BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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Call out for used laptops
Hello All!
I have big group of eligible college scholarship students this year...and 4 of them need laptops. Please check with family members who may have
upgraded and have older versions lying around!
Here is the group - we meet at the high school during recess, every day, to study English and for any mentoring they may need. One extra student in
the shot, she studies English but
does not need sponsorship.
MMc came to visit us and he got to meet them - of course they get tongue tied when they are put on the spot but they did introduce themselves! We
meet up in the very small school library.
There are 4 who need laptops:
Julian, on the far left and Lizeth in polka dot blouse:
Diana, pictured here with her Mom on the day they came over so I could explain how the scholarship project works.
and Rogelio
And here is Sarahi, the straight A, 100% GPA student who decided she wanted to study to be a beautician on the day I gave her a laptop. This may
go down as one of my very favorite photos ever! She is in Ensenada, she had saved up money for years to go to school so we split her tuition which
is $1000 pesos a month, for the next 3 years. Not everyone wants college, we need hair dressers and make up artists too! I can't wait until she
graduates and can cut all the kids' hair. Right now, the hairdresser in town knows to cut any boy whose family can't pay's hair. Free is BETTER.
*******************************************
Laptops amigos! Ask around for me please.
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MMc
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I will ask my friends.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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caj13
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Blanca,
would chromebooks be acceptable? if so, hell they are only 300 bucks new, we should be able to find a collective way to get a few of those funded,
and they wouldn't have all the glitchy problems and obscure/ obsolete versions of software associated with used old laptops
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willardguy
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Quote: Originally posted by lencho  | | Quote: Originally posted by caj13 | Blanca,
would chromebooks be acceptable? if so, hell they are only 300 bucks new, we should be able to find a collective way to get a few of those funded,
and they wouldn't have all the glitchy problems and obscure/ obsolete versions of software associated with used old laptops |
Great question! I've been skeptical about Chromebooks ever since they came out, but I got one several months ago, just spent 6 weeks travelling with
it on the Mainland, and was amazed at how convenient is was. And how seldom I missed Windows.
That said, if there's any possibility that the students will need any Windows applications, a Chromebook will be a real
inconvenience. |
and any old laptop can be made into a chromebook, I converted a slow, heavy old Dell and it works flawlessly......lose the hard drive!
https://www.neverware.com/#introtext-3
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SFandH
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Neverware's free software, called CloudReady, is a good Chrome OS. I brought back to life an old Windows XP Dell desktop boat anchor by installing
CloudReady.
I also have a Samsung Chromebook which you can buy $150 at Amazon. A tough little computer that works great. All the software I need is free and
accessible via the cloud (a huge a$$ warehouse-like building full of hard disks and computers somewhere).
Adios Windows and I don't own iAnything.
[Edited on 10-4-2018 by SFandH]
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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chromebook?????
I got lost at the first letter "c", so I have no idea what it is, or if it will work. and these kids don't own any computer, so they can't tell me
either. Except for architecture students, who use specialize programs, I believe they are going to need "word" to write and some way to do
research.
I will ask the teachers at the high school.
Please, I don't, really don't, want anyone to spend cash on these...ask around, you will be surprised how many folks have an old one that they
simply haven't bothered to clear and let it lie around.
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SFandH
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Chromebooks are computers running the Chrome operating system.
There have been three major operating systems literally for decades:
Windows (Microsoft)
Mac (Apple)
UNIX (Bell labs, waaay back when, before Microsoft and Apple)
Chrome is a version Linux that was created out of UNIX (I won't get into that). Google created Chrome. Chrome is also the name of Google's browser so
that causes some confusion. Another twist is UNIX/Linux/Chrome is "open source" meaning it is not proprietary (not copyrighted), like Windows and Mac.
Anyway, the company Neverware has a free version of Chrome called CloudReady, (which is a version of Linux, which is a version of UNIX), designed for
small computers. It's comparatively small in size (bytes) and most of the application software (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.) runs using the
Chrome browser as the user interface and is free. Also, it reads and writes from and to disk space in the cloud. However, you can use your local disk
for files if you are not connected to the Internet.
The latest innovation (I think) is that Chromebooks will also run apps designed for Android phones, but I haven't done that.
The take away for you is that using CloudReady from Neverware you can take an old computer with an old version of Windows and a gummed up hard drive
with memory perhaps too small for newer versions of Windows which you have to pay for and install CloudReady for free and it will run as well or
better than it did new.
If you come across an old laptop that has old broken Windows and is running slower than molasses in winter, install CloudReady and bring it to life.
Find a techie.
[Edited on 10-4-2018 by SFandH]
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BajaBlanca
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Thanks for the explanation and it sounds like a great idea.
the best part is that I saw the word FREE number of times! Musica to Maestra 's ears.
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John Harper
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The Chromebooks we use at our high school are mainly for use on the internet. They have minimal internal storage so using them as a conventional
computer may have limitations. Also, you need to have a WiFi or hardwired internet connection and use the Cloud for storage if you don't use an
external thumb drive.
I use an ASUS at home that is much like a Chromebook. Very small hard drive (30G) so I have an external thumb drive for storage and for when the
system needs extra room for updates to be installed. Very simple to use and usually less expensive compared to a conventional laptop.
We probably have boatloads of old computers in our district but it's a mystery how they dispose of them. I've inquired in the past but its an arduous
process to try and get an old one. There is no real system for auctioning them off or donating them.
John
[Edited on 10-5-2018 by John Harper]
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TedZark
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Here's a great short(ish) YouTube video on how to make the conversion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqE8AeyeWh8
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SFandH
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Blanca, a good candidate computer for the Neverware version of the Chrome operating system would be an old computer running Windows XP, which is no
longer supported by Microsoft. You would have to buy the new Microsoft operating system to upgrade and the computer may not have enough RAM to
smoothly run the upgrade.
If you run into an old computer like that, the Chrome OS is the way to go.
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