My 200th Post

If anyone would have asked me years ago when I started writing this blog, whether I thought that I'd go 5 years writing this thing, or better yet, have 200 post; I'm not certain that I'd have answered, "yes". Yet here we are. Last week, when I wrote posts, #198, and #199 on the various considerations associated with B.Y.O.D., I briefly thought about what topic I would focus on for this landmark post. I didn't come up with anything. Then as I sat down this morning, I figured that a "day in the life of" would be good. It's a cloudy dreary Sunday morning. The donuts have been eaten. The children are happily playing on an "obsolete" gaming system (GameCube) in my son's room. My wife is reading, while listening to her favorite radio station on the big A/V system in the living room. Here I sit in front of my desktop computer with my cup of coffee, doing what I've really come to enjoy. 

Our technology is pretty much ubiquitous, but it's also largely seamless. That's as it should be. Even ducks on the pond sometimes get to just sit, and float. Yesterday turned out to be one of those days that just worked. I started out driving into Dallas to meet a buyer for the Nikon D50 (Plastic Fantastic). We met at the big "buying club" sized Half-Price Books. The sale went without a hitch...once we found each other inside that place! On to my other "to dos". Up to Plano to the Chinese grocery to pick up the necessities for cooking dinner for the family. Down to Garland Camera, not surprisingly in Garland to pick up the, 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor with the super stiff focusing my brother sent me. They did an excellent job returning the lens with a firm focus, but nice and smooth making it perfect for macro work. 

While waiting for the guy behind the counter to find my rear-cap, I spotted this in the used case. Yup, that's a Nikon D40 (Plastic Fantastic 2.0). Yup, I bought it. Here's what happened: I asked to look at it, and fitted my "chipped" 50mm, f/1.4 Nikkor to it to get a sense on how it felt. Should never have done that with the $175 from the sale of the D50 in my pocket! They had it sticker'd for $200 with the kit 18-55mm "kit" lens (VR version). At this point, my brain goes into high gear! "What can I get them down to; for cash." "Will they sell it without that lens (that I don't need)". "What would that price be?" "Should I buy it with lens and then sell that to help defray the cost?" Yes: I ran through all that in head in the 30 seconds it took while rummaging through my bag for the lens and putting it on the camera.

After holding it and admiring it's very compact size compared to my D300, I knew I was hooked. Well, look at it! In the end, I got the guy to come down to $175 "out the door" (meaning he swallows the tax), with lens included....for cash. Of course, that's exactly what I just sold the D50 for an hour before. I think I must have walked into there with a "has $175 in cash" written on my forehead. If I decide to sell off that lens, it should go for about $75-100, which would make the body itself cost roughly $100, maybe less. I'd have been pretty darned happy to get that price on eBay, much less, in town, "in-the-flesh" that I could hold and see the condition for myself! As you can see, if you know that you are looking for, and know the market price, you can often get a good deal pretty much anywhere! 

Here's another image I shot this morning of it mounted with the relatively large 18-70mm lens. Good gosh; compare it with the D300 with the 18-200mm. The difference in mass is astounding! And that's with no MB-D10 battery grip or flash mounted, which is how the D300 is often equipped when I'm out shooting with it. I know, the D40 only has a 6Mp sensor compared to the 12Mp of the D300, and that it's a 18-70mm vs. an 18-200mm "super-zoom" lens, but this is how each camera is most likely to be configured "in use". Furthermore, look at the previous two images and see what that camera could very likely be configured with the even smaller lens! On top of that, I'm now going to be in full "bird-dog" mode looking for the "E Series" 28mm lens to fit this body which is significantly smaller than the 50mm in those pictures! In actuality, now that I have it in hand to compare, the D40 isn't much larger than the Panasonic GF-1. 

So, to finish my story, I completed my swing through the Dallas burbs, by going to Costco in Rockwall to gas up, and top the tires with nitrogen (we've had a major temperature drop the last day or so here in North Texas). Then it was off to the bank and the dreaded Walmart on the way home. I know all that doesn't have a lot to do with the D40 or technology, but can I just say that how much more enjoyable the morning was after my little find in Garland!

