Fresno schools buy 1,000 Eee PCs, Asus launches 2G Surf model

The OLPC and Classmate PC may be getting most of the attention these days with their attempts to win over as many schools as possible, but it looks like Asus' Eee PC is starting to make some moves of its own, with the Fresno Unified School District recently snagging 1,000 of the laptops in an attempt to boost student scores. As The San Francisco Chronicle reports, the schools also went the extra step of getting the laptops pre-installed with Windows and other Microsoft software, which apparently brought the total cost to $464 a seat. Also according the Chronicle, it seems that Asus has officially launched its $299 2G Surf model a little ahead of the January date we first heard about, although it still seems to be nigh impossible to come by, at least at the moment.

[Thanks, Bill]

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 14th 2007 5:10PM]

such lucky kids. When i went to school I had an Apple IIe.
Hey, who took my Trapper Keeper?

[L.M.L.Y.P @ Dec 14th 2007 5:12PM]

we used imacs :((((

[Dean @ Dec 14th 2007 5:22PM]

i had apple II in elementary school, needless to say, i enjoyed number munchers and ripping the perforated edges off the printed pages.

[AnnDee @ Dec 14th 2007 5:51PM]

These kids are not lucky, the Fresno Unified School district is horrible.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 14th 2007 6:02PM]

number munchers! god i hate those prime numbers!

[Tavis Veighey @ Dec 14th 2007 6:03PM]

My school had 5 Commodore 64 computers, and they all shared 1 5.25" Floppy Drive!

[JimyD @ Dec 14th 2007 6:51PM]

We had Pee-Chee folders and pencils.

[Callused Fingers @ Dec 20th 2007 5:14AM]

When I went to school I had a sliderule.

And no one had a calculator, except this

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/object_images/535x535/10303274.jpg

or this

http://www.cs.umass.edu/~weems/CmpSci535/535images/ENIAC%20Tubes.JPG


.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 14th 2007 5:10PM]

such lucky kids. When i went to school I had an Apple IIe.
Hey, who took my Trapper Keeper?

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 14th 2007 5:11PM]

double post FTL. ;(

[matttX @ Dec 14th 2007 5:51PM]

fresno school district spoils their students enough

[Jim @ Dec 14th 2007 5:54PM]

We had PETS and VIC20 with a speed enhance TAPE DRIVE! Lucky for me they retired the simulated punch card machine to the back of the room!

[Ian @ Dec 14th 2007 5:58PM]

A Vic20! Cor blimey, what we'd have done for a Vic20!

In my day, we had a rock and a patch of sand to run assembly code on. And we were grateful for it too, let me tell you!

[Akshat @ Dec 14th 2007 6:01PM]

Mm don't get me wrong i love the EEE, but for near $500, won't the school be better off with some decently featured Dell PCs or something, and not these laptops? What exactly will these be used for in a classroom setting? Supreme portability and the advantages of SSD may somewhat be lost for school education no?

[Kris @ Dec 14th 2007 6:16PM]

Hell yeah...Word Munchers, Number Munchers, Summer Games, Winter Games, Oregon Trail in the Apple IIe lab FOR THE WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (c) me, 4th grade

[Dennis @ Dec 14th 2007 8:18PM]

hey I live in Fresno

[Tank71 @ Dec 14th 2007 7:15PM]

My High School has over a thousand MacBooks. Most of them are in these heavy-duty carts that charge and store the computers.

The funny thing is, the MacBooks in most of the technology classes run WinXP.

[SteveS @ Dec 14th 2007 8:09PM]

I have yet to see ANY evidence (published or anecdotal) that shows that having computers in the classroom "improves scores". Scores on what? Tetris? The Computer Science AP exam? Computers in the classroom are a distraction and provide minimal added benefit over a well-written textbook (not to mention the cost).

For all those who had Apple II's in school? What did you learn from your time on Oregon Trail? Could that time have been better used?

Computers are a valuable part of education however they do not belong in the classroom, they need to stay home.

[silverblackvoid @ Dec 15th 2007 5:32AM]

stop bitchin

[rick @ Dec 14th 2007 10:14PM]

maybe they should used the money to hire or train teachers .. oh right this is 2007.. no child left behind- it doest matter - kids'll be passed anyways

[rick @ Dec 14th 2007 10:17PM]

fresno school district robbed of its new computers... that'll be the headline in a few weeks...days? only in america.

[Tavis Veighey @ Dec 14th 2007 10:42PM]

At $400.00 a pop, I would rather grab a referb $400.00 laptop. The referb will have more ram, storage, and include a DVD Burner!

I am sorry but this Eee is really only worth $150-$200 to me.

[asdf asdfds sd @ Dec 16th 2007 1:19AM]

Buying in such a large quantity, they should be able to get full-blown laptops for $464 a pop.

I can't believe they are paying full price for a bulk purchase.

The tax payer is screwed again. As usual.

[Dave @ Dec 15th 2007 10:38PM]

How many support techs will Fresno hire to support 1000 new Windows boxes—two or three? Cost savings on Mac support would have offset thiw additional cost for years. Once any "GOVERNMENT" hires new staff the budget is increased forever. This is another example of government out of control. The good news is that the State of CA keeps threatening to take over Fresno Schools. Yes, things can get worse.

I support school vouchers so parents and kids can choose their school. Were this an option, then public schools would soon be out-of-business.

[bob @ Dec 16th 2007 10:58PM]

Is it me or do those laptops look like white Macbooks? (like a cheaper, uglier version).

'If you can't innovate, you imitate.' ;)

[slyguy19k @ Dec 17th 2007 2:15PM]

lets see, 1,000 laptops @ $464 apiece. how does that add up to 600k that was stated the school spent on these units on an earlier post?