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Since 2019 Balmoral State High School has operated a whole school Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). BYOD engages the digital generation by nurturing individual learning experiences and 21st Century Skills. 

Selecting a device for school

​​Device Requirements

The best way to purchase a laptop is to shop around your local retailers and take advantage of sales. 

To make sure your device is suitable for the school please ask your retailer the following questions:

Can it connect to the school network?

Devices must be compatible with a 5Ghz Wi-Fi Network, often called “Dual Band Wi-Fi"

We recommend Windows devices over Apple devices at our school.

Never buy a Chromebook as they are not compatible with our school network.

If in doubt, ask your retailer “Does this device run Windows 11 and will this device connect to five Gigahertz Wi-Fi?".

Will it last the whole school day?

Battery life can vary depending on usage and batteries degrade over time.

We recommend an advertised battery life of 8 hours.

If in doubt, ask your retailer “Will this device last an entire school day, even after three years of use?".

Is it fast enough to be useful?

Our experience shows the two main indicators of BYOD performance is the number of CPU threads and SSD storage.

Never buy a device with a Mechanical HDD, always choose a device with at least a 256GB Solid State Drive (SSD).

Always buy a device with 4 or more CPU threads. in doubt, ask your retailer “Is the storage drive a 128 Gigabyte or larger solid-state drive and does this device have four or more CPU threads?".

If it Breaks, can it be Fixed?

Technology fails and accidents happen. Choose a device with more repair options to:

• Save money by repairing instead of replacing;
  
• Reduce stress when accidents occur.
  

We recommend choosing a 3 year Warranty and $0 excess Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) with your device.
Or, choose a device which can be repaired by your local repair shop if it breaks
If in doubt, ask your retailer "What repair options do I have for this device if it breaks?".

​Required Software

You don't need to purchase any optional software (e.g. Microsoft Office) with your device.

We don't recommend purchasing Trend Micro or McAfee  or any other anti-virus programs as they are often unsupported by the schools network and will stop your students connection to the schools network.

Please Note: that all windows devices come standard with Windows Defender and this is supported by the Department and the Schools network

Once you have your school username and password, you can access software downloads for Microsoft Office, Adobe and other software from our student intranet:

https://qedu.sharepoint.com/sites/2043/student

Questions

                Please get in contact with us at helpdesk@balmoralshs.eq.edu.au​​