2014 Laptop Program - Frequently Asked Questions
General
1. Why does the School have a laptop program?
2. Which year levels does the laptop program cover?
3. What if my child already owns a non-School laptop, do they need to buy a School laptop?
4. Why did you choose Hewlett-Packard to continue to supply the School laptop?
5. I already have a school supplied HP laptop, do I have to upgrade to the new one?
6. When do I have to purchase a new laptop?
7. Is it possible to trade-in my existing School HP laptop for the new one?
8. When are orders for the laptops due, and when will my child receive it?
9. Can my child receive the laptop directly from HP before school starts?
10. Can year 12 students use their existing Mac, Windows or Linux laptop?
11. What services will the school be providing as part of the laptop program?
12. What is the Accidental Damage Protection Policy?
13. What happens if my child’s laptop is lost or stolen?
14. How will I identify my child’s laptop from the hundreds of others at school?
15. Will the students need to carry their laptop home every day?
16. What does the School do to protect students from accessing inappropriate content on the Internet?
17. Is the school decreasing the use of text books and the weight burden for students to carry?
18. What happens to handwriting and the requirement of using pen and paper for examinations?
19. Can I load my own purchased or freeware software onto the laptop?
20. Do I own the laptop, as well as the software?
21. Will I need extra software virus protection?
22. Does the school make any profit from the laptop program?
Year 3 – 5
23. What laptop will be used in Year 3 to 5?
24. How much will the HP Probook 430 laptop cost?
25. Why has the cost of the Primary School laptop has increased by a few hundred dollars since last year?
26. Does my child in year 4 or 5 need to buy a HP Probook 430 laptop?
27. Will my child carry their laptop home every day?
28. Why is the Accidental Damage Protection not included with the Primary HP Probook 430 laptop?
29. What happens if there is damage to a Primary HP Probook 430 laptop that is not covered by warranty?
Year 6 – 11
30. What laptop will be used in Year 6 to 11?
31. How much will the HP EliteBook 9470m laptop cost?
32. How much would the HP EliteBook 9470m laptop cost if I wanted to get this outside of the school?
33. I currently have an older School HP laptop but am considering upgrading to the new EliteBook 9470m later,
will the price likely to change during 2014?
34. I currently have a School HP laptop but am considering upgrading to the new EliteBook 9470m in 2014. If I do
not order until next year, how long will it take to receive the new laptop?
35. I want to upgrade to the HP EliteBook 9470m, do I have to buy the software all over again?
36. Why is the School not offering 2 models?
37. What will students do with their laptop at lunchtime?
38. How will students carry their laptop around at school?
39. Is there room in a student’s locker for the machine and is it secure?
40. What about the extra weight in their school bag?
41. Why are you offering a bigger screen?
42. The screen is bigger; will it be too heavy for my child?
43. The screen is bigger; won’t that make it easier to break?
44. How many years will the laptop last? When will I have to replace it with newer technology in the future?
45. What about battery charging during the day? What is the student’s laptop battery goes flat during the day?
46. Battery life was terrible in earlier models. What are you doing about that?
47. Why aren’t you offering an Intel i7 processor as in the previous HP model?
48. Why is there no DVD drive?
49. Why is the Solid State Drive (SSD) smaller than the previous Hard Drive?
General
1. Why does the School have a laptop program?
Technology is impacting on all of our lives, and especially the lives of students, in new and expanding ways. At AISHK, technologies are increasingly used as tool to enable, enrich and transform learning opportunities. The laptop program began as a pilot in 2009 and has since expanded until 2013 where all students in years 3 – 11 being required to have a school mandated laptop.
2. Which year levels does the laptop program cover?
The Laptop Program starts in Year 3 and now continues through to Year 11. The program is broken into two parts, the first focusing on the needs of students in Years 3 – 5 and the second on years 6 – 11 with laptop specifications varying accordingly.
3. What if my child already owns a non-School laptop, do they need to buy a School laptop? Yes, except for students who are in year 12 in 201\4, who may bring their own.
