Hey guys,

We are currently looking to implement a 1:1 program in my school. What, in your opinion, is the best tablet to use for a program like this? We tried the NOVA 5000 and we may try the Nokia 770. Please keep in mind, the two most important things are price (it has to be "relatively" low) and a "tablet input style" (like a touch screen. no laptops.)

Thanks in advance,

Vinny

OK, well-- No, wait, what's a "1:1 program" then?

I was about to ask that as well

I'm going to guess it's a "one computer per student" thing.

The N770 is not a particularly securable device --- students will be able to tamper with it quite easily.

That said, a reflash brings it up to spec immediately, and the device itself is quite durable.

N800 is effectively the same, minus the durable part.

If you can tell us why you rejected the Nova 5000 (a device I'm not in the least familiar with I'm sure we can tell you if the N770/N800 meets your criteria.

Alex, why do you say the N800 is (or is supposed to be) less durable than the 770? Apart the hard cover, I mean :rolleys:

I have them both now (N800 arrived one week ago, 770 will go in a couple of days) but I feel the N800 as solid as the 770 is, so I hope it will last for a loooong time!

My objection to a 770 or 800 for kids would be its losability. If that isn't a problem somehow, the 770 or 800 would be fine. Is there a specific reason for the touch screen?

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. Yes, 1:1 is each student getting a computer. The touch screen is so that students can annotate right on the screen. Example: A teacher can send a student a word document and the student can mark up the document and save it and their annotations. That was part of the problem with the NOVAs (which are still in the picture). The annotating tool was stand alone and all it would do is convert handwriting to text. There was no way to save the annotations in the document so they can be viewed later. Another thing I didn't like about the NOVA was that it was running CE and I had an extremely hard time finding usable software for it. They were also really slow (even the newest model). I am not to conerned about losability, cause that is more or less out of our hands. My end is to find a functional device that suits our needs, if the student loses it, they will be the one buying a new one.

Thanks

I would be surprised if on-screen annotation is available on the 770. It's not on the N800. Word compatibility in general is a weak spot.

I suppose that you saw the recent articles claiming that giving kids computers didn't improve their academic performance? (whatever, it certainly must have improved their computer literacy!)

On-screen annotation is pretty hacky....
I do it using Xournal, a nice drawing program that can load background images, but I convert my word documents to image files by opening them with open office and saving them as jpgs (or converting to .pdf and then to jpg).

Aside from this conversion silliness, it works pretty well, with nice highlighting feature, ellipse, rectangle, free draw, pen thickness, and color choice.

The editing of word documents is possible, but again, pretty hacky....
not like windows CE at all.

I teach junior high school, and use my N770/N800 for attendance, detention logs, and remote control of classroom media. The kids are in love with it.
They drool when I show them my extensive mame collection or ultimate doom...

dcarter

Honestly though, you'd need an extra few (dozens of) styluses for them kids though.