🚀 go-pugleaf

In response to Chris Rowans request for information about what
to purchase with his $7,000 grant -- the list of proposed
equipment would cost MANY times the $7,000 sum you have.  To
get the most "bang for the buck" you will need to go the
IBM-compatible direction.  MAC computers are just too expensive
right now.  Second, you need to shop around for prices.  For
example, a 9600 baud modem is nice (and probably unnecessary).
You can easily spend $500 for such a modem.  If you look
around, you will be able to purchase an excellent 14.4K modem
for about $250.  If a 2400 baud modem will do the job, you can
get one for under $50.00.

Regarding computers, I just purchased 13 systems for under
$19,000.  I am getting 33MHz 386 computers with 120MB hard
drives, 4MB RAM, internal CD ROM, 14" non-interlaced SVGA
monitors, plus windows and DOS.  Shop around.  I recommend
getting the Computer Shopper magazine for ideas and prices but
try to get a similar price from a local store.

One area that you can easily get burned in is the CD ROM
drive.  MANY CD ROMs are too slow to be useful.  You can easily
find CD ROM drives for under $200 but, when you look au the
specifications, you see that they have average seek times of
600ms or more (some have 1000ms).  If you are trying to use
large data files (e.g., for images), you can find that it will
take 15-20 minutes to generate one image.  Many new CD ROM
drives are coming on the market and you should be able to get
an excellent one for $300.  Insist on average seek times of no
more than 350 ms.  The fastest drive, incidentially, is the
Toshiba (200 ms) but the price right now is about $695.  It
will come down.

Another thing to keep in mind on computer purchases:  the new
Intel '586' chip should hit the market in early 1993.  This
should drive the price of the old '386' and '486' systems down
rapidly.  You can already buy a '486' computer for under $1000
but the price will drop even further.  Be patient.

If I can be of help, please feel free to contact me directly.
My office is tasked with helping teachers get technology into
the science classroom.  We will do what we can to help.

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William Johnson (Bill)                   wjohnson@earthsun.umd.edu
Teacher Coordinator
Joint Education Initiative
3433 A.V. Williams
University of Maryland                            (301) 405-2324
College Park, 20742-3281
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