Before finals Information Technology Services (ITS) polled patrons at the Perkins Reference desk to see which netbook they preferred the Lenovo s12 or the slightly smaller Lenovo s10e. 9 of 10 surveyed said they preferred the slightly larger s12 over the s10e because the larger keyboard was easier to use and the 10 inch screen display was clearer. Some also felt the wireless on the s12 was faster. Overall the larger model was easier to use while not compromising portability. Based on these findings, we will likely purchase the s12 to replace the current pool of loaner laptops next fall.
Patrons were also asked what software they would like on these laptops. Most said they would need Office and a Web browser but there were also requests for Adobe products and EndNote. What software would you would like us to include on the build?
Written by Debra Kurtz
I would like to suggest that foreign language compatibility is a must, though I admit this could open the floodgates with so many options. I type a lot in Greek (GreekKeys, not modern), and, while it is frustrating when it is not a default language option, it is even more frustrating when administrator privileges block me from activating it.
what about endnote? It’s what many sci/tech people use.
ann, you’re right about endnote. for some reason i remembered the request as refworks and have edited the original post. i’ll send this and all recommendations to the desktop support staff for consideration. will update everyone closer to the fall semester.
Perhaps Open Office, especially the text editor? it’s much more stable than Word 2007 and will still let one save in Office 2003 format. What about having dual boot option with an Ubuntu or other open OS as an alternative to Windows?
Endnote will be on the netbook for sure
I will check out the Language Compatibility’s issue
probably not Open Office (hard enough supporting one office suite)
Dual boot probably not to much IT overhead for our small library IT dept.
Adobe Acrobat Pro would be helpful. And yes, foreign language support would be nice. Many of the current loaners don’t even support viewing Asian languages with XP.
I will check on Adobe pro, but the per seat lic might be too much, remember these are just netbooks for basic functions. All the scanning machines have Adobe Pro and all the macs can save in .pdf format.
Sounds like a lot of people want the language support, I will work on that.
-Paul