Netbooks for SL

[Iggy O]

I was delighted to hear Pauline's story.  Now if we can convince
Linden Lab to introduce a lighter client optimized for edu-users who
tote laptops (or skim along with netbooks).

One bit of advice to those new to SL and with systems that just meet
spec (or not): plug in, don't use wireless.

As Pauline did, my students ignored the system warnings when they have
have new laptops with plenty of RAM. Most of my PC-carrying students
got this warning with the first log on to SL or Heritage Key. My
students all use laptops.  Let's not forget a marketing blitz from
every computer maker that says "Going to college? Get a laptop!"

Now, however, I'm going to draw back just a bit. I've told my class,
whining about performance on Heritage Key (and a bit less so for SL)
that they need to buy an Ethernet cord.

One student did so, and his work with virtual worlds dramatically
improved in SL and HK. Others are following his lead. For $8 US at our
campus store, and less so off campus, they are a cheap investment to
add to a very expensive laptop.

Every dorm room and most spots on campus have multiple drops.  There's
only so far I'll go in accommodating convenience. When one of them
said "I won't do anything if it is not convenient" I replied "college
isn't always about your convenience; it's about learning. Buy a cord."

My old military-school habits die hard; Paul Villano will appreciate
that. I wonder what they'd say at TRADOC if someone groused about
convenience :)
------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Essid, University of Richmond Rhetoric & Communication Studies

Iggy Strangeland: Reaction Grid
Iggyo: Metaplace
Iggyo Heritage: Heritage Key
Ignatius Onomatopoeia: Second Life

blog: http://iggyo.blogspot.com
Web: http://virtualworldsedu.info/
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[Robin Ashford]

Thanks for this very helpful review, Pauline. I'm trying to hold off to make a decision after the Apple Tablet/iPad/Slate is released but I'm definitely in the market for something smaller and it must run SL. The fact that you could login to SL via O2 mobile is especially impressive.

-Robin Ashford (SL Robin Mochi)

On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 4:22 AM, Pauline Randall <[hidden email]> wrote:

 

I know that the issue of what laptops/pcs/netbooks to buy that run SL comes up from time to time on this list so I thought I’d report back about my new purchase.

 

I wanted something small/light to take with me when I travel on business but because of the nature of what I do I need something that would run SL slightly faster than snail’s pace! I also didn’t want to pay the earth for it!

 

After much coming and going I settled on a Samsung N510. To save repeating everything full spec is here - http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/notebook-computers/n-series/NP-N510-KA01UK/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

 

I added an extra 1Gb memory to take it up to 2Gb just to make sure it had a reasonable amount to work with. I bought my netbook a couple of weeks before Win 7 came out as I wasn’t sure when they would change to offering that as the OS. At the start of last week I decided to upgrade to Win 7 (clean install from XP) and have been delighted with both the netbook and the OS. I did need to go back to the Samsung site to download new drivers but they installed fine and everything was hunky dory. Looking at the website it looks like they are now sending it out with Win 7.

 

When I first logged into SL I was told my system wasn’t up to scratch but ignored that an pushed ahead and it runs very nicely. I’ve even ramped up the graphics settings  and it looks fab. I’ve just got back from a three-day trip to London with it. Been connecting to the outside world via O2 mobile broadband dongle and no problems. Connection is fast and runs really well. Uploaded a PowerPoint presentation to Slideshare from the train on Thursday so fast I thought I was imagining it. Logged into SL via O2 mobile to get some snapshots (so graphics settings high) and no probs with that either. I did quite a lot of work just from the battery and it ran fine although I didn’t attempt to login to SL just on battery power as I suspect that would drain it pretty fast.

 

At about 1kg lighter than my other laptop it was also a lot easier to carry around! I paid just over £400 plus the Win 7 upgrade software (best price I could find at the moment was Tesco!) I’d have probably saved a bit if I’d hung on until Win 7 came out but note that Amazon have it on sale at the moment under £400 but still with XP so I guess when you add memory and software upgrade maybe not that much difference in price.

 

Anyway, hope that helps someone!

 

Pauline (aka Liz Ferlinghetti)

 

---

Pauline Randall | Managing Director | virtual-e Ltd | www.virtual-e.co.uk

Email [hidden email] | Mob: [phone] | Twitter @virtualewit @virtualeltd

 

virtual-e: virtual world benefits through real world solutions

 

virtual-e Ltd is registered in Scotland SC345625

 

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[k\o\w]

Using a network cable won't do much for you if you have a good wifi
connection. Most of the problems laptops exhibit are render lag and not
network lag. I recommend using http://speedtest.net/ to test your
connection to San Francisco, CA, which is where most of SL is hosted. If
you get similar results on both wifi and ethernet, you likely won't see
any improvements when using a cable.