Year 12 students using different laptops will be required to have a current subscription for antivirus software, and depending on which subjects they are studying may need specific software for that course. If they do not currently own this software, they will have to purchase it outside the School. Furthermore, the School laptop service centre can only provide assistance to School HP laptops. Other laptops including Macs are unable to connect to the School domain, and will only have basic internet access. 4. Why did you choose Hewlett-Packard to continue to supply the School laptop?
At the laptop program inception, the School trialled and considered a range of laptops. Apple MacBook Air and MacBook Pro were compared and trialled against machines from Toshiba, Fujitsu, HP, Dell and Lenovo. Factors considered were computing speed and capability, RAM, memory, weight, size, case, camera, batteries, cost, warranty, accidental damage protection, and after sales support.
This laptop program was again re-evaluated in 2013 to reflect on lessons learnt, look at new
technologies, how student learning with technology has evolved and evaluate new laptops and offerings from various manufacturers. To this end the HP was still considered the best option for our purposes in both Primary and Secondary School requirements.
The main contributing factors to continue using HP is the appeal of the EliteBook 9470m Ultrabook™ and how closely it matches our specific requirements for performance, weight, battery life, warranty, accidental damage protection, ongoing support and price. We have received good service from HP over the past years. Some companies offered a cheaper laptop but did not fulfil all of our technical
requirements while others that did, had an inadequate support and service offering. HP is able to meet all of our requirements while maintaining a competitive price.
5. I already have a school supplied HP laptop, do I have to upgrade to the new one?
Yes and No. The laptop program operates on a three-year lifecycle, so until the laptop in use reaches its three-year anniversary, there is no need to upgrade. The HP Probook 5220m and 4321s laptops used by secondary school students are covered by warranty and accidental damage protection until the end of 2013 and end of 2014 for the HP ProBook 4230s and 4331s. Until then, these laptops are quite capable of running current school required software. Parents who would like their child to use a new school laptop would be on a voluntary basis only.
6. When do I have to purchase a new laptop?
All laptops come with a three-year warranty and accidental damage protection. As such the laptop program operates on a three-year lifecycle. This also ensures students are keeping up with technological advancements as the laptop program evolves to meet emerging software and user requirements. This means that students must have their laptop replaced after three years, including the accompanying software bundle.
7. Is it possible to trade-in my existing School HP laptop for the new one?
No. As the school has no use for the older laptops except for maybe a few spares this is not something we are doing. It is recommended that you would get much more return by either selling the laptop privately or donating the laptop to charity.
8. When are orders for the laptops due, and when will my child receive it?
The main distribution is for students receiving their laptop for the start of the school year in January 2014. For this distribution, orders for need to be placed by Friday 8 November 2013 and will distributed to students in the first week of term January 2014. Orders received after that time may not be delivered until later in the term 1, 2014.
Otherwise, for any other time of the year, orders can be placed anytime. We usually have spare stock available and students can receive a laptop with 2 days, otherwise if we need to re-stock from HP, you can expect up to 4 weeks.
9. Can my child receive the laptop directly from HP before school starts?
No. The laptop ordering process requires the software bundle as well as school network configuration to be applied before the student can receive it. The distribution plan is set such that the laptops will be ready to hand directly to students in the first week of term, 2014.
10. Can year 12 students use their existing Mac, Windows or Linux laptop?
Yes. However, since the laptop is not supplied by the School with sanctioned software and is unable to be guaranteed to meet our technical and administrative policy requirements we will limit the student’s access to Internet services only. The student is responsible for ensuring their laptop is maintained themselves as we cannot offer any kind of IT support services.
11. What services will the school be providing as part of the laptop program? The School HP laptops program pricing includes:
3-year HP warranty
3-year HP Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) for the HP Elitebook 9470m laptop School provided IT Support Centre.
Loan laptop during servicing
The IT Support Centre is located near the Library on level 5 and is staffed by our ICT Support Team who provides “on-the-spot” diagnosis and simple repairs / software rebuilds during school time from 7:45am to 4:30 pm. In the event that the laptop service is hardware related (Warranty or ADP), HP provide a pickup and return service with a 3-day turnaround.
The IT Support Centre can also be contacted by email regarding repair status and general school laptop enquiries at the following email address: laptoprepair@aishk.edu.hk. We cannot guarantee instant replies, but beyond face-to-face requests, is our second priority.
