What specifications does T4 currently recommend for schools purchasing CAD Computers.

 The last procurement agreement that T4 were involved with dates back to August 2010 where Dell were the successful tender for the supply of CAD standard PC’s and Notebooks for the Technology subjects (see item 3 below). The specifications for these machines can be found at: http://www.t4.ie/DCG_Documents/Dell/Dell_Flyer_2010.pdf  Please note that these machine specifications date back to 2010. If purchasing an alternative machines it is most important to check that the graphics card is compatible with SolidWorks. Solid Solutions will be able to advise you in this area.

Are there any grants available to upgrade the original T4 CAD Computers in my DCG room.

 The matter of upgrading the CAD PC's for Design and Communication Graphics is currently under consideration within the Department of Education and Skills and schools will be notified of the outcome of these deliberations in due course. 

What contract is currently in place for the provision of CAD Standard PC’s and Notebooks for second level schools?

Dell were the successful tender for the supply of CAD standard PC’s and Notebooks for the Technology subjects. The contract commencement date was Wednesday 1st September 2010 and the contract ran until the 31st August 2011. A six months rollover was built into the contract to extended the contract until the 28th February 2012, if required. This rollover option was not invoked and therefore their is no contract currently in place since the 1st September 2011. .

For the new Dell computers what does the term Genuine Windows 7R (downgrade to Windows XP Pro) mean. Will we need SolidWorks 10 for these machines?

The SEC outlined in the DCG student assignment guidelines that SolidWorks 2009 will be required for the completion of the student assignment. Therefore the new computers had to have an operating system that supported SolidWorks 2009. SolidWorks 2009 is not supported on Windows 7, so it was decided that Windows XP would go out on the computers. For this to happen, Dell had to install Windows XP as a downgrade from Windows 7. This is common practice in industry and there is no need to install SolidWorks 2010, to do so would not meet the SEC requirements for the student assignment.

Is there any provision to supply servers under the new contracts with Dell?

Under the current framework there is no provision for the supply of servers. Most schools operate at local level to meet emerging needs.

What warranty was issued with the Dell and HP CAD Standard PC’s and Notebooks?

Both the Dell and HP CAD Standard computers were supplied with a 3 years next day on site (full parts and labour) warranty from the date of purchase.  The technical support numbers for Dell and HP are available on the T4 website on the following link: http://www.t4.ie/cad_advicedoc_support.html.

Can I extend the warranty on the CAD Standard PC’s and Notebooks?

Both Dell and HP Ireland did provide an offer to extend the warranty on both the desktops and the notebooks for an additional two years.  In most cases this would extend the warranty until the early part of 2012 and because of this time limit this is no longer a practical option for schools.

Further details of the warranty extension was available on http://www.t4.ie/cad_advicedoc_support.html.

Is there a phone number to ring regarding the extended warranty for the dell 390 desktops. We bought the 2 years extended warranty and now we need to replace a hard drive but Dell claim they don’t know about the extended 2 year warranty

If you have purchased the extended warranty on the Dell Computers you should contact JLS at (01) 6209800 or  email rcd@jls.ie.
The number of students doing DCG has increased in my school.  Can I apply for additional DCG funding for the provision of the necessary hardware?

The number of students doing the revised subject was up by 13% in 2009.  A number of schools received additional funding as the number of students now taking the subject exceeded the original funding allocation.  Schools seeking additional funding should make a comprehensive application in writing to the Planning and Building Unit, Tullamore, Co Offaly, Tel:(057)9324443 /(057)9324444. Applications forms for additional funding are available from the Building Unit or a copy can be downloaded from the T4 web at http://www.t4.ie/Application_Forms.html. Additional funding requests will be considered within the scope of available budgets.

Is it still possible for me to obtain a copy of the MS Learning Suite.

The NCTE is happy to provide a Work at Home copy of Microsoft Learning Suite which contains Office 2007 Enterprise Edition to T4 teachers to assist them in the preparation for classes.

  • Note that this disk is for T4 Teachers work at home use only.
  • This software is only to be installed on the T4 teacher home computer (single install).
  • Any copying or distributing of this media is illegal.

Please use the following links to download the following form and return to the NCTE: Ms Word Version -- PDF Version

I want to load MS Learning Suite & Office 2007 onto my own laptop but the activation code that I have will not work. Please advise

The NCTE were involved in negotiating and implementing the software licensing agreement with Microsoft to facilitate the provision of Microsoft Learning Suite for T4 teachers.  To obtain the information you require you will need to contact the NCTE directly.  

NCTE Contact Details:

Phone: 01-7008200, E-mail: info@ncte.ie, Address: NCTE, Dublin City University, Dublin 9