Dear Beth,
Ive been helping to run an ICT in Kolkata India for several years now. Here are
a few opinions based on our experience:
1) Mobile is great but the laptops will need extra planning and support.
During the months of high heat and humidity you will have to protect them
with greater care than a desktop machine. We have problems during the
months
of September/October when the humidity seems to be greatest here.
If you have a mobile air-conditioned environment, great. Otherwise you
will
need to keep the laptops wrapped when not in use and have fans going
when in operation to keep them from accumulating moisture.
2) Laptops require greater expertise to repair than desktops so before
bringing
them into the country make sure you know of someone who definitely can
repair them. Bring spare parts also if possible
3) In general we prefer to purchase in country. This is because most of the
donated computers are not worth shipping that far, going through customs
and other hassles versus what can be bought here. Of course India has a
much larger domestic market for computers than Cambodia. You also might
have
more control over the quality of the computers than over a typical
donation.
Perhaps you could purchase in India or Thailand and then bring in?????
I would really think hard about how to make your center mobile. Desktops are
much cheaper, more reliable and easier to keep running than laptops in these
challenging environments.
Good Luck
bryan forst
Uddami Computer Training Centre
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.uddami.org/uctc
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