Picture Frames Express. Microsoft Surface Pro review. I really want to like the Surface Pro. A full Windows 8 Pro device in tablet form has the potential to shake up the mobile computing world, offering genuine computing power in a truly portable package. To be *that* device the Surface Pro doesn't need to match the iPad or Nexus 10 in terms of thinness and lightness, or even battery life - after all, it offers functionality more akin to that of a laptop than a Windows tablet. But it does need to come close. The Surface Pro launches in the UK on 23 May 2013. The good news is that the Surface Pro offers Ultrabook performance in a chassis only marginally thicker than the Surface RT.
Surface Pro: Design and build It's difficult to know how to judge the Surface Pro's design. Could not load plugins: File not found Make no mistake: the Surface Pro is one hot and heavy device. The Surface Pro does retain the design plus points of the Surface RT. The Surface Pro has a better display than did the RT. Surface Pro: storage Here we meet only good news. Microsoft Surface Pro hands-on impressions from CES. LAS VEGAS— Perhaps you remember Surface RT. It was Microsoft’s bid to become a legitimate computer hardware manufacturer—a Windows-based tablet with a clever, snappy, magnetically attached keyboard cover. It looked great. It felt great. It had all the pluck and presence of Grade A industrial design.
Surface RT gave us the touch control of Microsoft’s modern U.I., but was also intended to serve as a solid, no-excuses PC productivity station. The tablet even came with a starter version of Microsoft Office to help fulfill that promise. But Surface RT was also laden with a crappy OS—hobbled by Windows RT and its “desktop as barren wasteland” conceit. The good money has always been on Surface Pro. But, most importantly, Surface Pro bids adieu to the nonsense of Windows RT, and delivers Windows 8 Pro instead. Screen: Yes, thanks for the extra pixels image: microsoft We also ran Surface RT with an external display, driving a behemoth, high-res monitor via the Pro’s Mini DisplayPort adapter. Review: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook. To be fair to Lenovo, reviewing the IdeaPad Yoga shouldn't really be all about Windows 8. After all, this touchscreen Ultrabook – that bends over backwards to become a fully fledged tablet – is a well crafted piece of hardware with engineering merits of its own.
So what, if it runs Windows 8? So do a lot of PCs these days. The fact is, if Windows 8 didn't exist, the IdeaPad Yoga 13 and a whole host of touch and type ‘convertible’ laptops wouldn't need to exist either. Windows 7 seemed to do the job quite nicely, after all. Convertible season: Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 13 Ultrabook Luckily, I'm past the toe-curling hatred of Microsoft's new OS. In short, and if you didn't know it already, Windows 8 without a touchscreen is tedious. Note the Windows button that toggles between apps and the Start screen The thinking behind the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is to offer flexibility without complexity.
The El Reg Windows 8 app in the Yoga's Stand position. Essa Academy: Bookless school where everyone has iPad. The Future of Education: Tablets vs. Textbooks. When New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in her run for mayor, said she had a $300 million education agenda to cover the cost of a tablet for every student, according to the New York Times, the move would have saved around $100 million by dumping traditional textbooks.
But the idea makes people nervous: replacing books with tablets sounds too good to be true. Politicians love to talk about technology with education, and from New York to New Mexico, a sea of change is happening in the classroom, as schools introduce tablets and apps into the curriculum. But these big ideas carry big price tags, and even bigger risks, and success in helping children learn isn’t as easy as simply buying a bunch of iPads. Just look at the laptop. Decades ago, schools asked the same basic question: do computing device help children learn? Research, collected in the early 2000s when schools began to adopt laptops, says yes, but in more different ways than you might think. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
IT Provision in Secondary Schools in 2011 – The Masterplan. Another what’s the best way forward? Blog post where I try and dissect my own thinking on what IT provision should look like in a Secondary School in 2011. Continue the current mix of laptop trolleys and IT suites or move towards a 1 to 1 environment of tablets or laptops? Are tablets the answer? Financial Planning This year so far has been all about planning ahead for me. We’ve started the process of planning two completely new courses to deliver to our students in ICT, and I’m delighted that both GCSE Computing & Creative iMedia have enough students interested for me to run both courses next year. Next on my hit-list is managing & planning our IT provision across the whole site for the next few years. The Status Quo We have 750 students aged 11-16, in total we have approximately 300 desktop PCs and 250 laptops within the school.
This is also an impressive appearing ratio of Devices:Students of over 1:2. And then there is the reality of a lesson using IT. ICT Investment Planner v.1.04. The Proposed Scheme | Tablets. Please view the letter to parents regarding the new plan – February 2013 The original proposal was for a “big bang” with tablets being introduced for all students in September 2013.
The new plan is a phased approach: Students starting at Chesterton in Year 7 in September 2013 Students will not have a tablet device during Year 7 and will not have the option to bring one in. Students who will be in Year 8 in September 2013 All Year 8 students will be lent a personal i-Pad ‘Mini’ for the year, for use both at school and at home. In September 2014, when these students start Year 9, parents will be invited to provide them with a device for their remaining three years at Chesterton, as explained in the next section. Students who will be in Year 9 in September 2013 We want all Year 9 students to have a personal i-Pad Mini, or compatible i-Pad family device, for use at school and at home during Years 9, 10, and 11. If the scheme goes ahead, the school will ensure that every student has a device.