Laptop advice

[jenninca]

I am possibly in the market for a laptop computer (or do they call them notebooks now? I'm such an old fogey! ). The reason is because my school district requires that we use a very specific formula for calculating grades--e.g. Language Arts grade is 45% Writing, 25% Grammar, 25% Spelling, and 5% Handwriting, with 10% of each of those subsections being for homework grades. There is no way on earth I want to figure that by hand, and for various reasons I can't really do it on a spreadsheet.

I have used a fabulous program called Classmaster to figure grades in the past, and have ordered my $72.00 copy, which will hopefully be delivered soon as I have to figure progress reports this weekend. (Darn this six week grading system! It's fricking August and I'm doing progress reports!!!)

The problem is that the district does not allow you to install ANYTHING on their computers. They also do not allow you to bring any computer systems from home and keep them at school. I could do the grades at home, but then I wouldn't have them at my disposal if a kid had a question or had an impromptu parent call asking about their child's progress. The only solution I (and others at my school) can figure is for me to get a laptop and carry it back and forth, which is allowed.

So I'm asking for your advice. Are there any features I should know about? Things to watch out for? Models or brands you can recommend to get or avoid? I really can't afford to spend much more than $1000, and I won't do any of those 3-year internet deals or anything.

Thanks much for any advice or thoughts you can offer!

Cindy

[timdunn]

Always happy to help a teacher out. Off the cuff (in other words, I'm sure there are better deals, this is just what I could find in a few moments) there are decent ones in the $800 category. With tax and shipping, that will probably put it just over the $1k mark.

I went to http://www.pricewatch.com/ and clicked on the link labelled "notebooks".

Here's the basic checklist: you probably require at least a PCMCIA (A.k.a. PCCard) expansion slot, 1 USB port, 4GB HD, 4x CD-ROM, 32MB of RAM, a floppy drive and an 11" TFT screen. Depending on how much you like having to carry vs. how much you dislike having to connect stuff when you need it, you may want to get a notebook with the CD-ROM or flopopy as separate parts, or built in. I'd recommend built-in: it's cheaper, and there are less parts to break / forget / hassle with.

My priorities from the basics above are:
[list=1][*]Larger screen - 13 is probably the largest you want to splurge for, but trust me, it makes a huge difference. Either you have a higher resolution and larger characters, or you have tinier characters and thus more on the screen.[*]More RAM - 64 is probably the most you will need. 128 is the next increment, but I don't think a single application will use it.[*]CD-RW - You can put this off for later - USB CD burners are $150 or so. Recording on CD's are a great way to transfer large files. RW's are rewritable. They're not fast, but they're cheaper in the long run if you use them like floppies.[/list=1]

[quasar]

Personally I'd use my Palm to calculate the grades. It'd be a lot cheaper.

That said, as far as laptops go, if you are going to get one it seems you should think about what else you want to be able to use it for. Do you want to be able to travel with it? Watch DVDs/play games? web surf?

I have a cheap crappy old Toshiba laptop I use mainly for web and IRC but I do take it with me some of the time when I travel (sometimes I just take a Palm; it depends on the length and type of my trip). I can't do any real multitasking on it, but I can use one large game or application at a time. I got it used (I traded a Jornada for it). Had I paid for it it probably would have cost me $300-400. If you know someone who reconstructs systems that may be a good option for you.

Janice

[vemartin]

Checkout IBM.com, they are running a special on their www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/generic.d2w/report?pmrfnbr=325131&cntrfnbr=1&shoprfnbr=1&cntry=840&lang=en_US&scrfnbr=]i-Series Notebook[/url] for $999.00 It has the following features:


Intel® Mobile Celeron™ Processor 700 MHz
13.3" SVGA TFT Display
64MB SDRAM memory
10GB Hard Disk Size
24x-10x CD-ROM
56K V.90 modem
Microsoft ® Windows ® Millenium Edition
Plus: FREE upgrade to 128MB SDRAM memory (Part#S64MBPR) (64MB DIMM free additional memory)

I like Thinkpad’s because they are durable, and reliable.

[jenninca]

Thanks for the advice and the links. I just found out that it's going to cost an insanely large amount of money to register my car in Texas, so it looks like a laptop might have to wait until I get paid again. But I will save these links and check them out again.

Cindy

[frazzledspice]

You beat the Office Max average!

They say that teachers spend an average of $400 of their own money on things for their classroom each year.

(BTW, they offer discounts to teachers for this reason. I don't know whether this is the best deal you can get anywhere, but you could ask for a price comparison.)

[jenninca]

Maryanne, so far I've averaged $1000-$2000 dollars a year for teaching supplies! I really hope that amount starts to go down soon. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if I weren't such a sucker for children's books.

Cindy