New equipment at CALL: Toshiba NB250 Netbook

Posted by Robert Stewart on the 17th August, 2011

CALL now has a large bank of netbooks and our latest edition is the Toshiba NB250. A good little netbook which is light weight, cheap (£225 via the Procurement Scotland contract), long 8 hour battery life and relatively fast if you are using one or two programs. Note that netbooks are not designed for multi tasking and so wont handle lots of programs running at the same time. This is because of the Intel Atom processor which is limited due to heat output in such a small package. CALL has installed Windows XP on all the netbooks since even Windows 7 (starter) is extremely sluggish due to the type of processor.

Basic specification:

• 1Gb Ram;
• 160Gb Hard Drive;
• Windows XP Pro;
• 10.1" screen;
• 6 cell battery (up to 8 hour batter life);
• 1.33Kg weight.

They are particularly practical in schools because they:

• are small and light and easy to carry around;
• don’t take up much space on the desk, so you have room for books and resources;
• have a long battery life, freeing you from mains power;
• are a bit more cool than AlphaSmarts.

They don’t suit everyone: the keyboard may be too small and cramped for some people and the small 10” screen may be too small for people with visual difficulties.