Job Discussion Forums

BocaNY · Joined: 24 Mar 2009 Posts: 131

Hi. I was wondering what you all think is the best laptop for an ESL teacher to have when living in different countries. I am a mac person (love them) but my mac is slowly dieing after 5yrs and I need to get a new one. Since I want to keep traveling and teaching which laptop would be best for going on esl websites, to use in the classroom if need be, or to do online tutoring with?

Basically which would be most compatible and easier to use in esl teaching?

Thanks for any info/help.

tttompatz · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 5:00 am Post subject: Re: Best laptop Mac or PC

VietCanada · Joined: 30 Nov 2010 Posts: 590

There's a lot of Apple stuff in Vietnam. A couple teachers at my school bring in their Apple laptops and have no trouble whatsoever plugging in to the schools Internet. I'm not even sure why that would be an issue. The Internet is not an MS product.

I don't own an Apple but it was my understanding that MS makes all their software to work on Apple as part of their settlement with Apple when Windows first came out.

I use Linux on a PC I built. I have had fewer compatibility issues between Open Office and MS Word than I've had using using different versions of MS Office. I have no trouble connecting to the Internet or networks with printers configured with MS Windows.

I think you can use any computer operating system you want.

As for support, there are Apple stores here in HCMC. I never saw any in Korea but I've heard that Taiwan and Hong Kong are not a problem.

Remember the laptop you're using was likely made in Asia. They use Intel chips now so there should be no problem whatsoever finding parts should you need one.

The language issue is more likely to be a problem so you might have to learn to fix your own computer no matter what OS you use. Sites like this are helpful.

BocaNY · Joined: 24 Mar 2009 Posts: 131

Thanks for the info guys.

What about a netbook? Can you run the same programs as a pc? I am thinking of maybe also doing online teaching to make a few extra bucks. I applied to one and they told me their software isn't compatible with macs. Would it be a good idea to have my mac & a netbook or just get a windows laptop?

Merry Christmas.

tttompatz · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:54 pm Post subject:

VietCanada · Joined: 30 Nov 2010 Posts: 590

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

feelfree · Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Posts: 15 Location: Over the Rainbow

I prefer MAC to PC. I have an iMac. I was considering purchasing iPad 2.

What is the state of technology in university classrooms in the ME?

SMART technology or its equivalent?

WiFi?

BlackBoard?

JDYoung · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 157 Location: Dongbei

The internet is not OS specific but the program that you may need to use to connect to a specific server may be. At my uni here in China the only program that can be used to connect to the uni server is Windows only. One teacher has a MAC with dual boot capability and has to use Windows for her internet and therefore rarely uses the Mac part. Kind of defeats whatever advantages Mac has. If you have a different connection such as a 3G stick then you may be OK.

Let's face it. Programs and connections for Windows are available everywhere, Macs only somewhat whether Steve Job fans like it or not.

feelfree · Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Posts: 15 Location: Over the Rainbow

That's surprising since quite a few if not all of Apple products are manufactured in China.

JDYoung · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 157 Location: Dongbei

Lots of stuff that is manufactured in China never appears on the shelves in China.

Apple products such as ipod, iphone and ipad are popular but it hasn't made as much progress in the desktop or notebook market as far as I can tell.

Denizen · Joined: 13 Nov 2009 Posts: 110 Location: Tohoku

PC Magazine's Top 10 Laptops article from March, 2011 might help...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369981,00.asp

talkgabchat · Joined: 11 Dec 2011 Posts: 43 Location: Shanghai

Mr_Monkey · Joined: 11 Mar 2009 Posts: 661 Location: Kyuuuuuushuuuuuuu

I run a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge 11 with Ubuntu 11.10 x64 and have had no problems whatsoever in any of my teaching situations.

The determiner is the programs that might be used and the connectivity required from the computer. For example, the majority of projectors I've seen in use in schools and colleges don't have DVI or HDMI connectivity and instead come with the standard VGA connector. As far as I know, Macs don't have VGA outs, so you'll need a Displayport > VGA adapter (if such a thing is available) for many projectors.

In terms of internet connectivity, it's quite possible to connect a 3G+ smartphone to your computer should you be in a location where such a service is available. If it's not, then you might be SOL if the school doesn't have - or allow teachers to connect to - the internet.

Some software, such as comes on the CD ROMs in many newer textbooks, is Windows only or has limited functionality in OSX/Linux. This makes it less friendly for those OSes, but again, most of that software is intended for the students who, by and large, run Windows.

Flash might be a consideration when choosing a computer - it's a resource hog and is non grata in the Mac ecosystem (likely for competition reasons). Moreover, weaker netbooks running older graphics chipsets will struggle with rendering flash video in fullscreen. This will become less of an issue, perhaps, as the web moves over to HTML5 with the <video> tag and h264 encoding, but again, how older low power and ultra-mobile PCs cope remains to be seen.

Conversely, web resources are generally platform agnostic - running wikis and accessing VLEs is generally possible on any modern browser although again, older computers might struggle under load, particularly from Java and Flash webtop applications.

Basically I guess I'm saying that you need to know the context you'll be teaching in pretty well before you can really decide on what's best for you. As it stands, though, Windows is probably the OS with the fewest issues in setup and working. Security and optimisation, however, are entirely different issues!