[Offtopic] DEECD Notebooks

Cameron Bell bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au
Mon Sep 3 14:34:21 EST 2007


I wonder about putting them on the book list instead of textbooks and 
buy a site license to the text-cd?
$400 over 3 years would probably be a cheaper option to what we do now.
Cheers
Cameron

Roland Gesthuizen wrote:
> Good thing Dan is that it would be relatively easy to reuse the 
> drivers by jumping to another Linux distribution. Thanks for the 
> wikipedia link .. say, even with the cost cutting .. they manage to 
> bundle a camera and microphone. Cool :-)
>
> Nice interview here with Mark Shuttleworth, the billionaire / 
> astronaut who is backing Ubuntu and discusses how he manages his very 
> busy life.
>      http://tinyurl.com/288xp3
>
> Regards Roland
>
> On 02/09/07, *Daniel Stefyn* <dstefyn at gmail.com 
> <mailto:dstefyn at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Interesting article.
>
>     This looks like the Asustek Eee_PC, set to use Xandros Linux.
>     Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eee_PC
>     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eee_PC>
>
>     Linux distribution aside (what benefit was there in choosing
>     Xandros anyway??), other reports indicate this laptop is getting
>     released in Australia as of this month (September). Any further
>     reports on this could get interesting.
>
>     More sources:
>     http://apcmag.com/6621/asus_eee_pc_to_be_released_in_australia_by_sept
>     <http://apcmag.com/6621/asus_eee_pc_to_be_released_in_australia_by_sept>
>     http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=756489&p=1
>     <http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=756489&p=1>
>
>
>     On 8/31/07, *Roland Gesthuizen* < rgesthuizen at gmail.com
>     <mailto:rgesthuizen at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         TinyURL blocked? (ROTFL)
>
>         Article attached. Not sure what flavour Linux the are using.
>         Ubuntu perhaps?
>
>         Regards Roland
>
>
>         On 31/08/2007, *Cameron Bell *
>         <bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au
>         <mailto:bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:
>
>             Heh heh, funny you should mention that. I have already
>             upped the RAM and
>             HDD on mine and will need to return it "as was".
>
>             I can't believe it, but our ISP has blocked tinyurl - I
>             assume you are
>             referring to the UMPC from Asustek?  We are most
>             definitely considering
>             using them. We were lead to believe that Acer was to  have
>             some
>             available this year for review and assessment, but that
>             has fallen
>             through so we await to see who is first on the market with
>             a UMPC. It
>             would be preferable to spend $200 on ICT access than
>             $1000+ per pair
>             with laptops.
>
>             Bet there will be lots of people who try to apply
>             laptop/desktop
>             methodology to them and reject them outright.
>             Cheers
>             Cameron
>
>             Roland Gesthuizen wrote:
>             > I did hear from one teacher that you just remove the HDD
>             and pop in a
>             > new one that is much larger (Say 120 Gb+)  Keep the old
>             HDD or use in
>             > a portable usb2 hdd box. This would set you back by
>             around $100. Of
>             > course you would need to replace everything at the end of
>             the laptop
>             > cycle and your new HDD would not be covered by the laptop
>             warranty.
>             >
>             > I notice that there are some super cheap laptops now out
>             that come
>             > with Linux for just a couple of hundred dollars. Imagine
>             if schools
>             > would consider using something like these as entry level
>             hardware for
>             > staff or students?
>             >       http://tinyurl.com/2f8v4z (Age news report)
>             >
>             > Regards Roland
>             >
>             > On 28/08/2007, *Cameron Bell* <
>             bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au
>             <mailto:bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au>
>             > <mailto: bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au
>             <mailto:bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au>>> wrote:
>             >
>             >     <disillusionment>
>             >     Is it just me or are you finding that the notebooks
>             DEECD lease are
>             >     struggling to keep up?
>             >     I have put a Gig of RAM in the R51 (up from default
>             512) I have and
>             >     because at any given time I am running a virtual box,
>             a remote desktop
>             >     session for admin, plus email plus online marking,
>             the thing is
>             >     having a
>             >     hernia. I don't even bother with Clickview videos.
>             >     I was thinking of getting a Macbook in the next
>             rollout, but I have
>             >     severe doubts that they would be any better,
>             especially given the
>             >     miniscule partition size you are left with if you
>             install XP as
>             >     well. (I
>             >     would need 3 partitions to take any advantage of
>             getting a Mac -
>             >     Ubuntu,
>             >     OSX and XP)
>             >
>             >     At  least in NSW teachers can lease the Macbook Pro.
>             Would be good
>             >     if we
>             >     at least had an option of getting a reasonably speccd
>             machine. Many
>             >     users wouldn't need it, but I reckon that if you
>             include all the
>             >     graphics teachers, multimedia, or other "power users"
>             (I hate that
>             >     term)
>             >     across the state, it could justify a choice.
>             >     Cheers
>             >     Cameron
>             >
>             >     </ disillusionment>
>             >
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>             >
>             > --
>             > Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary
>             College
>             > http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>             <http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au>
>             >
>             > "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
>             citizens can
>             > change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
>             > --Margaret Mead
>
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>
>
>         -- 
>         Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
>         http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
>         "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
>         citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing
>         that ever has." --Margaret Mead
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can 
> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." 
> --Margaret Mead 

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