There are many local and national retail outlets that sell reasonably priced devices suitable for student use at school. It is up to the student and their family to make a choice as to which brand they want to go with.
Recommended device specifications
- 10" (minimum) screen.
- Keyboard.
- Dual Band Wi-Fi Access - Make sure it has 2.4Ghz/5Ghz dual band wireless,to access the school and home network.
- Lightweight - Aim for under 1.5Kg.
- 6-hour battery life minimum. Make sure it lasts a 6-hour school day.
- USB ports - Needed to connect digital peripherals, such as a printer, external storage.
- High performance - Look for, Intel Core™ i3, Core™ i5 and Core™ i7 in Windows machines and Apple products that are within the last two versions
- Durable for everyday school use - Purchase a protective case, Look for solid state drives.
- Storage - At least 128GB of storage in laptops, at least 32GB of storage in tablets,
- Memory - Minimum of 8GB RAM to run Windows. Minimum of 4GB RAM for Chromebook.
Wireless Specs: Wireless N, 5 GHz
Wireless capable does not guarantee that the device is going to work on the 5 GHz range. Many wireless N devices are 2.4 GHz and will not work on 5GHz wireless. If you want to connect to the school wireless, you must ensure that your device has the following wireless specifications:
Device must have 802.11n on 5GHz which can also be known as Dual Band, 802.11abgn, 802.11agn or 802.11ac. NOTE: b.g.n wireless is not 5 GHz however if the specs contain an ‘a’, for example 802.11 a,g,n this will be wireless N 5 GHz. Wireless ‘a’ is 5 GHz.
If you own an existing device that will not connect to the school wireless, ask the retailer about a USB adapter that may be able to boost devices to the Wireless N 5 GHz range (eg. wireless AC dual band USB adapter). A micro adapter is more expensive but is much smaller.
Software for student owned devices
These products are available at no cost to all DoE students under our enterprise agreement.
Office 365 – online Office apps
To access: Student portal > Learning > Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 Desktop Apps – may be installed on up to five computers and ten mobile devices.
To install: Student portal > Learning > Office 365 > Install Office
Adobe
The NSW Department of Education have now enabled Single-Sign-On and if you are a current student, you can now access your favourite Adobe applications using your school email address. You can find more information on the NSW DoE website by clicking on this URL to find out how to download your new Adobe applications.
Maclean High HP Portal
To make things easier for you we have set up a Maclean High School ordering portal with HP computers. They have different models available at lower prices for students.
School Code: macleanhs