ATRC - Hardware

Hardware

For information on hardware that Academic Technology checks out to faculty members, click one of the following:

Other hardware of interest is linked below:

This page provides links, findings and recommendations about hardware in use by the District and Palomar staff.

Computing at Palomar. This page will provide links to employee purchase sites for Dell, IBM and Apple computers and other hardware related information.

Tablet PCs.

We recommend the Apple iPad 2 for general purpose tablet computing, feturing a xx" screen set at 1024 x 768 resolution. In many cases, especially with a companion bluetooth external keyboard, the iPad2 can replace the laptop or even desktop computer. For display in classrooms with most projectors you will need the VGA adapter, and with some projectors the HDMI adapter. The Camera connector kit is useful for transferring photos or videos to the device, while a Smart Cover (or some other cover) is essential to avoid scratching the screen.

For those who wish to embrace the Android world, we recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab, 10.1" screen. It has a brilliant 10.1" screen set to 1280 x 800 resolution with best integration with Google services.

Portable media players (mp3 players)

We recommend the Apple iPod as the mp3 player of choice in any of its incarnations (including Nano and Suffle). For playing academic podcasts, the relatively inexpensive Suffle will work fine. All the iPods work with the same easy-to-use iTunes software. The iPod does not support Windows wma sound format, but will convert it in order to import files unless the wma file contains Digital Rights Management. (DRM is applied, for example, to the downloadable audible books from the San Diego County Library, which supports only wma format.) We recommend any of the Creative Zen mp3 players, if you need one that supports wma format with DRM, or simply do not want to use the Apple iPod.

Headset Microphones

For making Wimba Voice recordings or narrating PowerPoint or Camtasia presentations we recommend the Logitech ClearChat Pro USB headset. Using USB will eliminate virtually all of the complications of attaching a microphone to a sound card and the Logitech model (priced at around $40.00) will give you excellent quality sound.

USB Wireless Microphones

We recommend the Revolabs xTAG™ Wireless Microphone System. Read a full description of this microphone here. The xTag wireless USB microphone gets excellent sound quality, and is comprised of a base-station with USB cable connection to a computer and a wireless USB mic that transmits to the base station for a distance of approximately 20m. The microphone is light and about the size of a tube of lipstick with a metal clip to attach it to clothing or a lanyard to wear around neck.

Lavalier Microphones

We recommend the audio-technica ATR3350 omnidirectional condenser lavalier microphone.

PowerPoint Remote Presentation Clickers

We recommend the Kensington Wireless Presenter with red Laser Pointer and Memory. The "and Memory" refers to a 2GB falsh stick which doubles as the device's receiver and tucks away inside the device for portability. The Kensington is basic but of excellent quality. It has forward, back, screen black and laser pointer keys in a curved-tapered body that fits comfortably in your hand. Store presentations right on the receiver.

Hand-held camcorders

See our camcorders page for information.