Intel Classmate PC lands in UK for £239
Eee bandwagon rolls on
Intel's kid-friendly cut-price computer concept has come to the UK courtesy of local supplier Actronix.
Dubbed the JumPC, the Small, Cheap Computer is based on a 900MHz Intel Celeron Mobile processor and the chip giant's 915GMS chipset. It has 512MB of DDR 2 memory on board and 2GB of Flash storage - though you can select a 30GB HDD instead.
JumPC: Intel's Classroom PC, coloured orange
The unit has an Eee PC-style 7in, 800 x 480 display; two USB ports; 10/100Mb/s Ethernet and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. There's a webcam too.
It ships with Windows XP Home Edition pre-loaded, and Actronix is also bundling EasyBits' Magic Desktop software to provide a more straightforward, child-oriented UI to the laptop's features. An integrated handle makes it easy for nippers to lug the laptop around.
Easy to handle
All this comes in at £239, the supplier said. It's taking advance orders through its website, though the machine won't go on sale until early August, it admitted.
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COMMENTS
There is an alternative to learning ICT based on MS Windows
To all of you that think the world is taught computing on MS Windows, take a look at www.theingots.org - technology neutral ICT learning taking place in our schools today.
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I support specifically primary schools, many parts of the curriculum can be delivered using open source software this is true, but just as much cant, support/lesson planning software again isnt availiable... a couple of examples - self leveling, maths software - there are only a couple of titles available on the windows platform that are any good and none in an open source flavour - this would be where these scc would excel - individualised personal learning.
The curriculum calls for video editing and animation - we have (crappy but very easy to use) usb video cameras and editing software (with ready to use samples) designed for children - not seen any support in that way in open source.
Control and modeling - again, usb connected programable roamers and a lego mindstorms - no linux support - oh unless you expect a 7yearold to use a command line based editor! (although that would be a nice thing to be able to do!)
in not knocking open source or linux at all - I have an eeepc myself, my main desktop PC runs IRIX, back in 2000 I was in a partnership to explore opensource and thin client technologies to support schools, we use audacity, paint.net, sebran, and a few other titles, but there just isnt the maturity yet, things are getting better and the applications are slowly coming along, but we are still a little way off.
finally - at the end of the day the majority of pc's at home and in the workplace are Microsoft windows based - until that changes it makes sense to teach kids what is mainstream.
mark houghton beat me to it, but...
it's worth repeating: FUGLY. I wouldn't inflict it on your kids let alone mine. Oh er, I don't have any :-)
@Dave
Dave - most Key Stage 4 and 5 courses (GCSE/A Level) require students to complete coursework using specific types of software e.g. Spreadsheets/Databases - the exam board spec will normally 'suggest' some packages which will be acceptable. But of course, most schools are running MS Office, so its a done deal.
Personally, I am trying to loosen the evil hold of Gates over my own establishment by phasing in Open Office over the next 12 months.
As for eeepc's - I bought one for myself and love it but its not sturdy enough to stand up to 6 hours minimum use everyday. Our classroom PC's will typically last 2-3 years. We don't purchase laptops for student use because, like many schools, we don't yet have a wireless network. The screens on the eee's and similar minibooks are too small for extended use, IMO.
@classroom AC
Well, I doubt she'll have to put up with them for long, I expect they will all slowly disappear within a few months.
Yep, the biggest minus to a portable computer when you put it in a class full of thieving kids is that it will vanish.
