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January 21, 2008

hardware

MW08: On The Floor: Sync 15 iPods at once

Posted Jan. 21, ’08, 2:45 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Hardware

paratiPod1.jpgA lot of schools and businesses these days are utilizing iPods to distribute audio and text notes to students and employees, making it easy for them to transfer and consume uniform content in small, paper-saving, back-saving, and power-saving packages. The trick, though, is equipping these devices with the content, and the few USB ports on Macs and PCs makes it incredibly difficult to bulk-update loads of iPods in a cost-effective way.

Well, there are companies with solutions to that little conundrum. On the show floor, PARAT Solutions was the one to turn to. They have multiple products for syncing and charging up to 30 iPods at one time. The 15-unit model starts at $800 and is capable of syncing all connected ‘Pods to iTunes at one time, while the $1500 30-unit model syncs them in two chunks of 15 — that’s the threshold according to the rep, who said that trying to sync more than 15 iPods tends to cripple iTunes.

PARAT also makes bulk MacBook mobile-LAN carts, which charge and network 12-24 of the laptops in a protective pod — and supports network technologies like Wake on LAN and printer sharing. Check PARAT’s website for all their product deets.

[Update:: Fixed product pricing.]

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