DET wants thin laptops at $500 for NSW students

NSW Premier Nathan Rees said the Government was wasting no time in working to deliver this technology to our students.

Rees said Expressions of Interest for the delivery of student laptops are now live via the Department of Commerce website.

According to documents filed on the site, the computers will cost around $500 per unit with running costs bringing the cost per student to $2245.

The devices must be no larger than an A4 sheet of paper - as thin as possible -have as large screen and keyboard as possible within the overall size envelope and weigh no more 1.75 kilograms.

The tender document states the $500 cost associated with the machine must includes software that runs on both Windows and Apple Mac OSX platforms.

The DET wants the screen size to be a minimum of 8.9 inches, measured diagonally, with an 'appropriate' overall outside case dimension to accommodate an appropriately sized keyboard (and potentially a pointing device).

To mitigate the security risk the device needs to be locked to the DET network, only allowing access to Internet services via DET’s network infrastructure (either from within the school or from any other location).

The machine will not work unless the user has a DET username and password.

Vendors are invited to propose additional features that would improve the security of the device, whether in hardware or software.

These might include; reporting the device’s identity and use when it connects to any network; and programming the device to be unusable after a certain number of off-network sessions (that is, the device needs to authenticate to a DET directory once in every, say, five sessions with the ability to adjust the grace period for holidays or special cases).

The product must be warranted for the required four year period against hardware failure (including its removable battery).

Vendors are invited to offer a support model over the warranty period.