Workstation Purchase

[captainjrl]

I am teacher in a school that is considering on buying about 15-20 brand new desktops. Any recommendations as to a manufacturer (or should I build them for them) and also recommendations as to specs we should use.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[iNeb]

What will you be using these pc's for? Normal school stuff?


I think maybe dell or gateway, since you can get discounts since you're a school, plus they ain't that bad.

I believe the dell optiplex's are workstations, and i have a few old ones (got from boeing) and they do good.

[jrock]

Well - most people here do their own building to be honest. It saves money, you get exactly what you want, etc. But - you get no warranty. In all honesty for a school I would recommend an OEM reseller. What's that? Ah - Gateway, Dell, etc. Of all these, Dell seems the very best as far as customer support and pricing. I believe they have separate pricing for schools as well. The warranties are good if not great, and for a school that seems appropriate, especially considering they will be used heavily by students I assume.

What will they be used for? Safely assume office and web browsing? Student or faculty machines? Also - have you considered using an Office alternative like OpenOffice?

[nukes]

Dell is probally the best you can do. If you build them yourself, you will need to provide support etc, whereas with a Dell or other OEM you get the systems cheap, don't need to spend time building them, you get a great support package etc - which is really important for a school.

What age students?

What better way to learn about PC's then to have them build there own. Depending on the age of course.

I agree w/ getting Dells. You should also be able to get discounts because they're for a school. And besides, Dell PC's come w/ free "weed" in the CD-ROMs. You know the kids will be showing up for class then.

[M_Six]

Dell leasing is a pretty good option. In three years you get all new stuff with an option to buy the older stuff.

[jrock]

Hey M-Six, how does that leasing really work out? Is it pretty expensive, or what? Just for education accounts?

[captainjrl]

Rick - These will be used as faculty workstations. MS Office stuff, electronic gradebook, internet research, etc. Nothing major.

Thanks for the input guys!

[Urban_Squrill]

Dell seems to be the choice. And i aggree. They are good computers to begin with. Great warenty, great price. You can not go wronge with getting a dell for skools.

Originally posted by captainjrl
These will be used as faculty workstations.

Talk about a mood breaker.

Have you got any networking in mind? 'Cause I know you guys are gonna wanna swap some MP3's.