When a laptop is brought to the IT Support Centre for repair, regardless of whether the issue is software or hardware related, if the servicing is expected to take more than 2 class periods, a loan laptop will be lent to the student.
Loans are not provided to students that leave their laptop at home.
Students who do not have a School purchased HP laptop (such as year 12) will not be able to access these services and will have to make their own provisions for servicing and repair.
12. What is the Accidental Damage Protection Policy?
As part of the School laptop package, HP provides a 3-year Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) policy. Under this policy the laptop is covered for three major components each 12 months and unlimited minor components. Major components comprise the screen, mainboard and solid state drive. This means that in a 12 month period the laptop can have any of the three major components or same major component replaced three times such as three screens or one screen and two mainboards, etc. If there is no incident in a 12 month period, this component tally cannot be carried over to the next 12 month period. If the laptop suffers any incident beyond this, the parent will be liable for any parts and labour costs
imposed by HP. The ADP is covered by HP in Hong Kong only, so if any accident occurs while the laptop is overseas, the laptop will need to be returned to Hong Kong for servicing.
13. What happens if my child’s laptop is lost or stolen?
The warranty and accidental damage protection only covers damage or faulty items, not theft or loss. Parents may wish to privately insure their children’s laptops. The School has brokered insurance through MSIG at HK$300 for the HP Pavilion DM1 and HK$400 for the EliteBook 9470m per annum with excess
of $1500 or 15% per claim, covering laptop loss within Hong Kong only. You may contact the School to receive more information about this insurance.
The School IT Service Centre can provide a loan laptop only once a new laptop order form has been returned to the IT Office.
14. How will I identify my child’s laptop from the hundreds of others at school?
Students are permitted to reasonably personalise their laptops with appropriate stickers or covers. The School IT Support Centre additionally maintains a database of all laptop serial numbers which can be referred to in the instance of laptops being misappropriated between students.
15. Will the students need to carry their laptop home every day?
Students in year 3 to 5 leave their laptop in the classroom at all times in specially allocated storage and charging cabinets.
Students in year 6 and up are expected to bring their laptop to and from school every day for homework, study and classroom learning. The laptops have been specifically chosen to have a battery that will last the entire school day under normal usage without the need for recharge or carrying their AC adapter to school. Students are required to get into the habit of ensuring their laptops are fully recharged at home before each school day.
Students must take precautions to ensure they carry their laptop safely and securely. They should use the provided laptop sleeves and place the laptop in their school bag such that the laptop will not be bent, dented or have other effects in their bag cause undue strain on the laptop.
16. What does the School do to protect students from accessing inappropriate content on the Internet?
All laptops that connect to the Internet through the school network are monitored with active blocking in place against inappropriate websites and content. Content filtering policies cover a wide variety of categories including but not limited to adult, gambling, gaming, social networking, hacking, malicious, chatrooms, to name a few.
17. Is the school decreasing the use of text books and the weight burden for students to carry? Students and teachers will continue to use the relevant text materials for their coursework. Many of the core texts are available in PDF format on the Online Learning Platform and students can keep their books at school. Students are encouraged to download their textbooks to their laptops in case of an interruption to internet access. Textbook publishers have progressively provided their content online and in electronic format and the School takes advantage of that wherever possible.
18. What happens to handwriting and the requirement of using pen and paper for examinations? Laptops and other technologies are an enhancement to the curriculum and will not be used for the entire duration of every class. In fact we estimate that the use of laptops will be used for approximately 20-30% of overall lesson times. Individual subjects will use the laptops depending on their curriculum.
Interestingly, laptops and electronic devices are being used more and more in public examinations in universities throughout the world. So as this trend finds its way to secondary schools, we will be well prepared. Since the integration of the interactive whiteboards into classrooms in 2008, classes increasingly have been using electronic technologies for class work.
19. Can I load my own purchased or freeware software onto the laptop?
Yes. As the owner, you have complete administrative rights, but the School reserves the right to remove any program that is causing instability, interfering with network access, exposing a security risk, is pirated or illegally licensed.
