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Topic: Hewlett-Packard

Time for some new teacher laptops

Summary: I just got my budget for next year and, while it's meager as always (especially since I have some new sizable lease payments to take care of), it looks as though I can finally begin refreshing teacher laptops. This begs the question, though, what kind of laptops should I buy?

Christopher Dawson

By for ZDNet Education |

I just got my budget for next year and, while it's meager as always (especially since I have some new sizable lease payments to take care of), it looks as though I can finally begin refreshing teacher laptops. This begs the question, though, what kind of laptops should I buy?

I've had good luck with the HP products we purchased last year for our big tech refresh and their prices are highly competitive. I really like my own laptop as well (a giant HP Pavilion), although it's more of a consumer model. However, with laptop prices continuing to drop, there is far less pricing differentiation between the major vendors. Even Lenovo has gotten more reasonable.

I know what I don't want:

  • Glossy screens are the work of the devil. They smudge, glare and otherwise drive me nuts. Business-oriented models tend to have them as options, although they are becoming increasingly common as standard features.
  • 17" screens. I love my giant screen and use it for small presentations, multitasking, etc., and it allows me to have a numeric keypad on my full-sized keyboard. The weight of a 17" laptop, however, is unacceptable for the majority of users, especially since most of us move around the building and take our computers home every night. Besides, 19" LCDs are so cheap now that a second monitor attached to a smaller laptop would be much more useful
  • Glossy finishes: we teachers tend to be pretty hard on our equipment. The glossy finishes that companies like HP and Apple think are super spiffy just end up scratched and smudged
  • Eraser head pointing devices. I finally have most of my users convinced that they can use a trackpad instead of a mouse. Eraser heads (at least without the option of a trackpad in addition) would drive them to drink.
  • Apples: my users (with about 2 exceptions) would form an angry mob and lynch me.

So where does that leave me? Dell has some nice offerings, but my experiences with their customer service lately has left something to be desired. HP has aggressive pricing, but there are lots of other options. Lenovo still has arguably the best keyboards in the industry. Acers are just plain cheap. Toshiba? Sony? (I have a little vocal group of users that think Sony's are the be all to end all. Are they right?) Whitebooks? Fujitsu?

Where have you had experiences with solid, reliable, and affordable portables?

Topics: Hewlett-Packard, Laptops

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21 comments
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  • It comes down to...

    In terms of your budget, what is the maximum are you willing to expense dollar-wise on a Laptop?

    That dictates what can be recommended based on your feature requirements.
    D T Schmitz
    Reply Vote

    • $1000

      I can go about $1000 a head - 3 years ago we spent about $1100/teacher (one heck of a price cut from Dell then for P4s) and they've served us pretty well.

      What do you think?

      cad
      mrdatahs
      Reply Vote

      • For a refurbished Dell...

        ... you'll have a difficult time finding a way to spend that much, even without an additional educational discount.

        The customer service has been improved; the aggravations were costing Dell money.

        What software other than Office were you including?
        Anton Philidor
        Reply Vote

        • Dell service improved? On what planet??

          My last call to Dell ended up being four calls, since I hadn't a prayer of understanding the first three techs I got on the phone. I don't mean to disparage their skills, but I really don't know if they have any. I'm mono-linguistic myself, and I applaud anyone who can master a second language, but mastering includes assimilating a reasonable imitation of a language's accents and pronunciations. Sorry, but Dell outsourced, then changed their mind (based on complaints) and brought service back "home"; now, presumably for the almighty dollar, they're outsourcing again. NO DELL FOR ME!
          macbill
          Reply Vote

    • Are you restricted from buying AMD products?

      nt
      D T Schmitz
      Reply Vote

      • AMD is peachy...

        eom
        mrdatahs
        Reply Vote

  • The intimidation necessary to compel trackpad use...

    ... is a felony in most states. Instead of forcing people to buy their own mice and hide them from you, acknowledge that the trackpad is a worthless aggravation, apologize, and assure that whatever you purchase will come entirely without a trackpad because they only rouse old feelings of righteous wrath.
    Anton Philidor
    Reply Vote

    • Sorry to hear of your handicap.

      Are you limited in other areas of computer usage as well? Is "qwerty" a challenge for you? Get a grip and learn how to use a laptop. A "portable" computer with umbilicals is a joke.
      macbill
      Reply Vote

  • Too bad about the Apple comment

    Oh dear, more Apple bashing - I thought that went away along with 90s Grunge Rock.

    Intel architecture and with the release of OSX Leopard, I can run Windows XP/Vista, non-emulation. Got my cake and eating it too...

    Plus the 13" Macbooks are more compact and lighter than a Mead spiral notebook.

