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Hi Kim! I can appreciate your dilemna. We are always struggling to get enough machines available to everyone who needs access to them... but I've found that bringing in older equipment has its challenges too. Most of our users are not yet skilled enough to compensate for differences in software or operating systems that may be on older equipment. They are also not patient or understanding that it will run slower than the newer machines. I also find that older machines have older hard drives (which crash more often) and they can be more challenging to maintain, depending on just how old they are. Also, schools do not typically replace computers very often... so I try to get a machine that I think we can live with for five years if we have to. On the other hand, if you have a need for a 'keyboarding lab' only for teaching keyboarding, older machines can do ok there. Older machines are also good at the HS level for letting students 'tinker' with pc repair, linux, whatever. Hope this helps you with your decision, Nancy Head, Technology Coordinator Midland Academy, Michigan EDTECH has changed addresses. The new list address is EDTECH@H-NET.MSU.EDU. All subscription commands should be sent to LISTSERV@H-NET.MSU.EDU.
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