To be part of Pingry’s 1:1 laptop program at the Middle and Upper Schools, a student’s laptop must be capable of efficiently performing tasks necessary to complete classwork. Consequently, a student’s course schedule will dictate, to some degree, the quality of the laptop they will need. Typically, Mac or Windows laptops purchased in the past 3 years should be fine to bring to school. Chromebooks are not a viable option for a student's permanent device.
Each day, Middle and Upper School students should bring to school a fully charged laptop, protective case, power adapter, and any other necessary accessories. Students are responsible for maintaining their own laptops. The Tech Department does not loan power cords however, there are charging stations located around the Basking Ridge Campus. If a student has a broken laptop, the department does have Chromebooks available for loans of up to two weeks.
If you do not find the information you need, please email Mr. Steve Frantz, Director of Technology, sfrantz@pingry.org.
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EVALUATE MY CURRENT LAPTOP
A Middle or Upper School Pingry Student’s Laptop Should:
- Have wifi connectivity.
- Have 8GB or more of RAM.
- Efficiently run Google Apps for Education products.
- Minimum of a 13" screen.
- Be able to join a video conference while having a note-taking program open, as well as have working speakers, microphone, and webcam to participate in the video conference.
- Efficiently run required course-specific software, which may include products such as the Adobe Creative Suite*, LoggerPro (Science), MathType, Geometer’s Sketchpad (Math), etc.
- Connect to a classroom HDMI projector via USB-C, using an adaptor if necessary.
- Be setup to perform consistent backups, either via cloud storage (such as Google Drive) or via an external hard drive.
- Battery life greater than 5 hours.
- Admin access to allow for software installation.
*Please be aware that Adobe’s Creative Suite is provided only to students taking certain Fine Arts courses. Please consult the Pingry Curriculum Guide for more information. If you need to run Adobe Creative Suite on your laptop, please note that it may require increased processing power and storage space, depending on usage.
NOTE: The Pingry School 1-to-1 program is platform-independent. Pingry recommends and can provide support for macOS or Microsoft Windows.
BUY A NEW LAPTOP
If your laptop does not sufficiently perform the tasks defined in the minimum requirements, The Pingry School recommends that families purchasing a NEW laptop choose a machine that meets the following specifications:
- 16GB RAM
- 250GB Solid State Drive
- Wifi connectivity
- Integrated Webcam
- Warranty Extension/Accidental Damage Coverage Recommended
- Accessories:
- Laptop case or laptop sleeve for protection in the backpack
- Headphones w/ Mic
- USB C to USB 3.0 Adapter and HDMI Adapter (optional)
If you plan on purchasing an Apple laptop, the Pingry Tech Team recommends a 13" MacBook Air M5 with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. This laptop has great battery life and is powerful enough to run almost all applications reasonably. (For reference, Pingry faculty who are Mac users are issued this computer). For students who are basic technology users, the new MacBook Neo with 8GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD may meet their needs, but it is underpowered for more advanced users.
You can receive discounted pricing on Apple devices by visiting the Pingry Apple Store:
http://www.apple.com/edu/
If you prefer a Windows laptop, the Pingry Tech Team recommends Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga and the Surface Laptop 7. (For reference, Pingry faculty who are Windows users are provided a Surface Laptop 7 computers with Snap)
You can also receive discounted pricing on Dell devices by visiting the Pingry Dell Store:
http://www.dell.com/mpp/Pingry use Member ID: GS141340748 if prompted
For your reference, about 70% of our faculty use Mac laptops, as well as about 85% of our students.