[Tech] Schools Purchasing Mice

[Edmund Biow]

Howdy folks, my name is Ed, I just learned about your group from a post 
by Christian Einfeldt on the BALUG list.  I live in Oakland, use Linux, 
have done some substituting in the Oakland school district, and work 
with a group that has sent about 3,000 computers to Cuba (and 500 to 
Bolivia after the Bush administration refused to grant us licenses to 
ship to Cuba).
http://www.cubasolidarity.net/

We are preparing to send a few dozen machines to Haiti to be used in a 
Cuban-built medical school and I offered to put Linux on them, but they 
plan to just blow Windows on the boxes, ah well, Cuba has been trying to 
migrate to Linux, but it is a long row to hoe.

Last year I tried to help a local recreation center set up a LTSP 
computer lab with a bunch of old PII/PIII machines, but they ended up 
going with new Windows machines (and mostly new CRT monitors!) donated 
by the Port of Oakland, what a waste...oh well.

I thought I'd subscribe to your list and see what I can learn, or maybe 
pitch in occasionally.

As to the rodent situation, if they haven't made their purchases yet I 
have a suggestion or two.

One, they might try to contact the Alameda County Computer Resource 
Center (http://www.accrc.org/) and see if they can get free mice.  They 
will also donate used, refurbed computers (with Ubuntu) to schools.  You 
guys probably already know about them.  James Burgett can be a bit of a 
pill IMO, but he does some good stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nb5PpSRjXc

Another option, you might try pricewatch.com, they often have decent 
prices.
http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/input_devices/wheel

I don't know how good the build quality is, but http://3btech.net has a 
few wheel-mice for $4 a piece in quantities of 10, free shipping, e.g.:
http://3btech.net/blusbopmowis.html

In my experience generic rodents work pretty well, though I will grant 
that Logitech and even Microsoft makes nice hardware. It might be worth 
ordering 1 of a few of the cheaper ones to check them out before buying 
dozens of them. Amazon also offers a generic mouse for $4.18:
http://www.amazon.com/iMicro-MO-5013U-Optical-Mouse-Silver/dp/B002KKCNHG/ref=pd_cp_e_3

BTW, it looks like the Amazon B100 Logitech mouse it up to $8.24 now.

Regards,

Edmund
> From sverma at sfsu.edu  Sun Jun  5 23:53:54 2011
> From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma)
> Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 23:53:54 -0700
> Subject: [Tech] Schools Purchasing Mice
> In-Reply-To: <BANLkTin+xwdT3E76JD6jUwxCncQHbcQb5Q at mail.gmail.com>
> References: <BANLkTi=_-4frG7619FvTCgFSkpjEbj1bcw at mail.gmail.com>
> <BANLkTin+xwdT3E76JD6jUwxCncQHbcQb5Q at mail.gmail.com>
> Message-ID: <BANLkTin-zToCdhRknzC3_yw+64jCh_0Gmg at mail.gmail.com>
>
> On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 11:50 PM, Grant Bowman <grantbow at 
> partimus.org> wrote:
> > It's hard to beet this price from Amazon for a Logitech mouse at $7.58
> > with free shipping.
> > 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003L62T7W/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d8_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
> >
> > Unless anyone else has a recommendation this is what I think we should
> > recommend to our sites.
> >
> > Grant
> >
> >
>
> I've looked around as well, but I can't find anything better in terms
> of pricing. Free shipping is really what makes this a great deal.
>
> cheers,
> Sameer
>
> > On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 3:04 PM, Grant Bowman <grantbow at 
> partimus.org> wrote:
> >> Mission Beacon is looking for a recommendation of where to purchase
> >> mice. Would http://www.centralcomputers.com be a good place to
> >> purchase wired, three button laser mice?
> >>
> >> $9.95 generic =
> >> 
> http://www.centralcomputers.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=78015&czuid=1306965057671
> >>
> >> or
> >>
> >> $12.95 Logitech =
> >> 
> http://www.centralcomputers.com/commerce/ccp76898-logitech-910-001439-b100-mouse-optical-usb-wired--910-001439-moulog01439s.htm
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> Grant
> >>
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