Ethernet Network

Parts:
Ethernet Netowrk Interface Cards
Ethernet Hub or Switch
Ethernet Cable (wiring)
To start you need to have computers with Ethernet Network Cards. These are sometimes refered to as NICs. These typically cost $20-$50 each. A good
name brand that is cheap is NetGear FA311TX. 3Com and Intel cards are also
fine. For a desktop machine it doesn't matter so much what kind. For servers it does.
See your Server's Operating System reference manual for details.

Hubs
Good to get a name brand here. I have seen many cheapo brand ones burn out soon after purchase. I like to get ones with an internal power supply. This means that I don't have to have lots of those brick style power supplies cluttering up my power strips. Brands to look for: 3Com, DLINK, Intel, Linksys etc. If you are
connecting more than 15 machines you may want to get a Switch. Note you need at least one more port than you have computers. One port will get used to uplink to you Internet connection or other hub. Yes, you can connect hubs to other hubs.
And Hubs to Switches. So you can get a 8 port hub now and add a 16 port later
giving you over 20 ports for your network.

DSL or other high speed Internet access providers
Consult with your Regional Field Tech. Too much information and too many options to discuss here.

Digital Multimedia Projectors
We have had luck here with InFocus brand projectors. Very sharp, durable, and bright. Get a model with 1000 ANSI Lumens or brighter. Some are made to display 800x600 (SVGA) screens, some show 1024x768 (XGA) screens. For most SVGA resloution is fine.InFocus LP 340 (portable), LP 755 (less portable).

Other brands that are good too: NEC, Epson, Viewsonic, 3M

Computers:
Big quesition... Some feel that this is now mostly a commodity and you should
get the cheapest thing out there. Others feel strongly that a name brand is
important to get good quality and real value. I feel that if you shop around you can get both. names brands I think are ok:

HP
Toshiba
Gateway
DELL (though they Micheal Dell CEO of DELL is big George W. Bush promoter)

E-Machines
PowerSpec (MicroCenter brand)

For processors right now you can get more bang for your buck with AMD brand processors. They are about $100-$200 cheaper than their
Intel counterparts and this is usually a savings that the computer maker passes on to the consumer. AMD Duron is comparable to the Intel Celeron. The AMD Athlon is comparable to the Pentium III and IV. Plan to spend anywhere from $1200 to all the way down to $650. Save your money for a good monitor and good video card capable of displaying at least 1024 x 768 at millions of colors. ATI is a good maker of Video Cards.
RAM : minimum 64MB. Recommended 128MB.
Hard Drive: 10-30 GB.
Monitor: 17" minimum Brands: Sony, ViewSonic, NEC, Mitsubishi.
Other Stuff:
mouse w/scrolling wheel

What about the Operating System ? For now if possible stay with Windows 98 as long as possible. If that no longer seems to be an option then move to Windows Millenium Edition (or ME for short) Windows 2000 is the newest version of Windows NT Workstation, shich is something you may not need. Its more for commercial networks.

DVD or just CD? At this point you might want to get DVD-ROM drives
installed in all your future machines. The quality and cabilities of this new technology for language learners is very positive and is something that I will get into in more detail later. What about CDRW Drives ? More on this later...

Tape Drives:

This is most important. Think about how it would be if right now you lost every thing on your computer how would that be ? If you find yourself like me than its a catastrophic event that need to be prevented. Only regular backups can prevent this. Data can be lost due to mechanical problems or user error. If you have a local area network you can set up a tape drive device on one machine and set up software to back up the other machines. You can even automate it so it can happen when people are at home sleeping.
Tape Drives: DAT DDS4 drives are probably the best combination if speed, cost, and tape capacity.
They can hold 12 GB per tape, and cost around $1000. the tapes cost about $25. A less expensive option is DAT DDS3. These drives cost about $725. APS Tech is a good place to shop for one of these. www.apstech.com
Back Up Software: I reccommend Retrospect by Dantz. Its much easier to use than the more popular Back Up Exec by Veritas.

Multimedia Projectors:

This is an essential part of any computer training lab. Anyone who has taught with one will tell you that its hard to do with out one once you work with one. You can capture attention and have people understanding complex directions in a fraction of the time it would take to cover similar material on a black board of by having others gather around a single 17" monitor. Things to look for in a good one. Opt for 1000 lumens and above. The bigger the number the brighter the output image. A project with more than 1000 will be visible even with the room lights on. Expect to pay for what you get here. Good projectors cost $2500 and above. Brands to look for include: Infocus, Epson, 3M, NEC, Sharp etc. For a lab the being small and portable, maybe a feature that you don't necessarily need to pay more for.