Monday, August 18th, 2008...6:15 pm
To B-Eee Or Not To B-Eee.
As you maybe aware we recently ran trials of the Asus Minibooks. Five machines were allocated to a number of teachers within the authourity. We asked our members of staff to investigate the suitability of these machines as classroom tools. In June I decided to splash out and treat myself to an all new 4GB white model. I opted for the Windows version as oppose to Linux (woose I know but Windows is more suitable for the kind of work I am doing with it).
Anyway, having spent four weeks using this machine for everyday tasks, out of the blue, the keyboard stopped working for no apparent reason. I was very upset. When I returned home after my holiday I toddled back to ToysRUs where a nice IT assistant called John was more than happy to help. It turns out that the keyboard was faulty. ToysRUs were great and replaced the keyboard without sending the machine away. I have since then learned that it is quite a common fault and that the electronic ribbon connecting the keyboard to the computer quite often slips and becomes damaged. Though we didn’t come across this problem during our classroom trials it does leave me asking questions- If this machine cannot cope with four weeks of life in my hand bag, how are they going to withstand four years of use by pupils?
The Eee PC is just the beginning of the evolution of small laptops. As we move closer to One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) I am sure these machines will become lighter, cheaper, more robust and dare I say it smaller.
Anyway, I am very glad to have my little friend back in all it’s glory- very much to B-Eee! 
(and a big thumbs up for ToysRUs! )
9 Comments
August 18th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Interesting to hear Tess. I’m having not much luck with the Elonex One either…..
August 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I think in the next twelve months we will see an explosion of these small devices and I am sure the prices will come down further.
It would be great to trial some others this session…
Interesting times!
August 18th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Hi Tess,
From my brief handling most of the eeepcs seem pretty fragile especially when compared to the umpcs used in Islay high school. These as you probably know are a lot more robust and offer some great features when compared to mini pcs. A bit more expensive but Islay seems to have got a good deal.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:06 am
I bought a 4Gb one from PC World and soon noticed that the space bar only worked if it was pressed wth more force than was required by the other keys. On closer examination, I noticed that is was slightly warped. PC World exchanged it without question. So far, its replacement is behaving. I’ve had it out and about quite a lot - but not in my handbag
Although I was slightly nervous about the Linux platform, Robert Jones put my mind at ease and, to be honest, I hardly notice the difference.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I’ve had a couple out with me over the past 9 months now and had no problems!!
Have you identified and confirmed, then, that there is no more alien environment than a ladies handbag????
lol!!
August 20th, 2008 at 7:09 am
I’m playing around with one of these at the moment. It looks great to me, but of course I’m not very techy-minded. I am about to order 10 of these machines for my lab as I think they will be able to do a great job for the kids.
My only gripe is that, as I’ve not had a chance to install XP on my machine, I can’t use it to connect to the internet at home as my sky broadband needs this -
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
@ Alan: Lipstick and a hair brush LOL!
@Jaye- This sounds interesting Jaye. You will probably find that installing XP on the machine will use up any free space (thats what our techie guys said) Are you planning to do some cool Biology stuff with them? I would love to come over at some point and see what you are doing- Glow runs a treat on these wee machines
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Yes you are probably right about the XP - in any case further reflection on the open office (as well as a little David Pogue) has probably cured me of my microsoft obsession..
I am just going to use them in class for GLOW(the wencams built in will be great!) and for extra curricular stuff, P7/S1 transition etc etc. Just got some money from the Lottery fund for these and some DS’s and software.
You’d be welcome to come over anytime - just say the word when you’ve got the time.
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I’m a dinosaur but perhaps you can help me to think of strategies to support pupils who are out of school for long periods of time with equipment so that they can access the internet and keep in touch with teachers.
Often those who are least advantaged have little access to ’stuff’ …so the gap widens1
Any ideas?
All welcome.
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