[OPLINTECH] Lending/Circulating Laptops for Public Access

[Chad Neeper]

Some things to consider:

Regarding Deep Freeze:  (I haven't tested this, but I find this very
likely to be true...) Once the laptop leaves the library, a devious
patron could fairly easily remove the hard drive and add it to another
system as a slave device. Deep Freeze could then be circumvented,
allowing files to be permanently modified at will. I'm with Chauncey: 
keep the library's laptops in the library.

Regarding batteries:  Don't forget about the recurring expense of
regularly replacing the laptop batteries. This can get expensive and is
an often overlooked expense.

A technical digression:  I wonder if a terminal services/remote desktop
type of solution would work sufficiently over wireless. Managing the
Windows Updates and the software in general would be easier. You could
even still use Deep Freeze on the backend server if you wanted to.


-----------------------
Chad Neeper
Senior Systems Engineer

Level 9 Networks
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

--   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
-- Specialized in libraries and schools --



Ed Liddle wrote:
> If laptops were to be circulated to patrons to use outside of the
> library I would invest in nice durable cases, find a vendor that would
> sell the best warranty, something that would cover accidental breakage
> and battery replacement, and purchase a cheaper laptop. 
>
> Another option would be to try to find a good deal on a lot of used
> laptops and set them up to circulate. The plus side to this is the cost
> would be less if a patron lost one, or never returns one. The downside
> would be expecting the batteries to not hold much of a charge.
>
>   
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