In the event there an issue or incident requiring the School software image reapplied that removes all previously installed software and data, it is not the Schools responsibility to reinstall any non-school purchased or other software, settings and data that have been applied outside the School. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they retain a copy of their purchased software and a backup of their data.
20. Do I own the laptop, as well as the software? Yes, the laptop is yours.
For the software, this depends on whether the license is perpetual or subscription. Perpetual means that the software is yours while subscription means you are allowed to use the software but only during the subscription period or while your child is a student at the School. With the School subscription, when the student leaves the School or the subscription expires, the software must either be removed or
subscription extended. See the table below regarding the software terms:
Software License Transferrable
MS Windows 7 Professional Perpetual No - permanently licensed to laptop
MS Office 2010 Professional Subscription No - licensed only while a student at AISHK
Adobe CS6 Subscription No - licensed only while a student at AISHK
Kaspersky Antivirus Subscription No - licensed only while a student at AISHK
Texts and other software installed as part of School coursework must be removed before leaving the School to protect our copyright and software licenses with the respective publishers.
21. Will I need extra software virus protection?
No. The laptops come packaged with a subscription for Kaspersky antivirus. 22. Does the school make any profit from the laptop program?
No. The School has negotiated heavily with HP and other software providers for the best price possible for all facets of the laptop program. The price we are quoted by our suppliers is the price you pay with no additional charges for School administration, support or distribution costs. There is zero mark-up as we endeavour to bring you the best price possible. Neither the School nor its staff receive any
commission or any other financial or in-kind benefits from our suppliers.
Year 3 – 5
23. What laptop will be used in Year 3 to 5?
The 2014 Primary laptop is the HP Probook 430 with specification as follows: Processor Intel Pentium 3556U
Storage 500Gb SATA 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive
RAM 4Gb DDR3
Screen 13.3” HD LED (1366 x 768)
Network Integrated Gigabit Ethernet / ABGN dual-band Wireless / Bluetooth 4.0 Graphics Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400
Audio / Visual Integrated 720p HD Webcam / Microphone / DTS Stereo speakers Battery 4-cell Li-Ion
Keyboard Full size, Island style, spill-resistant
Multimedia input Integrated SD/SDHC/SDXC/MSXC/Memory Card Media Card Reader Ports 2x USB 3.0 / 1x USB 2.0 / HDMI / Ethernet RJ45 / VGA / Audio-out / Mic-In
Weight 1.5 Kgs
Warranty 3 years
Software Windows 7 Professional / Office 2010 Professional / Kaspersky Antivirus 24. How much will the HP Probook 430 laptop cost?
HK$ 5,000. This covers hardware, software, 3-year warranty and School onsite service.
25. Why has the cost of the Primary School laptop has increased by a few hundred dollars since last year?
The HP DM1 from 2013 has now been discontinued. While the price was quite low, it was classed as a “consumer” grade laptop and did not have certain features and build quality that we would have
preferred. The HP Probook 430 is an entry level laptop in HP’s business line of laptops and as such has a longevity, feature set and build quality that makes it more suitable for the our requirements.
26. Does my child in year 4 or 5 need to buy a HP Probook 430 laptop?
Existing students coming into year 4 or 5 should already have their HP DM1 laptop from year 3. New students to year 4 will have to buy a HP Probook 430 laptop. For new students to year 5, the School understands that it is wasteful to purchase the Primary School HP Probook 430 and use it for only one year. As such, the School will provide a HP Probook 430 to lease. Ownership of this laptop and software will remain with the School. Further enquiries for Year 5 students about the leasing arrangements can be made directly with the Director of ICT, Mr Paul Collins.
27. Will my child carry their laptop home every day?
No. Students will keep their laptops at school in specially provided storage and charging cabinets. We feel that at this age it is too much to ask the student to be responsible for getting the laptop safely to and from school and that the weight of their school bags should be minimised.
28. Why is the Accidental Damage Protection not included with the Primary HP Probook 430 laptop? Considering that students will not be removing the laptop from the classroom, and relatively the laptop experiences less mobility than the laptop used by students in higher years, it is felt there is much less chance of any accidents occurring. This is reflected that to date, we have rarely experienced any incidents of accidental damage to these laptops. Considering the lower risk and in an effort to keep costs down, we have therefore decided to not implement the extra cost associated with this. 29. What happens if there is damage to a Primary HP Probook 430 laptop that is not covered by
warranty?
