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Re: Need info on ibook vs. PC portable wireless lab

On 9/22/02 8:23 PM, Dwight Johnson wrote:

> Questions:
> How do iBook and a PC notebooks compare (including service and our own tech
> supportability).

This will be hard for most districts using iBooks and/or PC laptops to
compare - iBooks haven't been around too long, especially in mobile lab
configurations. In fact, wireless laptops have only been deployed en masse
for a couple of years and some districts (like mine) are just now getting to
the point of widespread deployment in the schools.

Laptop technology seems to be evolving. However, most laptops (PC and
non-iBook Macs) still aren't that durable and don't take a pounding very
well. This is one advantage iBooks have over others - they're designed for
student use.

The other iBook advantage is battery life. We've gotten 4+ hours use on new
iBooks from a single charge. I have some Gateway and IBM laptops (both new
machines in 2002) and both get less than 2 hours use per charge.

Other than that, much depends on how you set up labs (mobile and otherwise)
- if you image hard drives from a disk image, what desktop and network
security you use, what management software you use, what level of tech
support you have, how quickly you can turn around repairs, etc.

> What is the projected life span of an iBook compared with a PC
> notebook and with a desktop?

Again, iBooks are pretty new (the first iBooks came out about 3 years ago).
We have 5 or the original iBooks still in service - they have not received
the level of use that they would have had in a mobile lab but they work just
fine and require minimal support and maintenance. Newer iBooks are better I
think and still pretty durable. We plan on 4+ years for all machines.

> Are iBooks completely compatible with the rest of our system--e.g.
> yearbook lab, other labs, e-mail attachments, and so on.

I assume you are talking about file servers. Macs can get along fine w/ PCs
on networks. We have a network with both Mac (ASIP, OS X) and Novell
(NetWare 6) servers. While Novell is definitely slanted to working with the
Windows OS, we have many Macs saving files to Novell servers. And PCs can
save to Mac servers as well. Sometimes third-party software enhances
cross-platform networking better than built-in file sharing tools within the
Novell and Mac server software packages.

> Will we have to hire a Mac person for our staff?

If you deploy many Macs, this is a good idea. OS X is a completely different
animal than ASIP on servers and OS 9 (and earlier) on user machines - it's
the future of the Mac OS. New knowledge is required to manage and maintain
OS X machines. Older Mac OSs will be around for a while but support will
diminish over time.

If it's just a few Macs in a largely Windows-based environment, your PC
support people can probably learn enough basic Mac support w/o complicating
their lives terribly.

> Anything else you think would be helpful to know?

Given that Macs and PCs can both run most of the software used in schools
today (MS Office, AppleWorks, Dreamweaver, Internet Explorer, Netscape,
Inspiration, etc.) and share files created on both platforms, it comes down
to other practical issues - to me, battery life is a biggie. As stated
earlier, this is where the iBook has an advantage.

Jeff Johnson
District Technology Coordinator
Greendale School District
Greendale, WI 53129
email@hidden
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 >Need info on ibook vs. PC portable wireless lab (From: Dwight Johnson <email@hidden>)



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