Help a science teacher...

[umgolfer]

Hello all,

I am a high school science teacher and am in need of a computer for my students to use in my classroom. I plan on using it for weather data collection/observation as well as an upcoming astronomy unit. The requirements for the computer are pretty simple. I need something that is portable or easily moveable, as I am not in the same room for all of my classes and it needs to have a DVD drive in it (combo/super/dvdrom) to read dvd's. This kind of limits me to something that is either a iBook, Powerbook or a Mac mini. I have tried to buy Powerbooks and Mac Mini's in the past couple of weeks, but have been beaten to the punch (including a great deal on a mini earlier today), or not been the winner of the auction. If the machine is wireless (BT and/or AE), that is even better as I have a wireless connection available to me in my department and I have my own BT mouse/keyboard I could use. A decent sized HD is also preferred, as is FW, but as we know beggars cannot be choosers. My budget for this is about $300-$350 total. This is all coming out of my pocket as my school is not going to be able to help me out at all. If you have something either PM me or post it hear. Thanks!

Jason

[Doctor Q]

A Mac mini is small, but you have to connect it to a monitor/keyboard/mouse, which makes it much less portable than a 'Book. Is there already a monitor/keyboard/mouse in each room you're in? If not, I wouldn't recommend a mini as a "portable".

[amacgenius]

You'd be best with your price range with a G3 iBook - that's about the only portable thing you can afford, look on eBay there are some good deals there on Dual USB Snowbooks.

Here's two I found really quick:

800mhz (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=9709785741&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT)

600mhz (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9710397940&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1)

[AppleMatt]

Good telescopes typically have poor support for Mac OS X.
If you aim to control/get images from a telescope with it, go for a PC.

AppleMatt

[umgolfer]

A Mac mini is small, but you have to connect it to a monitor/keyboard/mouse, which makes it much less portable than a 'Book. Is there already a monitor/keyboard/mouse in each room you're in? If not, I wouldn't recommend a mini as a "portable".

We have a plethora of CRT monitors in our building that I can use/take and leave as a permanent setup. We have less mouse/keyboard combos, but probably enough that I can set them up in the 3 rooms I have to be in during the day. I have one from an old iMac setup in my room currently, and I think I can get 2 more.

[umgolfer]

You'd be best with your price range with a G3 iBook - that's about the only portable thing you can afford, look on eBay there are some good deals there on Dual USB Snowbooks.

Here's two I found really quick:

800mhz (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=9709785741&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT)

600mhz (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9710397940&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1)

Thanks for the link, but I forgot that the machine needs to have a DVD drive in it atleast. If it burns stuff, that is nice, not necessary, but atleast the ability to read dvd's. Thanks!

[amacgenius]

Thanks for the link, but I forgot that the machine needs to have a DVD drive in it atleast. If it burns stuff, that is nice, but atleast a DVD-ROM. Thanks!

If you bought a G3 iBook I have a DVD drive I pulled from my old 500mhz one. :)

[LimeiBook86]

Thanks for the link, but I forgot that the machine needs to have a DVD drive in it atleast. If it burns stuff, that is nice, but atleast a DVD-ROM. Thanks!

You can always have an external DVD burner drive via a FireWire enclosure. It will cost you extra but, it'll be useful if you find a good deal on an iBook withough a DVD reader/burner. Also you can make an external FireWire excolsure yourself. You can pickup a FireWire case big enough for the DVD drive for $33 or so and you can get a DVD burner drive for about $38 also.

Here are some links

External FireWire to IDE Enclosure (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145314)

DVD-RW IDE Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058)

Of course this may cost too much to you but it's still an option. Most CD/DVD burners will work withe Mac OS X "Tiger" 10.4 but, there is a rare chance of it not working. Good luck! :D

Edit: I remember hearing something about only G4 Macintosh computers can burn DVDs...is this true? Or did that only have to do with iLife or something... :confused:

[im_to_hyper]

Hey there, I have an iBook G3 600MHz/384MB RAM/30GB HD/Combo drive right for sale on this site.

Link: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=184472

[tsvb]

Hey there, I have a PowerBook G3 600MHz/384MB RAM/30GB HD/Combo drive right for sale on this site.

Link: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=184472


ibook :)

[LimeiBook86]

ibook :)
And the person would like a DVD-RW drive, not just a reader. Although the external drive is still an option it would have to add to the cost.

[im_to_hyper]

And the person would like a DVD-RW drive, not just a reader. Although the external drive is still an option it would have to add to the cost.

Well....

Thanks for the link, but I forgot that the machine needs to have a DVD drive in it atleast. If it burns stuff, that is nice, but atleast a DVD-ROM. Thanks!

Also, that um doesn't stand for University of Minnesota, does it? If so, I am heading there next year :D

As has been mentioned if you need DVD burning there are external options. Otherwise, this works fine for DVD playing and CD burning.

ibook

Oh yeah, thanks :D:o

[umgolfer]

Thanks everybody for the interest. I guess I should have been more clear in my original post. The machine does not need to have the ability to write dvd's or even cd's. It just needs to be able to read dvd's (as we/I have a large amount of dvd's in our department). Also many of the software/video titles we order are only on dvd's now. Sorry about the confusion.

Also the um is for the University of Michigan. Go Blue! :)

Thanks again everybody!

[im_to_hyper]

Thanks everybody for the interest. I guess I should have been more clear in my original post. The machine does not need to have the ability to write dvd's or even cd's. It just needs to be able to read dvd's (as we/I have a large amount of dvd's in our department). Also many of the software/video titles we order are only on dvd's now. Sorry about the confusion.

Also the um is for the University of Michigan. Go Blue! :)

Thanks again everybody!

OK, well the computer I offered in my post above has a DVD player.