I use one of these retractable network cords which can be ordered for
less than $2USD shipped to anywhere in the world:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25115 . They have other
lengths if you look around.

Most laptops can't run at full speed on just the battery if you wanted
them too, and immediately downclock when you unplug from the wall. The
biggest performance boost you're going to get from a cable is by using
the power cable :)



On 11/7/2009 7:52 AM, Iggy O wrote:

> I was delighted to hear Pauline's story.  Now if we can convince
> Linden Lab to introduce a lighter client optimized for edu-users who
> tote laptops (or skim along with netbooks).
>
> One bit of advice to those new to SL and with systems that just meet
> spec (or not): plug in, don't use wireless.
>
> As Pauline did, my students ignored the system warnings when they have
> have new laptops with plenty of RAM. Most of my PC-carrying students
> got this warning with the first log on to SL or Heritage Key. My
> students all use laptops.  Let's not forget a marketing blitz from
> every computer maker that says "Going to college? Get a laptop!"
>
> Now, however, I'm going to draw back just a bit. I've told my class,
> whining about performance on Heritage Key (and a bit less so for SL)
> that they need to buy an Ethernet cord.
>
> One student did so, and his work with virtual worlds dramatically
> improved in SL and HK. Others are following his lead. For $8 US at our
> campus store, and less so off campus, they are a cheap investment to
> add to a very expensive laptop.
>
> Every dorm room and most spots on campus have multiple drops.  There's
> only so far I'll go in accommodating convenience. When one of them
> said "I won't do anything if it is not convenient" I replied "college
> isn't always about your convenience; it's about learning. Buy a cord."
>
> My old military-school habits die hard; Paul Villano will appreciate
> that. I wonder what they'd say at TRADOC if someone groused about
> convenience :)
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Joe Essid, University of Richmond Rhetoric&  Communication Studies
>
> Iggy Strangeland: Reaction Grid
> Iggyo: Metaplace
> Iggyo Heritage: Heritage Key
> Ignatius Onomatopoeia: Second Life
>
> blog: http://iggyo.blogspot.com
> Web: http://virtualworldsedu.info/
> _______________________________________________
> Educators mailing list
> To unsubscribe
> https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
>
>    

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[Larry Havenstein-2]

We do need a light weight version of the SL client from Linden Labs for people who went cheap.  Its not just
light weight computers but the budget ones that are also an issue and often have the same graphics.

Maybe a port to DirectX 9 so the OpenGL issues in cheap systems didn't have to be delt with.  I know they did
OpenGL so they could support Windows, Mac and Linux,  but its normally not well supported on many budget
PCs.

One of the things we are finding when students take classes involving SL is probably 1/4 or more of the
students in the classes don't have computers that can run SL enough for the class.   Mom and Dad often buy
the bargain when they get a student computer as they think the student only needs to do wordprocessing and
spreadsheet,  and the parents don't want the student "Playing Games".

We have campus recommendations for what should be brought to campus but many don't pay attention to
them.

On 7 Nov 2009 at 7:52, Iggy O wrote:

> I was delighted to hear Pauline's story.  Now if we can convince
> Linden Lab to introduce a lighter client optimized for edu-users who
> tote laptops (or skim along with netbooks).
>
> One bit of advice to those new to SL and with systems that just meet
> spec (or not): plug in, don't use wireless.
>
> As Pauline did, my students ignored the system warnings when they have
> have new laptops with plenty of RAM. Most of my PC-carrying students
> got this warning with the first log on to SL or Heritage Key. My
> students all use laptops.  Let's not forget a marketing blitz from
> every computer maker that says "Going to college? Get a laptop!"
>
> Now, however, I'm going to draw back just a bit. I've told my class,
> whining about performance on Heritage Key (and a bit less so for SL)
> that they need to buy an Ethernet cord.
>
> One student did so, and his work with virtual worlds dramatically
> improved in SL and HK. Others are following his lead. For $8 US at our
> campus store, and less so off campus, they are a cheap investment to
> add to a very expensive laptop.
>
> Every dorm room and most spots on campus have multiple drops.  There's
> only so far I'll go in accommodating convenience. When one of them
> said "I won't do anything if it is not convenient" I replied "college
> isn't always about your convenience; it's about learning. Buy a cord."
>
> My old military-school habits die hard; Paul Villano will appreciate
> that. I wonder what they'd say at TRADOC if someone groused about
> convenience :)
> ------------------------------------------------------------ Joe
> Essid, University of Richmond Rhetoric & Communication Studies
>
> Iggy Strangeland: Reaction Grid
> Iggyo: Metaplace
> Iggyo Heritage: Heritage Key
> Ignatius Onomatopoeia: Second Life
>
> blog: http://iggyo.blogspot.com
> Web: http://virtualworldsedu.info/
> _______________________________________________
> Educators mailing list
> To unsubscribe
> https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators

 <Larry>++

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Larry Havenstein
  System Engineer & KSRE/COA Computer Security Officer
  Information & Educational Technology
  Department of Communications
  K-State Research & Extension
  Kansas State University      
   [phone]
       
  [hidden email]                        
 




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[Rolig Loon]

That's why many campuses, starting a decade ago, started requiring --
not recommending -- a specific computer for all students. It saves on
costs and headaches for everyone from the IT support staff to the
faculty in the classrooms, and it makes life a lot easier for the
students, who don't have to go through all manner of gymnastics to
share information (and spare parts) among their machines.

Rolig

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Larry Havenstein <[hidden email]> wrote:
Mom and Dad often buy
> the bargain when they get a student computer as they think the student only needs to do wordprocessing and
> spreadsheet,  and the parents don't want the student "Playing Games".
>
> We have campus recommendations for what should be brought to campus but many don't pay attention to
> them.
>
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[David Gillett]

  This idea gets brought up in our Educational Technology Advisory Committee
about every 18 months
or so.  And it always gets shot down, on the basis that as a Community
College, we have a duty to
be accessible even to economically disadvantaged students.  Never mind that
the campus Film & TV
department has no difficulty requiring students to provide their own video
camera...
  (Our campus tech support group only supports computers that are owned by
the college, btw.)

David Gillett
Stealth Snook


-----Original Message-----
From: Rolig Loon [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 07:34
To: [hidden email]; SL Educators (The SLED List)
Subject: Re: [SLED] Netbooks for SL

That's why many campuses, starting a decade ago, started requiring -- not
recommending -- a specific computer for all students. It saves on costs and
headaches for everyone from the IT support staff to the faculty in the
classrooms, and it makes life a lot easier for the students, who don't have
to go through all manner of gymnastics to share information (and spare
parts) among their machines.

Rolig

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Larry Havenstein <[hidden email]> wrote:
Mom and Dad often buy
> the bargain when they get a student computer as they think the student
> only needs to do wordprocessing and spreadsheet,  and the parents don't
want the student "Playing Games".
>
> We have campus recommendations for what should be brought to campus
> but many don't pay attention to them.
>
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[Rolig Loon]

Yeah, circumstances are different on every campus.  Requiring a
standard machine for all students is not practical for some
institutions, as you suggest that it is not for the one you serve. Off
the top of my head, though, I can think of a half dozen excellent
examples of campuses where it has worked very well. Michigan Tech (in
Houghton), Wake Forest (NC), and Winona State (MN) leap readily to my
mind as places that have realized substantial financial savings as
well as documented educational benefits. I know that schools wrestle
with this option all the time, and I know that there are substantial
up-front costs to heading in this direction ... enough to make many
administrators wince and dismiss the idea out of hand. Still, it's
worth putting on the table periodically.

Rolig

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 11:57 AM, David Gillett <[hidden email]> wrote:

>  This idea gets brought up in our Educational Technology Advisory Committee
> about every 18 months
> or so.  And it always gets shot down, on the basis that as a Community
> College, we have a duty to
> be accessible even to economically disadvantaged students.  Never mind that
> the campus Film & TV
> department has no difficulty requiring students to provide their own video
> camera...
>  (Our campus tech support group only supports computers that are owned by
> the college, btw.)
>
> David Gillett
> Stealth Snook
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rolig Loon [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 07:34
> To: [hidden email]; SL Educators (The SLED List)
> Subject: Re: [SLED] Netbooks for SL
>
> That's why many campuses, starting a decade ago, started requiring -- not
> recommending -- a specific computer for all students. It saves on costs and
> headaches for everyone from the IT support staff to the faculty in the
> classrooms, and it makes life a lot easier for the students, who don't have
> to go through all manner of gymnastics to share information (and spare
> parts) among their machines.
>
> Rolig
>
> On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Larry Havenstein <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Mom and Dad often buy
>> the bargain when they get a student computer as they think the student
>> only needs to do wordprocessing and spreadsheet,  and the parents don't
> want the student "Playing Games".
>>
>> We have campus recommendations for what should be brought to campus
>> but many don't pay attention to them.
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Educators mailing list
> To unsubscribe
> https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> To unsubscribe
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>
>

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[Larry Havenstein-2]

The idea gets shot down here for simular reasons since we are a state university.   I would love to have more
say in what is used, but it won't happen very fast.    

