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Ask Slashdot: Cheapest Functional Computer For Students?
An anonymous reader writes: I've started a second career, teaching English at a High School in a middle class area. While the large majority of students have a computer and internet access at home, about 10-15% do not. I assign papers that must be typed, I have papers turned in online, and I plan to freely refer to texts, videos, and other resources that are available online. This gives an extra disadvantage to students that may be from the poorer end of the strata, and also means extra inefficiency for me, as I have to make allowances for students who don't have a computer available at home.
Right now, I have to tell them to either use school computers during the day, or to pick up a $170 laptop (more than enough — I administer the class using such a laptop). However, I was surprised at the lack of a super-cheap option for students. I'd love to see something for $20 that any student could afford easily, or perhaps I could just gift to a few students. I feel like something in this price range could be sufficiently powerful for basic word processing, youtube videos, and internet searches (internet access is a separate issue). But looking over my options I see:
1) The very cheapest Chromebooks are also in the $170 range.
2) Android Sticks have been around for a while, and do cost in the $20 range, but don't seem to have matured into a generally usable technology. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a community effort to easily turn these Android sticks into Ubuntu/Mint sticks.
3) Students can't be assumed to have the technical know-how to fix up a Salvation Army computer (I wouldn't mind helping out a bit, but I don't want to turn into tech support)
4) A Raspberry Pi costs $70 once you include a case/power supply/etc, and students would receive a big bag of parts.
5) Cheap Windows Tablets have glitches, and don't have an HDMI out.
6) There isn't a good solution to using a cell phone as a desktop computer.
Are any of my assumptions wrong? Are there any other options I'm not considering?
Right now, I have to tell them to either use school computers during the day, or to pick up a $170 laptop (more than enough — I administer the class using such a laptop). However, I was surprised at the lack of a super-cheap option for students. I'd love to see something for $20 that any student could afford easily, or perhaps I could just gift to a few students. I feel like something in this price range could be sufficiently powerful for basic word processing, youtube videos, and internet searches (internet access is a separate issue). But looking over my options I see:
1) The very cheapest Chromebooks are also in the $170 range.
2) Android Sticks have been around for a while, and do cost in the $20 range, but don't seem to have matured into a generally usable technology. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a community effort to easily turn these Android sticks into Ubuntu/Mint sticks.
3) Students can't be assumed to have the technical know-how to fix up a Salvation Army computer (I wouldn't mind helping out a bit, but I don't want to turn into tech support)
4) A Raspberry Pi costs $70 once you include a case/power supply/etc, and students would receive a big bag of parts.
5) Cheap Windows Tablets have glitches, and don't have an HDMI out.
6) There isn't a good solution to using a cell phone as a desktop computer.
Are any of my assumptions wrong? Are there any other options I'm not considering?
also check local county government surplus sales. I got some pentium 4HT computers 1g ram that were wiped with 15 inch lcd mouse and keyboard for ~$25
The best thing out there, designed specifically to address your concern, is the XO laptop by the laptop.org people for their "One Laptop Per Child" campaign: http://laptop.org/en/
Their price is $35 per unit, and they take significant cuts (and some creative solutions to be sure) to get there. They're not exactly readily available, particularly for US schools, but it may be worth talking to them. It's possible these would be enough for you, if you could get hold of them, but I'd consider them pretty under-powered for an applicable middle-school or higher education where there are other options.
The XO is a good data point for what you sacrifice going below the entry Chromebook or hp-11 style laptop, or even an android tablet with a keyboard. Also, it sets the bar at $35 so your hopeful target of $20 seems unlikely; the XO has been around for years and they probably can't go much lower, and you're not likely to get many people competing for this space, at least not for profit. The DIY kits (i.e. raspberry pi) you've already addressed and those are even more expensive. The idea of hooking to an existing TV (with an Android Stick) may have merit, but there's still the price of a mouse, keyboard, and a capable TV in the first place, so the real price is higher.
Anyway, I think you're going to be hard pressed to find better solutions. It's a noble goal, but the industry just isn't there yet, despite good examples of people trying. Hope this helps.
If the computer is working at all, the following tricks might make it like-new:
Open it up and vacuum out the dust. Dust accumulates, especially in the CPU heatsinks, over years, causing them to overheat. For a long time the CPUs have had circuitry that slows the clock to reduce the heat - and thus slows the machine way down, which may be why it was finally abandoned. Suck out the dust and the CPU will be back to its full speed.
Replacing the BIOS backup battery is good, too, as it may be nearing end-of-life - especially as the machine sat on the shelf waiting for a new home. Also: A little time with the battery out may clear out oddball BIOS settings in older BIOS chips that are battery-backed-RAM, rather than flash, based.
If the keyboard is dirty or a little flakey, try washing it with clean (better yet, distilled) water and drying it thoroughly. As long as you don't power it while it's still moist, and don't use hot water or the heated drying cycle in a dishwaher, you won't corrode anything.
Then installing Linux from a live disk, with the use-full-disk options, will clean out any malware and give them a modern, supported, OS with a good and easy to use word processor (Open Office) for free.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
In the teacher's defense, what they teach and how they teach is mandated by the district. Today's teachers just aren't given the same flexibility that teachers had back in my day. Everything is 'standardized' now, including the schoolwork which is approved by the district.... and remember the district is 'sold' the curriculum by private companies who like putting stuff online because it's cheaper for them.
I keep telling people that the US got to the Moon with people taught in a classroom with books, chalkboard, and pencil/paper. Ipads are NOT a necessity for learning no matter how hard Apple tells you that they are.
Came here to say this. Add to that local universities and large companies. Both will probably give you relative discounts if you direct business towards them and in many cases they are going to throw away the old machines anyway. My old university had a lot of money, but also had closets full of old Pentium and core 2 duo machines that they had no idea how to get rid of. Craigslist is also your friend.
Used computers are probably the best way to go if you are looking for a machine for sub $50, and I doubt you will be able to go down to 20 unless you or the kids are willing to go dumpster diving for parts or are really lucky.
The other alternative is to do what I did growing up without a computer with typed document requirements. Get to school before class and stay after to type up the documents at the library computers. Just a simple thumb drive allowed me to save all of my documents. I never even owned my own computer until High School (in the late 2000's). If I didn't have time in school I would draft the documents by hand and just transcribe them in the mornings.
"There are lies, there are damn lies, and there are statistics"