1611

The 2.3lb nettop sounds great for kids, but is probably too slow.
I wonder if kids will be able to lug those 6lb laptops from the
cart without breaking them...

Also, the desktops would be easier to set up for reimaging
via pxe netbooting.  (The laptops would have to be carried to
an ethernet jack to netboot, I think.)

It seems unlikely I'll be able to convince anyone to use
Linux, but they're willing to consider OpenOffice -- though
they'd never heard of it, and wanted to know what it costs :-)
- Dan