The school IT staff will ascertain whether the damage was accidental or intentional by talking with both the student and the teacher as well as assess the nature of the damage. If the damage was accidental, the school will cover repair costs. However, if the damage inflicted on the laptop was intentional, we will obtain a quote from HP for the repair and provide a letter to the parent outlining the matter along with the quote. The school will arrange the laptop to be repaired by HP and costs passed onto the parent.
Year 6 – 11
30. What laptop will be used in Year 6 to 11?
The 2014 laptop for years 6 and up is the HP EliteBook 9470m with the following specification: Processor Intel Dual-Core i5-3317U
Storage 180Gb SATA Solid State Drive
RAM 8Gb DDR3
Screen 14” HD LED (1366 x 768)
Network Integrated Gigabit Ethernet / ABGN Dual-band Wireless / Bluetooth 4.0 Graphics Integrated Intel HD 4000
Audio / Visual Integrated HD Webcam / Dual Microphone / SRS Pro Audio Battery 4-cell Li-Ion / up to 7 hours
Keyboard Full size / Backlit / Island style / Spill Resistant Multimedia input Integrated SD/MMC Media Card Reader
Ports 2x USB 2.0 / 1x USB 3.0 / HDMI / Ethernet RJ45 / VGA / DisplayPort / Headset combo / Slice battery connector / Docking station connector
Weight 1.8 Kgs
Included extras Carrying neoprene sleeve
Software: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional / Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus / Adobe CS6 Design and Wed Edition / Kaspersky Antivirus
31. How much will the HP EliteBook 9470m laptop cost?
HK$ 10,800. This covers hardware, software, 3-year warranty and Accidental Damage Protection and comprehensive School IT support service.
32. How much would the HP EliteBook 9470m laptop cost if I wanted to get this outside of the school?
Although this laptop is not available in a retail store (it is sold to enterprise customers only), the full price configured to the same specifications, warranty and service coverage along with the retail cost of the software (at student pricing) would come to $18,500.
33. I currently have an older School HP laptop but am considering upgrading to the new EliteBook 9470m later, will the price likely to change during 2014?
No. The School has heavily negotiated a very good price from HP for the laptop and contracted them to ensure this price is locked through 2014.
34. I currently have a School HP laptop but am considering upgrading to the new EliteBook 9470m in 2014. If I do not order until next year, how long will it take to receive the new laptop?
HP recommends that orders take about four weeks to fill as the laptop is specially customised for our purposes. Adding delivery and software configuration, we estimate 5-6 weeks from the time of order. However, the School does try and maintain a spare stock of laptops so usually the waiting period is only one day while the IT Department configures the laptop software.
35. I want to upgrade to the HP EliteBook 9470m, do I have to buy the software all over again? Yes. Windows 7 is licensed to the laptop (OEM license) and cannot be transferred. For the Adobe CS software, Adobe now distributes the new version 6 as a subscription license which students must purchase with the new laptop. The Kaspersky Antivirus license is also a subscription and the new laptop models have a new version so this is not transferrable. Although technically the Microsoft Office 2010 remains unchanged, Microsoft has restructured the student licensing methodology such that licenses are now subscription based. All new laptops include this subscription licensing as part of the laptop bundle. 36. Why is the School not offering 2 models?
With the advance of technology, it is no longer necessary to have a distinct “higher end” model in order to use the software effectively. The light weight means that we can offer this model to the younger students too.
37. What will students do with their laptop at lunchtime? The students can lock their laptops away in their lockers. 38. How will students carry their laptop around at school?
Students will be provided with a neoprene laptop sleeve included in the package. Students are also welcome to purchase alternative laptop covers and bags from outside the school.
39. Is there room in a student’s locker for the machine and is it secure?
Yes, there is ample room for students to store their laptops and school bags. The laptops are no bigger than a textbook.
