The Ed Tech Project that started it all

- A Look at Size, Price and Features

Vic Jaras

The Ed Tech Project that started it all

• MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) announced plans to develop a $100 laptop around 2003 with a prototype released in 2005.

• Eventually these laptops were named XO computers and in 2007, 1 million units were distributed to developing nations.

• Netbook is the latest name for these mini- computers.

XO Computer

Children from Mongolia, China.

Review of the XO

Innovations of the XO

• Use of FLASH drives to replace hard drives

• Built-in web cameras

• Linux Operating System

• Web Oriented

• Designed for Kids, not Adults

• New OPEN SOURCE Software

Innovations of the XO• Dan Bricklin (who invented the spreadsheet) has

developed a web-based spreadsheet called social-calc for the XO.

http://www.peapodcast.com/sgi/olpc/

Children in Nepal

Innovations of the XO

• On May 21, 2008, at an OLPC Country Meeting, design studies of a next-generation XO-2 goals include:

• Dual 16x9 proportioned sunlight-readable touch screens

• Keyboard and touchpad both replaced by touch screens • Physically smaller than XO-1; size and weight more

like a book • 1 watt power consumption • Price of US $75 to large educational buyers

Children in Mongolia

Children in Haiti

HP Mini

NOW, EVERYONE IS ON THE BANDWAGON..

Dell Mini 9

What you give up for smaller size:

• Missing a CDROM drive– How do you install your programs?

• Running Linux or Windows XP• Minimum System Memory

– Windows XP should have 1 gig of memory

• Small Amount of Physical Storage• Smaller Screen (less than 14”)• Smaller Keyboard and Controls

– Just reduced or ergonomically designed for kids?

ACER & ASUS

MSI & SYLVANIA

CTL & INTEL CLASSMATEThe CTL and a few others are based on the INTEL CLASSMATE laptop which competes with the X0 Laptop

MPC TXT book

Review of 4 mini-notebooks

PC World –How to buy a Mini Computer

• 1. Know what you want to use it for and how much you're willing to spend.

• 2. Buy a netbook with an 8.9-inch screen or larger. – I tried out an Asus EEC PC with a 7-inch screen and

the annoying part is not being able to see an entire Web page because the screen is too small.

– Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/150457/how_to_buy_a_minilaptop.html

ASUS EEC PC

PC World How to buy a Mini Computer

• 3. Make sure you get a 6-cell battery for your netbook, although you may have to pay $50 more and the device will weigh more. – Most companies are offering netbooks with 3-cell

batteries as the standard, but that doesn't offer a whole lot of run time, just 2 to 3 hours.

– A 6-cell battery doubles that, and in some devices designed around a 6-cell battery you can get up to 8 hours.

PC World How to buy a Mini Computer

• 4. Try out the keypad and make sure it's right for you.– Keys on the ClassMate PC's keyboard are raised and there is a

lot of space between them, making them easy to find by touch.

– By contrast, the EEE PCs, Wind and Elitegroup Computer Systems' designed their keypads with flat keys and little or no space between keys because, I was told it makes them look nice.

The trouble is, it also makes typing more difficult.– I really liked the keypads on Acer's and Everex's CloudBook,

but the best keypad was on Hewlett-Packard's.

Everex CloudBook

PC World How to buy a Mini Computer

• 5. Software: see what it comes with and consider trying the Linux OS.

There are two lessons on software. – First, some vendors have skimped on including software in

their netbooks on the pretense that users can download a lot of free software on the Internet.

– Asustek included a lot of useful software on its Eee PCs 1000, 1000H and 901, as has Acer, which also added a nice opening screen that boots up in just 12 seconds.

PC World How to buy a Mini Computer

• Second, it may be time to the give the Linux OS a try.– Most of the netbooks I tested with Linux OSs

booted up far faster than Windows XP or Windows Vista (I would not buy a netbook with Vista, it's just too slow).

• Vic Tip- if windows XP needs 1 gig of memory then Vista needs 2 gigs of system memory to perform well with average tasks.

PC World How to buy a Mini Computer

• 6. Price: if it costs more than $500, start looking at a regular notebook computer.– Companies have started promoting a wide range

of netbooks at higher prices, but once you pass $500, netbooks start to compete with laptops.

7” Screen15.4” Screen

512mb Memory 3 GB Memory

CD ROM

1.3 to 3 MP camera

.3 MP camera

The Gateway M series Laptop has 3gigs of system memory, built in camera, a newer, faster DUO CORE processor, large hard drive, CDROM drive, More usb ports, a digital camera reader, more software and has a great design –one of the view models that forces warm air out the side instead of the bottom.

You can find it for as low as $499 on sale.

Gateway M series

BEFORE YOU BUY:

• Develop a Planning Rubric of your needs!• Small size may work for elementary and

middle but high school kids may need a larger keyboard and more features.

• Keep in mind that limited memory and storage could be a problem 1-3 years down the road when some great software appears that you cannot run because of space and memory requirements.

Questions?

vic.jaras@iowa.gov (email)