LAPTOP ORDERS FOR FALL 2008
We are excited about our fourth year as a Tablet PC school, and for our 10 year Anniversary as a Learning with Laptops School! The model chosen for next year is the Toshiba Portégé M700. Toshiba's competitive educational pricing, our positive repair records over the past two years, and the fact that we have an extremely responsive educational engineering support team at our disposal are the main factors for us choosing Toshiba over competitive brands. Another major factor in this decision is that Toshiba makes the only Tablet PC with a built-in optical drive which our students and faculty deem necessary.
You will place your order on-line directly with our computer reseller who will collate the orders and deliver them to the school over the summer in time for the CAVE (Computer and Audio/Visual Education) staff to inventory, image and set them up to the Duchesne network. With each order, you also need you to return the Laptop a contract to the school with your firm commitment to pay Duchesne for your order. Payments need to be made to Duchesne Academy during the Back to School Sale Day this August 19 and 20, so that we can offer the laptops to you tax-free. Any payments not made on one of those two days must include tax.
WHO NEEDS TO PURCHASE A TABLET PC BUNDLE?
Students who are required to order a new laptop include:
· Incoming 6th grade
· Students with an IBM T41 (mostly incoming Sophomores)
· New students in grades 7 - 12
WHO NEEDS TO PURCHASE OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES?
All returning students who own a laptop still within the four-year warranty period (Toshiba M200 and M400) are required to have one working battery and a power cord in good condition.
ORDERS DUE FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2008. The deadline for cancelling an order without penalty is June 30, 2008. After this date you will be held financially responsible for any orders that cannot be cancelled or resold by Duchesne Academy
PLEASE REFER TO THE EMAIL SENT TO YOU ON MAY 19TH FOR
INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO LOGIN TO ORDER:
NOTE:
a. The Tablet PC Bundle includes everything that you need: Tablet PC, power cord, pen, laptop case, extended 4 year warranty with Accidental Damage protection, and a 2 GB flash drive. The Bundle also includes a $130 "DASH loaner pool and service fee" to assist the school in proving on-site loaner Tablets and service.
b. Optional accessories that you should consider purchasing include: replacement a/c adapters (power cords), batteries, Tablet PC pens, Flash Drives, laptop cases and external hard drives. If you do not already own an external hard drive for you home, we strongly encourage you to purchase one for your daughter to use. (You can buy them at any vendor you choose, however, Softchoice is offering two models for you to choose from at a very good price.) We are no longer allowing audio and video files to be stored on our network because of copyright violations and the excessive file sizes. Your daughter needs a way to back up her audio/video files that are important to her and sometimes costly in the event that she needs to have her hard drive replaced or have her Tablet re-imaged.
c. Remember that all students are required to have a pen, a battery less than 2 years old and a power cord. (Power cords that are worn can be replaced under warranty by bringing the old one to the CAVE.)
All products have been priced for Duchesne families with volume, educational discounts. Payment must be made to Duchesne in order for us to pass along the tax savings to you on Back to School day. The good news is that this year you may pay with cash, check or credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover only.)
HOW TO PAY:
-All payments must be made on campus at Duchesne Academy by cash, check or credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover only) on August 19 or 20 to qualify for tax free sales. Payments not made on these specified days will be subject to sales tax. THESE ARE TAX-FREE SALES DAYS FOR DUCHESNE ACADEMY.
-Payments for computers will be accepted outside room 212 only, not in the Atrium
-Please be sure to pay in full when you drop your daughter off for Out of Box day, so that she can take it home with her.
HOW TO PICKUP YOUR EQUIPMENT:
New Laptop Students are required to attend their Tablet PC Out of Box session. It is imperative that your daughter attend her Out of Box session where she will receive her new Tablet PC and learn how to login and use it on the Duchesne network. (These skills must be taught prior to the first day of school.)
At Out of Box we will double check together that every part is labeled correctly with her name. We will go over how to properly take care of her new computer and discuss the "do's and don'ts" of computer use at Duchesne. We will show her how to login to the DASH network, introduce her to some of the programs that she will use in school, and use her new email account and the homework site. Attendance is mandatory.
· All 6th graders and new students in 7th and 8th grade, August 19. Meet in the Dining Room with Mrs. Teague at 8:30 am. Students will be finished at 11:30 am.
· New students in grades 9 - 12, August 19. Meet in Room 226A at 12:30pm. Students will be finished at 3:30 pm.
Returning students to Duchesne can pickup their orders in Room 212 on August 19 or 20 after all payments are made in full. New Tablet PC's may be picked up after old laptops are turned in for software and network removal. Please make sure that all data is backed up prior to dropping off your laptop.
What about Vista?
We have explored the use of Vista in our environment and gathered input from other schools and vendors on the topic. The concensus at this time is that we will be using Windows XP at Duchesne for the School Year 2008-2009. We will continue to study the use of Vista in our classrooms and work with our software vendors to ensure that when we make the transition it will be a smooth one. This decision affects not only the students, but the teachers and the helpdesk. We must be confident that Vista has been tested thoroughly with all of our curriculum software.
While we do not have current plans to run Vista we are requiring that your laptops have 2GB RAM, so that they are capable of any upgrades that we forsee during its four year lifespan.
Please visit the link to the left titled "Why Toshiba Tablet?" for more information on using Tablet PC's in education. Take a few minutes to watch the videos on Cincinnatti Country Day School and Sharon Academy. They tell a great story of why Tablet PC technology is the perfect tool for our students.
All purchases are to be made through the school to ensure all units are identical for the purposes of imaging, networking, helpdesk assistance and hardware repairs. Also, Duchesne is able to take advantage of volume educational discounts on pricing that you will not receive anywhere else, including the four-year warranty with accidental damage protection.
