It's interesting that my question about whether the spec. of a
recommended PC should be upgraded has resulted in some people
proposing that students should be given secondhand computers (ZX81
anybody!).
This is a view supported by a lot of LEA Awards Officers who have
been on our course. However, when it's suggested that they administer
it, they are less interested! Both SKILL and the DfEE see it as a
non-starter as well.
With a three year old computer it is not going to be cost effective
to recover, recondition and redistribute. There are maintenance
problems, software upgrades and compatibility with new packages to
consider. It will be 6 years old by the end of the course. It is
not a viable option
On the subject of upgrades my comments were to highlight the fact
that a stlg250 upgrade does not give the the equivalent of a current
stlg1000 computer.
As Ian confirmed:
> No only if you want full pentium power rendering full colour
> polygons etc Usually you average the two out and install a P133
> motherboard + chip with your outdated video and controllers, you
> will get P75 speeds.
> >old hard disk in your 386 usually isn't big enough, so you need a
> >new hard disk.
> Sadly true but this is true for everyone.
My calculations were P133 & motherboard stlg172, 32MB RAM stlg110, 2MB
PCI graphics card stlg65, 1.2GB HD stlg114.00, CL soundblaster with
TextAssist stlg62.00, 12 speed CD ROM stlg58 = stlg581 + VAT = stlg683.
Add to this either a one day on-site visit to perform the upgrade
(stlg300+VAT?) or return to base plus upgrade work (stlg150+VAT - pure
guess).
Then evaluate your 3 year old 14" monitor against a new 15".
The end result is not cost effective.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that a P166MMX with 32MB RAM may
be justified as an entry level machine in September. More
software is being manufactured to take advantage of the MMX
features. Viglen are currently offering this spec. to education for
under stlg1100 + VAT.
Regards
Paul Dilley, Technical Manager
Computer Centre for People with Disabilities, University of Westminster
** The London & South East Regional Access Centre **
Tel: +44 171 911 5000 Fax: +44 171 911 5162 http://www.wmin.ac.uk/ccpd/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|