For students working hard to reconnect with learning, a freezing laptop or a dying battery is more than a technical problem. It can bring learning to a jarring halt.

Alta1 knows this well. Across Western Australia, Alta1 supports young people who need a different kind of school environment, helping them re-engage with education and move toward their future with confidence.

Laptops are central to how students participate in learning and how staff members teach across Alta1’s 20 campuses. They support everything from coursework and research to creative projects and vocational training.

But the devices students and staff relied on were creating problems no curriculum could fix—from short battery life to spinning wheels of doom.

Alta1 began looking for a better way forward.

The search for better devices led Alta1 to PCs powered by Snapdragon X Series processors. But getting there took time.

For years, Alta1 had equipped students with Apple devices. While those PCs met basic needs, the school wanted students to gain experience with Windows.

“Students are more likely to use a Windows device when they enter the workplace,” said Simon Grant, Head of ICT at Alta1. “Plus, we were already heavily involved in the Microsoft 365 stack.”

So Alta1 switched to Windows laptops. But while the platform made sense, the new devices brought a different set of frustrations.

Battery life was painfully short, often lasting only four hours into the school day. Low processing power led to frozen screens that would grind lessons to a halt. Even a virus scan could render PCs unusable for an entire day.

Grant and his team realized the issue wasn’t just the operating system. It was the hardware powering their devices.

That realization led Alta1 to adopt PCs powered by Snapdragon processors.

Once Alta1 began deploying devices powered by Snapdragon X Plus processors, the difference was clear.

Battery life began stretching through the entire school day—and often into the next. That reliability has helped keep students engaged in their work instead of looking for chargers or hunting for outlets.

Performance has stayed fast and responsive, enabling students and teachers to run multiple apps without lag.

Touchscreen capabilities have also been a gamechanger. They lowered the barrier to using devices and opened additional pathways for students to engage with technology.

“Students engage with learning in different ways, so having extra options for interacting with a device is really important,” said Grant. “If a student doesn’t know how to touch-type yet, they can still use the touchscreen and engage that way.”

It’s not just students who have benefited from the new PCs.

“All of the staff that have used the PCs powered by Snapdragon have commented that they’re much faster and much more enjoyable to use,” Grant added.

Alta1 has deployed approximately 1,000 PCs powered by Snapdragon processors across all its campuses, working with Solutions IT to support both students and staff.

For a school focused on helping students rebuild confidence in learning, these reliable laptops aren’t a luxury—they’re a must. Because when devices stay out of the way by lasting through the day, responding instantly, and offering intuitive ways to engage, students can focus on the work in front of them.

And that’s exactly the point.

Technology shouldn’t be another obstacle to overcome. At Alta1, it’s becoming one more way to move students forward.