This article was originally posted on my other blog at MrWarner.com. I thought that readers of Teaching News might find it interesting too.

A while ago, I was was offered the chance to receive a Dell Latitude 2100 netbook for review purposes. While I don’t normally write reviews for products on my blogs, I agreed to take a look at the machine for two reasons:

1. My blog post ‘Using Flip Video in the classroom‘ has become extremely popular, attracting lots of views and receiving the most comments of all of the posts here. So, I thought that readers of the blog might also be interested in hearing my experiences of using another gadget in the classroom.
2. I love computers (most of the time!), so it was a nice opportunity to play with a new ‘toy’ without having to spend any money.

Before writing the rest of this post, I want to make it clear that I’m not receiving any payment for this review… and I don’t get to keep the laptop (sadly!).

When I first received the Latitude 2100, I was instantly impressed at how small, compact and sturdy it is. It is covered with a rubber casing which makes it extremely eye-catching and easy to hold. The one that I received was ‘School Bus Gold’ (i.e. yellow)… it’s certainly bright and colourful, but the red and blue ones look smarter (although I’m just fussy!). You can see more images of the netbook on Dell’s site or on Flickr. The machine is supposedly ‘influenced by the needs of primary and secondary students’. Having used it in the classroom for a number of weeks, I can certainly see that it would make a valuable addition to primary and secondary classrooms if you don’t already have netbooks.

Booting and Connections

My review machine is quick to boot into Windows 7, which runs very well. As a Mac user, I’ve only used Windows XP at school over recent years (skipping Vista completely). However, it was very easy to get the machine up and running, connecting it to my home wireless network quickly and allowing me to browse the Internet and listen to BBC Radio via the desktop radio gadget.

It was also incredibly easy to use at school, again connecting to our wireless network and enabling us to use lots of web tools in the classroom (Superclubs Plus, Etherpad, Google Docs etc.). The machine doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive and I didn’t install any software on it (apart from Microsoft Security Essentials for virus protection), but most of our ICT work has been online, so this wasn’t an issue. I am sure that it could be connected to a school’s network so that software can be installed in that way if necessary.

Touchscreen

One cool feature of the netbook is the touchscreen. It’s really nice to be able to interact with the machine by tapping on the screen, but the novelty of this can wear off after a while if you’re more used to using a mouse / trackpad. For younger children who might not be as experienced with the trackpad, it is very easy to control the machine by simply touching the icons. Browsing around the web in this way is also easy … I found it very comfortable to hold the machine on my lap and navigate the web by tapping on the hyperlinks.

I did find using scroll bars to be a little awkward… as I had to drag the slider bars (which are much slimmer than my fingers). However, the children (with their much smaller fingers) were whizzing around the screen really quickly. As an iPhone user, I was also expecting to be able to touch and drag on any part of a web page to move around, but this wasn’t possible.

Design

I’ve shown the machine to lots of children at school, as well as friends and family. Everyone has been impressed with how it looks and performs. People couldn’t believe that it was a computer when I first showed it to them. One person mentioned that it looked more like a folder or an exercise book than a laptop.

I was also really pleased with the keyboard. I do have a netbook of my own and the keyboard on that seems a little cramped at times, making typing for long periods a little uncomfortable. However, the keys seem a little larger on the Latitude 2100, making it easy to type on for those with big or little hands!

At our school, we all use standard sized laptops. We don’t have an ICT suite, so large (and heavy) trolleys of laptops move around the classrooms for use in all curriculum areas. Our laptops take over most of the children’s desk space when they’re using them in the classroom, leaving little room for other equipment that might be needed (paper / books etc.). I can really see the benefits of the netbook form factor and would love to have a set of these in my classroom which the children can grab as and when they are needed. The Dell site shows a ‘mobile computing solution’ which can hold and charge 24 of the little machines… I wonder if I can convince my headteacher to buy one?!

Durability, Performance and Reliability

The netbook is extremely tough. I’ve been carrying it back and forwards to school for the past few weeks. I’m normally very careful with my laptops, making sure that they are packed away carefully in my bags. However, I haven’t needed to be as ‘precious’ with this netbook. The tough rubber casing meant that I could just pop it in my bag without worry.

It also performed well in all of the tasks that we used it for… as I mentioned, most of our use of the machine was online. It worked extremely quickly in everything we asked it to do and we didn’t experience any crashes or technical problems.

Battery life hasn’t been an issue either and the battery is removable, so it would be possible to swap batteries in the middle of a lesson if required.

Potential Issues

The screen size can be a problem at times, especially when you are browsing websites with lots of content. However, this is the nature of using a netbook I suppose.

Dell’s site also mentions an optional carry handle which would also provide a little more peace of mind for all if children were allowed to carry them around the classroom. A number of other design features are mentioned on the site which help teachers and pupils to use the machines at school, including:

• a keyboard with antimicrobial protection (which it is claimed, ‘helps inhibit and reduce bacterial growth’),
• network activity lights (to help teachers monitor children’s use of the machines),
• personalisation windows (to help teachers, children and technicians to identify each machine).

Summary

Overall, I’m really pleased with the Latitude 2100. It’s a tough and reliable little machine which looks good and would be great for a teacher to use, carrying back and forth to school… or for a pupil to use as an additional tool in the classroom. The children who used my loan machine were certainly impressed with it, and others who saw it were desperately keen to try it out as well!

Sadly, I have now returned the Latitude 2100, but I would love one for personal use. I can definitely see the benefits of having a set of netbooks like these to help embed technology in the classroom even further.