yr9laptops

This post has a few links to news articles on the web about the laptops, along with some of my awesome knowledge and opinions. If you’re lazy just skip straight to the FAQ to get the basic facts.

Jump to:
Cnet Review
Specs
News Articles
Frequently asked Questions
Evil Plans
Conclusion

Cnet.com.au Review

Cnet has to be one of the most popular tech review sites on the web.

Click here for the Lenovo s10 review.

The s10 specs differ from the s10e we get so don’t worry if it says 1gb of ram on Cnet, we get 2gb of ram.

Final Laptop Specs, Information etc.

IBM Lenovo S10e

An educational variant of the IBM Lenovo S10, hence the ‘e’ suffix.

Here are the specs and the explanations as to what these fancy technological words mean.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

Intel Atom 1.6GHz

The very most basic processor you can get, but not at all old or slow. It is mostly found in Netbooks such as the Lenovo S10 and the EeePC. It is OK for basic web browsing and word processing, but forget about intense multitasking or the latest games.

Pros: Doesn’t use much battery, cheap, good for the basics.

Cons: Slow compared to other CPUs

RAM (Random Access Memory)

2GB

Random access memory is how your computer manages open programs. Browsing the web or doing single things at a time only uses very little RAM, but multitasking and RAM intense programs like Photoshop and the latest games require more RAM. 2GB ensures that you will have a smooth experience with your netbook with lag and crashes, but, again, forget about the latest games, even with 2GB ram.

If you want to, and if there isn’t any security to prevent it, you can install Vista on your Netbook.

Pros: Fast, preferred amount of RAM. The most you can get in a netbook. Good choice, government!

Cons: None really. Double the price of 1gb, obviously, but we’re not paying for it!

HDD (Hard Drive)

160GB

Hard drive is, obviously, where you store your files and programs. 160GB will hold ALL of your school documents from Year 9 to 12, PLUS thousands of pictures and songs, and hundreds of movies and like a billion notepad .txt files.

If you aren’t happy with 160GB, you may want to take it to the extreme and replace the hard drive with your own. You can buy 250GB, 500GB and other hgiher capacity laptop hard drives, and replace the 160GB if you know how. Heck, i’ll probably do it, given the chance. What kinda security system is going to stop me from opening up the netbook?

From what i’ve read, the hard drive in the lenovo S10 is very fast for a netbook hard drive. Good, good.

Pros: Fast (apparently), easy to upgrade

Cons: Kinda small when you think about it, upgrading may void warranty

Others (Monitor, Ports/Expandability, Upgradability)

Monitor

10.2″ LCD

Pretty much the standard size for netbook. It may sound small, but… well yeah, it is pretty small considering that most computers now have at least 19″, but anything bigger than 10.2″ and it may become awkward to carry and may not fit in your bag.

Pros: Easy to fit in bag

Cons: Smaller than normal computers, may take a while to get used to.

Ports/Expandability

There are 2 USB ports, VGA-Out (to connect another screen) and a memory card reader.

Nothing out of the ordinary for a netbook.

Pros: Meh.

Cons: Meh.

Upgradability

There are a number of guides on how to replace the hard drive, and apparently it is quite simple, but it may void your warranty.

Same goes for RAM. There is 512mb built-in to the motherboard that you can’t replace, and to make 2gb that means theres ranother 1.5gb of ram in there somewhere. Possible in 2 slots, one 1gb and one 512mb. If this is true, you could upgrade them both with 2gb sticks, making 4gb plus the 512mb built-in, making 4.5gb although I think the motherboard only supports 2gb. Aww.

Here are the specifications, as compared to an average home computer, a mid range computer, the Mac G3 and the new shiny aluminium Intel Core 2 Mac. Click to see full-size image.

News Articles:

NSW to censor student laptops - zdnet
24 October 2008

Summary:

The government has developed a filtering system for the laptops, which is apparently ‘unbreakable’. They have put some sites into 98 categories. Any site that  isn’t in a category is blocked. ;P

NSW Government awards contracts for school laptops - australianIT

1 April 2009 (Coincedence?)

Summary:

The laptops will come with Microsoft and adobe software like Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Flash, Dreamweaver and Photoshop Elements.

In the 2nd half of the year the laptops will be upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7.

The digital education revolution is here – premiere’s website

April 1 2009

Summary

Basically repeats everything that has been said in the past, including a few new things:

-More software:

• Adobe Photoshop Elements (Basic Photo Editing)
• Adobe Premier Elements (Basic Video Editing)
• Adobe Acrobat Professional Extended (For making PDF documents)
• Adobe Flash CS4 Professional (For making flash games/animations and websites)
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 (For making websites)
• Adobe Fireworks CS4 (For making logos)
• Adobe Contribute CS4 (For publishing to your website)
• Adobe Presenter (A plug-in for Powerpoint, for education)
• Adobe Captivate CS4 (Mainly for teachers to make quizzes etc.)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional and utilities (Popular operating system) *UPDATE* The netbooks wills hip with XP, but will later be upgraded to Windows 7 when it is released. (July-September)
• Microsoft Word 2007 (Word processing)
• Microsoft Excel 2007 (Spreadsheets)
• Microsoft Publisher 2007 (Invitations, banners, flyers etc.)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 (Slideshows)
• Microsoft OneNote 2007 (For taking notes)
• Microsoft Access 2007 (For making databases)

-Confirms Specs (160gb HDD, 2gb RAM, bluetooth etc.)

-Confirms release date (Term 3 2009)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will they be macs?

No. They’ll be Lenovo S10′s.

Why not?

Macs are too expensive.

When do we get them?

Term 3 (September) is the official release date but I can guaruntee you that it’ll be delayed (again, since they were due out term 2)

Do teachers get them?

Yes, 2 months earlier than we do since some of them are so old they don’t know what DVDs are and need ‘training’.

Will the internet be filtered?

Yes, with an apparently ‘unbreakable’ filter, with 98 categories of blocking goodness. Even if a website is uncategorized, it’s blocked. Whoopee!

Will the internet be unblocked after school?

I’m not sure, i’ve emailed them about it.

Conclusion

That’s pretty much it for my Yr9 Laptops Megathread. If you have any questions just email me (contact details to the right—>). I’ll be adding to this post as soon as the information comes in or when I get a reply to that email I sent to the government.