From a management standpoint it would be nice if all the laptops on the wireless network are identical.  Unfortunately, this is not pratical.  Over time laptops will come and go and eventually you reach the point where you have a wide variety of memory/processor/peripheral equipment configurations.  Therefore, instead of recommending a specific laptop configuration, we only want to address some important aspects of the laptop in the wireless classroom.  We also provide our selection and give our reasons for making this selection.
 
 CONSIDERATIONS:

1. PCMCIA:

The host computer in the wireless classroom is normally a laptop computer equiped with a network antenna.  Since the most of the wireless network antennas attach to pcmcia cards, the laptop must have a pcmcia slot.
 
1. Batteries:

Wireless operation requires battery power and interactive multimedia can be a big drain on a battery.  In addition to the CPU/disk consuming power, the wireless card consumes significant power to transmit data (A 2.4 GHz card uses about half the power of a 915 MHz card to transmit the same data (WaveLAN/PCMCIA Card Guide).  In many cases, multimedia materials are distributed with the text in CDROM format which students use during the class, consuming additional power.  External artpads and video/audio devices will consume additional power.
Because battery power is so crucial, we recommend the purchasing the best batteries you can get.  In our case these were Lithium Ion batteries.  A second backup battery is highly recommended.

1. Screen Space:

Students will want to view the collaborative whiteboard, use a word processor for taking notes, surf the net, or rerun the example just discussed.  In other words, the screen must be large enough to have several windows open side-by-side at the same time.  Thus it is important to get the biggest screens possible with the highest resolution possible.  Our student laptops had 11.5'' screens which students generally felt were too small.

We decided to use Gateway Laptops for a variety of reasons.  First of all, the Gateway laptop comes with a builti-in scratchpad which is easier to use when notes on the laptops compared to a joystick or trackball (see  Input Devices ).  Secondly, the Gateway laptops also have nice, big screens for laptops.  Another important feature for us is that the major laptop operating systems, Windows 95, Windows NT and Linux, all work on the Gateway laptops.  Finally,  Gateway was willing to sell us laptops at a highly discounted rate.

LINKS:

 Gateway Computers