IPod update

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Well, I have been using the iPod for a couple of months now and still love it.I have been able to find many useful applications including one that will allow me to use Remote Desktop to my servers as long as I have a wi-fi connection. I have also found the WordPress application for the iPod, as that is what I am composing this post on. The keyboard isn’t too difficult to use once you get used to allowing the spell checker do it’s job (thanks to Ryan Collins for pointing that out).

iPod Touch – simply amazing!

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For school I carry a Samsung i760 Windows Mobile “smart phone.” I’m not sure who coined the phrase “smart phone” because it really couldn’t be any further from the truth. This thing wasn’t designed with the phone part being it’s primary function. To be honest, I’m not really sure what it’s primary function was supposed to be. Several years ago I purchased a Compaq iPaq Windows CE device and wasn’t impressed. I found the Windows CE operating system difficult to operate, and not really good at any of it’s intended functions. Personally, I feel the same way about Windows Mobile 6 Professional, it’s not really good at anything. Maybe that’s a little harsh, it’s not GREAT at anything. For example, I received a text message from one of my assistants letting me know of a family emergency and that she wouldn’t be in to work. However I didn’t get notification of that text message, I stumbled across the message that afternoon. Blackberry devices on the other hand do nearly everything great! Perhaps those of you with Windows Mobile devices know of some tweaks or something that I could do to start loving that device, but I think I’m going to stop using it.

Over the weekend I purchased an iPod Touch so that I could use it as a PDA, and use my LG VX-8700 cell phone. I’d buy the iPhone (or perhaps the new Blackberry Storm once it arrives) but the coverage area, particularly at school, is better with Verizon. So far I’m loving the iPod touch other than an application that I downloaded just seemed to lock up the device. All has been well since I removed it. I’ll write more of a review as I discover this little gem.

New infrastucture equipment

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We have needed to make some long overdue upgrades to our infrastructure. We have 9 servers that are due to be retired/replaced at the end of this school year, and our wireless network needed an overhaul.

We recently purchased a Trapeze Networks MX-200 and MP-422A access points. So far they are working great! It’s nice to finally have a controller for the APs so that changes can be made centrally, and not on each AP. I’ll keep you up to date on it’s performance.

As for the servers, we selected the IBM BladeCenter, 4 blades, and VMWare. We should begin that installation in a couple of weeks once I get the correct power into the datacenter. I also have to make some room in the rack to handle the chassis. I can’t wait to dive head first into the world of virtualization!

Laptop purchasing

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AIt’s the time of year when we start shopping for laptops for the next school year. For the 2008-2009 school year we selected the Toshiba Tecra A8 laptop. However, the students haven’t been very happy with it because of the weight. The 15.4” WXGA screen makes for a large, heavy laptop – can’t say I blame them. Apparently many of the laptop companies have decided that 15.4” wide screens are the way to go, and are making them the most affordable units in their line. A few years ago a 14” screen was the de facto standard, now it’s a premium product that companies like to sell as an “upgrade” to their now standard 15.4” wide screen. We decided that Toshiba’s brand new Satellite Pro U400 which has a 13.3” wide screen (just like a MacBook) was the unit to buy this year. Unfortunately by the time we added a 3-year warranty the cost was $1150+ per unit. That’s pretty hard to swallow since we bought a Tecra A8 last year with a 3-year warranty for $800 each. We have been told we got the “buy of the century” on the Tecras. I have a sneaking suspicion that Toshiba doesn’t manufacture these new Satellite Pro U400 units, they have someone else OEM them. The reason I say this is because they wouldn’t deal at all on price. If we selected a Tecra, they were willing to negotiate on price.

So we started shopping for a new vendor, I hate doing this. I hate the fact that we have to shop for a new unit each year, but since we only have our students (and laptops) for 2 years, it doesn’t make sense to spend $1100+ per laptop. We gave some very serious consideration to Apple, but we just couldn’t make it happen. With all of the software we use in our labs, we need to run Windows. Most of the programs have a Mac equivelant, but the big one that doesn’t is AutoCAD. We have over 100 students taking classes that use AutoCAD, and that means running BootCamp and purchasing a $140 OEM copy of Windows XP or Vista for them. Financially it doesn’t make sense for us. We would have to transition the entire network over to Mac, but that would take a few years.

We looked at the Acer TravelMate series of notebooks. These laptops appear to be built very well. The only problem is that we can’t find many schools using Acer laptops, and the service kind of scares me. There are no Acer service centers, everything is depot.

We ended up purchasing a HP nc4400 laptop that has a 12” screen, and an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz processor. This has been a very speedy unit in our testing, and the students love the fact that it is only 4 pounds. Furthermore, it boasts a 5.5 hour battery. The students should be able to use the laptop most of the school day.

Our next major decision, what laptop bags to buy.