40. What about the extra weight in their school bag?
One of the reasons we chose the HP EliteBook 9470m was because of its light weight (1.8kg). Due to the storage capacity and access to information that the laptops provide, we believe that students carry fewer text books between school and home.
41. Why are you offering a bigger screen?
We are taking advantage of the new Ultrabook™ format which enables us to have a larger screen for the same weight. Weight concerns were the main reasons that we had a smaller screen in the past.
42. The screen is bigger; will it be too heavy for my child?
It is the same weight as the previous smaller model (HP ProBook 4331s). The screen is bigger but the laptop is thinner thus providing more screen “real estate” in the same footprint as the older model. 43. The screen is bigger; won’t that make it easier to break?
The EliteBook 9470m is built to the highest standard and are rated to military specifications. Students will still need to take care but they are robust machines. While screens can break if treated badly, such as carrying the laptop holding the screen while the laptop is open, or closing the screen while books or pens are laying on the keyboard, if the laptop is handled responsibly, your child should have no issues.
44. How many years will the laptop last? When will I have to replace it with newer technology in the future?
The laptop lifecycle is deemed as being 3 years. The HP EliteBook 9470m uses the very latest
technology and has been produced for robustness. The durable case, solid state drive and keyboard are made to military specifications. The 3-year School lifecycle is reflected by being supplied with a 3-year warranty and Accidental Damage Protection.
45. What about battery charging during the day? What is the student’s laptop battery goes flat during the day?
We encourage and remind students to recharge their laptops at home each evening. Students are given advice on how best to manage their settings and conserve battery power. Laptops can be charged in the Library at recess and lunch and in the Science labs during theory lessons. However students must get into the habit of charging nightly.
The HP EliteBook 9470m laptop has been chosen with emphasis on its longer battery life such that students who follow the advice on how best to manage their battery usage and are using their laptops under normal learning expectations should not need to recharge during the school day. This alleviates the need for the student to bring their AC adapter to school.
However, students who find their requirements exceed these expectations (such as use the screen at maximum brightness, play games at lunch, etc.) may purchase the optional additional slice battery which should extend the battery life for an additional 10 hours.
46. Battery life was terrible in earlier models. What are you doing about that?
This laptop has a claimed battery time of 8 hours. We have the tested the laptop to last for 5.5 hours while displaying a continually looping high definition video or 7 hours of continuous internet browsing (both tests at 60% screen brightness). Both of these tests demonstrate that the laptop should be sufficient to cover typical usage throughout a school day. Battery life is extended by making use of an ultra-low power CPU and solid state drive which both reduce power consumption.
The EliteBook 9470m also has the option of an additional “slice” battery that connects to the underside of the laptop to provide an additional 10 hours of battery life. This optional additional battery can be
purchased at the time of order or anytime later that it is felt the need for additional battery time is desired. 47. Why aren’t you offering an Intel i7 processor as in the previous HP model?
The new generation Intel Dual-Core i5 is as fast as the i7 from previous generations. We get the same performance at a considerable price reduction. The EliteBook 9470m i5 processor has also been tested by a number of staff and students during evaluation and during the 2013 school year using standard school required software and deemed more than acceptable.
48. Why is there no DVD drive?
DVD drives are not necessary for student’s school work and adds unnecessary weight and another moving component that increases the chance of failure. An external USB DVD drive can be purchased if desired.
49. Why is the Solid State Drive (SSD) smaller than the previous Hard Drive?
The laptop is for school work and 180GB is ample for the student’s needs. Having an SSD speeds up boot time, resuming from sleep, loading applications and saves some battery consumption. By being a non-mechanical component it is less prone to damage from knocks, drops, etc. thus being more reliable. 50. Why aren’t you offering Windows 8?
Windows 8 is quite a departure from Windows 7. We will maintain a Windows 7 environment at the School until the performance and necessity of Windows 8 is proven and bugs have been ironed out. Without a touch screen some of the touch advantages of Windows 8 cannot be utilised. The Windows 7 Professional license supplied on the new laptop allows us to upgrade to Windows 8 when we decide to update our standard operating environment.
We hope that we have answered all your questions. If you have any additional questions please email them
to paul_collins@aishk.edu.hkand we will answer you directly, and we will also add questions and answers to