On 10 Nov 2009 at 9:57, David Gillett wrote:

>   This idea gets brought up in our Educational Technology Advisory
>   Committee
> about every 18 months
> or so.  And it always gets shot down, on the basis that as a Community
> College, we have a duty to be accessible even to economically
> disadvantaged students.  Never mind that the campus Film & TV
> department has no difficulty requiring students to provide their own
> video camera...
>   (Our campus tech support group only supports computers that are
>   owned by
> the college, btw.)
>
> David Gillett
> Stealth Snook
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rolig Loon [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 07:34
> To: [hidden email]; SL Educators (The SLED List)
> Subject: Re: [SLED] Netbooks for SL
>
> That's why many campuses, starting a decade ago, started requiring --
> not recommending -- a specific computer for all students. It saves on
> costs and headaches for everyone from the IT support staff to the
> faculty in the classrooms, and it makes life a lot easier for the
> students, who don't have to go through all manner of gymnastics to
> share information (and spare parts) among their machines.
>
> Rolig
>
> On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Larry Havenstein <[hidden email]>
> wrote: Mom and Dad often buy > the bargain when they get a student
> computer as they think the student > only needs to do wordprocessing
> and spreadsheet,  and the parents don't want the student "Playing
> Games". > > We have campus recommendations for what should be brought
> to campus > but many don't pay attention to them. >
> _______________________________________________ Educators mailing list
> To unsubscribe
> https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
>
>

 <Larry>++

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Larry Havenstein
  System Engineer & KSRE/COA Computer Security Officer
  Information & Educational Technology
  Department of Communications
  K-State Research & Extension
  Kansas State University      
   [phone]
       
  [hidden email]                        
 




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[Rolig Loon]

Michigan Tech and Winona State are also state universities, and they
each have a robust laptop requirement. That's not the controlling
issue.  It's a matter of local politics, campus motivation, and
collective willpower.  Arguably, it IS a matter of size, since the
larger an insitution is, the more complex its constituencies are and
the harder it is to achieve a consensus on anything. Because the
largest institutions are state-manipulated, as KSU is, there is a
correlation. Still, if you could get past the gargantuan challenge of
convincing the campus that this was a worthwhile change, I doubt that
you'd find that it made much difference that you happen to be a state
university.

Rolig

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 12:49 PM, Larry Havenstein <[hidden email]> wrote:

> The idea gets shot down here for simular reasons since we are a state university.   I would love to have more
> say in what is used, but it won't happen very fast.
>
> On 10 Nov 2009 at 9:57, David Gillett wrote:
>
>>   This idea gets brought up in our Educational Technology Advisory
>>   Committee
>> about every 18 months
>> or so.  And it always gets shot down, on the basis that as a Community
>> College, we have a duty to be accessible even to economically
>> disadvantaged students.  Never mind that the campus Film & TV
>> department has no difficulty requiring students to provide their own
>> video camera...
>>   (Our campus tech support group only supports computers that are
>>   owned by
>> the college, btw.)
>>
>> David Gillett
>> Stealth Snook
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rolig Loon [mailto:[hidden email]]
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 07:34
>> To: [hidden email]; SL Educators (The SLED List)
>> Subject: Re: [SLED] Netbooks for SL
>>
>> That's why many campuses, starting a decade ago, started requiring --
>> not recommending -- a specific computer for all students. It saves on
>> costs and headaches for everyone from the IT support staff to the
>> faculty in the classrooms, and it makes life a lot easier for the
>> students, who don't have to go through all manner of gymnastics to
>> share information (and spare parts) among their machines.
>>
>> Rolig
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM, Larry Havenstein <[hidden email]>
>> wrote: Mom and Dad often buy > the bargain when they get a student
>> computer as they think the student > only needs to do wordprocessing
>> and spreadsheet,  and the parents don't want the student "Playing
>> Games". > > We have campus recommendations for what should be brought
>> to campus > but many don't pay attention to them. >
>> _______________________________________________ Educators mailing list
>> To unsubscribe
>> https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
>>
>>
>
>
>
>  <Larry>++
>
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  Larry Havenstein
>  System Engineer & KSRE/COA Computer Security Officer
>  Information & Educational Technology
>  Department of Communications
>  K-State Research & Extension
>  Kansas State University
>   [phone]
>
>  [hidden email]
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Educators mailing list
> To unsubscribe
> https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators
>

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