narnia Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 (edited) sorry for repeating this question, thought it mght be better to start a new thread for it! We have been given a grant of £1,500 (LUCKY us!) to buy IT equipment:pc's;camera; printer/scanner etc.This money can only be spent on such equipment, or we lose the grant.So, any recommendations on what to buy please?Any particular PC, or laptop etc which you have found particularly robust for under fives??A camera which is sturdy enough for the children to use as well as the staff?If you were given this lovely lump sum, what would YOU buy?? Edited July 5, 2008 by narnia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzy Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I dont know about computers, but we bought the kids cameras from argos, the fisher price digital ones. very very robust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I agree about the Fisher Price cameras - they are very robust. They bounce when dropped, and are designed to be used two handed so children get a good grip on them! The only problem I have is that they take normal batteries (so invest in a charger and rechargeables if you don't already have one!) which are in a compartment which you need a screwdriver to open. Great because the children can't get at them, but a pain when you need to change them (especially if have no batteries to replace them with)! If you buy a laptop look for one that you can insert your memory cards in straight from the camera to download pictures. That way there's less chance of cables going missing! How lovely to receive this money: enjoy spending it won't you? Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 We got laptops with ours and had them wireless enabled so they can be taken around the nursery for all rooms, which is great for us as we are a small nursery and space for big desktop computers has always been an issue. Now the children can use the laptop and print their work and it all prints from a central point so we only needed to purchace one printer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 we have a brother printer /scanner which drives me up the wall.. everytime you want something in a hurry it seems to spend ages cleaning .. does it often.. and not at what appears regular intervals.. also found that if one colour runs out you cannot just use the black!! It stops until you replace the colour.. don't know if it is all brother ones but would definitely avoid one now!! So far hav enot found a way to make it only print in greyscale to avoid the problem.. still searching for it! Fisher price camera very good, children love it.. we use rechargable batteries and have 2 sets.. We found our children needed lots of supervision with lap top... but with PC we are able to leave them for long periods and not be constantly supervising it..but this depends on teh space you have.. we can lock it in a cupboard so OK. Not found one make particularly better than another... We just found what dicount we could get to get value for money !! Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquieL Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 What about a programable toy such as a Bee-Bot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 bee bot is now added to our list, thankyou for the suggestion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 A photocopier or printer all in one is fantastic -it can be used by the children as well as by the staff. One tip - try to get an account with PC world - even if you only buy two or three items it is worth the discount! Spend, spend, spend and enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 One tip - try to get an account with PC world - even if you only buy two or three items it is worth the discount! That said, others have reported on here that their prices are so high to begin with that even with a discount they're not the cheapest deals around! I think the moral of the tale is to shop around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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