Before I close out today, let me just put this little picture out there. Yes, that's most of my stable of Nikon equipment. Even though, the SB-600 flash is out on loan, the 55mm Micro-Nikkor hadn't come back from repairs and my wife's Coolpix 8100 is at school; it's most of it. Also, I wanted a "family picture" before I sold the D50. NO: I am not a crazed Nikon "fanboy" since much of what I have came by accident or gift. At some point in the future, I'll get into what-all this stuff is and what role it plays in our world. Until then; have a great Thanksgiving break!

What Should I Buy My Kid?

At the risk of adding to the confusion that's already out there for you B.Y.O.Disoriented parents. Let me literally take you to the next level. In the previous post, I tackled tablets and hopefully clarified that issue a little bit. And for the buyer who has a child of elementary school age, that was all fine and good, but what if you have kids who are a little bit older? Maybe 5th/6th grade, middle school, or what about those angst ridden high schoolers? What does their B.Y.O.Dear experience mean to you? Well, actually, it's a bit more complex.

I can virtually (pun intended) hear the silent scream through the web now. NOOOooooooo!!!! I'm not buying them 3 devices! Actually, you've already bought them one. I don't know many students of the age we're talking about who don't have one of these. So the first step is simple. If your kid doesn't have a smartphone already, get them on one. Now comes the hard part. Sit with them and work through all the apps that they NEED . Not the 36 versions of Angry Buzzards, and Minecraft, but stuff like, Dictionary.com, finding a useful multifunction calculator, how to access their teachers web content through Google Apps. All the various things that Google Apps does, such as taking the place of M$ Office. Then work out a scheme of how you are going to maintain some semblance of control over their appropriate use, AND last, but not least, make sure they fully understand how to switch to your home's, their school's, the doctor's office, Starbuck's, Lowe's, everybody's free WiFi so that they aren't ringing up a crazy number of minutes on their (yours) data plan! 

I teach high school. They pay me to be with teens. Before that, I taught middle school. They paid me to be with younger teens. I know teens. Before they'll use ANYTHING else, they'll grab their phones, for both useful things as well as things less useful. If you don't work with them on this, you're going to regret it. To them; B.Y.O.D. means using their phones!

Now that we've addressed why older students need something other than tablets..... oh, I think maybe I skipped that part. Anyway, here's the scoop, simplified. As kids progress up the school grades, instead of being "consumers" of academic content (such as using practice apps on a tablet), they tend to move more and more toward "interpretation", and then "creators" of content themselves. As such, they increasingly need to use full-blown software applications, which are often too heavy-duty for tablets, although the gap is closing. One thing that is an absolute struggle for tablets is extended typing. Even the addition of a docking keyboard via a connector or Bluetooth rarely helps, especially as students move to typing full essays and research papers. What now?

This now rapidly moves towards the province of the "clamshell". How's that, you say? That's what they call the form-factor of standard "laptop/notebook" computer. There are two main things here that makes this the dominant form of computing today. Basically, this takes not only pretty much a full computer, but a real keyboard and relatively large screen that doesn't require a ton a scrolling to get all your content. These things come in a variety of sizes and weights. The main categories are as follows:

• "Desktop Replacement"- Full-sized laptops that tends to run about 7 pounds or so, a screen ranging from 16" to 17", a full-sized keyboard generally with a separate number pad. The prices ranging from $450 to 5 times that if you let your kid talk you into something like an Alienware "gaming" laptop! These are not for B.Y.O.D. These are for you to set on that desk in the den to replace the old desktop computer.....hence "desktop replacement".
• "Think & Light"- Actually, not all that thin OR all that light. They tend to be in the 5 pound range, which is a lot in today's world. Think desktop replacement with a smaller keyboard and screen. These are the compromise notebooks that corporations buy their workers by the thousands. They can run anywhere from the $350 Acer at Walmart all the way up to the $2500-3000 ones that Fortune 500 companies buy for their workers jetting around all over the world. However, they do tend to show up on the used market by the pallet-load, so they are great (read cheap) deals if you know where and how to look for/at them. Look at some of my previous posts about why and how to buy them.
• "Sub-notebooks/Ultra-portable"- These are smaller (and consequently lighter) notebooks that are less than 5 pound (often around 3lbs) with screens in the 12" range. This combination of small size and light weight make them almost perfect for the older student. One important caveat though: these are NOT netbooks! These are full computer with full computing capabilities in a smaller size. The new price for them range from $500/600 all the way up to the well over $1000 "Ultrabooks". Like the thin & lights, corporations tend to buy them by the thousands, so they can also be had easily on the used market which I cover briefly later.
• Microsoft Surface Tablet- These are actually kinda cool. They are actually real computers despite what they look like. Basically you have a form that's a bit of a thicker tablet, but they come with kind of a full keyboard. Despite their ridiculous commercials that don't tell you anything useful, they are essentially a full computer. They start at less than $500 for the cheaper version, so they aren't out of the ballpark. Go and touch it and play with it and see if your student is OK with it's idiosyncracies.

OK, now that we have that settled, let's talk about getting them into a laptop that they can carry, vs. carry for a few days and totally not carry again. Kinda like my rather petite student who started the year carrying a full-sized desktop replacement HP with a 16" screen. She completely didn't understand why I was laughing at her, until she stopped carrying it! So, don't be that parent...please. But how do you get into an appropriate sized laptop without, killing the budget? This is where we hear the siren call of the tablet. You see the ads: $300-350 they say.....$249 on "Black Friday"! Don't do it; step away from that Sunday ad! Then what should I do, you say?

Go boring. Many schools like mine will give you the option of "checking out" a perfectly adequate machine. Ours high school has the ThinkPad X200/201. These are not "cool". They are not "sexy". They are NOT MacBook Airs. They do not cost $1000-1200! If your kid breaks this, you might be out $200.

But what if my school doesn't have a program like this? Here are the options:

• Go to Walmart, Costco, Best Buy, Micro Center, Fry's, wherever and buy the least expensive computer under $500 made by a company you've heard of. Here's the thing: If you can make this thing last 3 years, you will have only spent about $150 a year. Just don't be tempted to buy the cooler one that cost more. Regardless how cool it was in the store, it will completely not be cool in 6 months.
• If you are brave and know a little bit about computers, go onto eBay or Craigs List and find Dells that are branded Latitude (not Inspiron), Lenovo ThinkPad, HPs that are branded EliteBook (not Pavilion), that are around 3 years old (when they are surplused or come off-lease). Great deals can be had at about half the price of new in a machine that's built for the corporate world. Prices vary a lot.
• Find a small, "Mom & Pop" computer shop that take the "off-lease" laptops and refurbish them. This means that they'll reload the operating system and make sure the machine is working well. You have to look hard, but they can be found around any good-sized city. Dallas has quite a few around Garland, Carrollton/Farmers-Branch, and Arlington. You'll pay a little more, but the hard part is done for you.

Anything else? Yup: don't buy Anti-Virus when you buy the machine. There are a bunch of good ones that are free, ranging from the Avast (that we use), to AVG (which we've used before), to Microsoft Security Essentials (which we used to use). What about an "office" application? If you don't want to spend the $100 on M$ Office for Students & Teachers, use Google Apps, or download Open Office. With everything from Adobe Acrobat Reader and Flash to Browsers, etc. available free these days, there's precious few things you should have to buy.

Here at Frugal Propellerhead headquarters, we just don't believe in spending a lot of money on technology. In today's world, it's essential, and I even love it, but I try to be as cheap about it as possible. I know, I've thrown a lot of unknowns at you if you aren't a computer geek like me. Please feel free to comment or email me and I'll try and answer your specific questions to the best of my ability.