    Time to educate your co-workers...
    DrByte
    Reply Vote

    • Not apple-bashing...

      just the truth. Technically superior or not (and that is, as always, up for debate), my users absolutely don't want them. If I'm going to shove something other than XP/Vista down their throats, it's going to be open source. I wouldn't even do that, though, at this point since Windows satisfies both their needs and desires and integrates with my existing network infrastructure (not that Linux or OSX wouldn't integrate, too, but no sense rocking the boat too hard at this point).

      cad
      mrdatahs
      Reply Vote

      • Shove something...

        You must know all of the teachers you serve very well. My school district administration and technology department have similar regard for our teachers. The problem is that some teachers feel that Windows has been shoved down our throats. A reasonable approach is to offer teachers a choice about the kind of tool they prefer to use to do their job of educating students. Technology departments should provide the support so that teachers can be more productive and help students achieve more. Apple laptops should be included as an option.
        remark01
        Reply Vote

    • A(for Apple)men!

      I was going to comment that it's a shame that only two of his teachers are intelligent, informed, and aware of true value...but now I don't have to. Give me an Apple anytime over this piece of Dell junk that I have to haul around (because my district hasn't a clue about real value and honest TCO).
      macbill
      Reply Vote

  • HP vs ...

    The district I work in did a deal with Compaq/HP a few years ago and it left a very bad taste in my mouth, as well as other teachers. So, when I enrolled in an online Master's course, a new laptop was in order. I bought a Toshiba Satellite and ran the wheels off of it for over 3 years. I'm talking an easy 12 to 18 hours a day and it performed beautifully. I do have to admit to killing the hard drive late in year 3 and Best Buy backed me up with their warranty. Lost a bunch of data, but got a new drive.
    Bottom line - osts of respect for Toshiba.Too bad the district won't allow purchases of anything other than HP.
    diligente
    Reply Vote

  • Maybe depends on the digital projectors

    My college just cut a deal for new Dell desktops, along with the installation of Dell digital projectors. From my experience using my personal Dell laptop, it is a welcome pleasure to be able to just physically connect both laptop and projector and have the two units automatically recognize and shake hands with each other. I don't have to do a thing other than turn on the projector. Such was not the case with my HP laptop. So, I advise to opt for the convenience.
    professordnm
    Reply Vote

  • Get a tablet

    IMHO, this is the way to go. In order to get an affordable one, you will probably have to get a slower one than a regular notebook, but it's the absolute best way to give presentations in class because you can annotate everything in real time and save those annotations with the presentations. Oh, and anything bigger than a 12-inch screen really starts getting heavy quickly when in tablet (ink) mode.
    cd2_z
    Reply Vote

  • Tablets For Teachers

    I totally agree with the last comment. Numerous teachers in our district - particularly math/science, use tablets to present information and provide student solution.
    I really wonder why they haven't made the tablet more of an option - or necessity - on all laptops. Once you get used to pointing and clicking on what you want to do, it's hard to go back to moving a mouse to navigate on a screen somewhere distant from it.
    A teacher coupled with a tablet and a program like Camtasia can provide incredible lessons or homework solutions for their students to watch on the web or download to their favourite video viewer.
    pat.presidente@...
    Reply Vote

    • Agreed

      To be perfectly honest, Windows Tablet interface is really nice and is well-suited to an educational environment.

      Wish Linux did a better job of supporting it.

      A 'no-brainer'.
      D T Schmitz
      Reply Vote

  • Why would a teacher need anything different...

    ...from any other profession? I agree with you "don't gets" however.

    http://www.nelsonguirado.com/index.php/techreviews/2007/07/14/teacher_laptop_recommendations_which_one_1
    nguirado@...
    Reply Vote

  • tablet: look at apps too

    Tablets will open the door to interesting teaching and learning solutions.

    Check out SnapKast at http://snapkast.com

    SnapKast was designed by a team of educators and computer scientists originally at Rutgers University with a focus on teaching and learning tools.

    Open a PowerPoint file in SnapKast, record your slides, whiteboard, voice, and annotations from a mouse, tablet or intelligent whiteboard pen. MP3 audio and MPEG-4 video files are created from the recording session for sharing with others. You may also create a full RSS feed with one or more of your sessions -- this payload can be published to any web site hosting podcasts, even iTunes U.

    SnapKast session sample sessions can be found on http://snapkast.com and http://snapkast.com/uses.html

    Free demo version: http://snapkast.com/demo.html
    zdnet@...
    Reply Vote

  • One thing you DO (or SHOULD) want ...

    ... on those new laptops is high resolution! 1024x768 is way too small for laptops these days. Many users keep two or three windows open at once and there is a lot of web-based material that takes up the whole screen at 1024x768.

    My recommendation? A 14" or 15" screen that is at least 1280 pixels wide and perhaps as wide as 1400. (Dell makes a decent 1400x1050 screen.)
    M Wagner
    Reply Vote
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