How to Prepare for an On-Site School Laptop Demo

Key takeaways

A school laptop demo works best as a test, not a presentation: write down the two or three questions the school needs answered before anyone arrives.
Bring the people who will use and look after the laptops: teachers from different subjects, a few students, the ICT coordinator and someone who can speak for the budget.
Arrange the room, power points, a guest Wi-Fi route for the visitor's laptop, the projector and a timetable slot before the day. KPM's 2026 calendar ends the school year on 3 December for Kumpulan A schools and 4 December for Kumpulan B.
Have teachers and students do real classroom tasks themselves: sign in to the school's learning tools, project a lesson, type and save work, and pass the laptop around a group.
Score every laptop on the same simple table, then put the same after-sales questions to every vendor: warranty terms, who pays claim postage, delivery to the school, the nearest service centre, contact hours and educator purchase options.

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What should a school decide before booking a laptop demo?

Decide what the demo is for. Write down the two or three questions the school needs answered, for example whether teachers can run a lesson from the laptop, whether students can sign in and hand in work, and what happens when a laptop needs repair. A demo with written questions becomes a test the school controls; a demo without them becomes a sales presentation.

The UK Department for Education, in its published standard for school laptops, desktops and tablets, puts the principle plainly: "Devices should be assessed against the needs of students and staff." The same standard warns that devices which are not suitable may "need to be repaired and replaced more often" and "cost more in the long run". A short list of the school's own needs is what makes that assessment possible on the day.

Before you contact any vendor, agree on these points inside the school:

Who the laptops are for. Teachers' own laptops, a class set for students, a replacement for an old computer lab, or a mix. Each answers different questions.
Which subjects and tasks matter most. A language teacher, a science teacher and an RBT (Reka Bentuk dan Teknologi) teacher will each test different things.
Which learning tools the school uses. If the school works through DELIMa, the Ministry of Education's digital learning platform, the demo should include signing in to it.
Who decides afterwards. Name the person who will read the scoring sheet, usually the head or a senior assistant (Penolong Kanan), so the right people attend.

Who from the school should attend the demo?

Bring the people who will use the laptops and the people who will look after them: two or three teachers from different subjects, a small group of students, the ICT coordinator, and someone who can speak for the school's budget, such as the head or a senior assistant. Give one person the job of filling in the scoring sheet while the others try the laptops.

Teachers matter more than any other attendee. UNESCO's 2023 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, as summarised in UNESCO's launch press release, found that "distributing computers to students does not improve learning if teachers are not involved in the pedagogical experience." Launching that report, UNESCO's Director-General put the same point as a rule of thumb:

"Keep the needs of the learner first and support teachers."
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General, UNESCO, 2023

Students show you what teachers cannot: how quickly a younger pupil finds the sign-in screen, how a laptop survives being passed along a row, whether the keyboard suits small hands. Follow the school's own rules for students meeting visitors, with a teacher present throughout. The ICT coordinator is the person who will set the laptops up and keep them running, so their questions about accounts, updates and the school network belong on the scoring sheet too.

What room, power, Wi-Fi and projector does a demo need?

A normal classroom, ideally the kind the laptops will be used in, with enough working power points, a way for the visitor's laptop to reach the internet without the school's staff Wi-Fi password, and the projector or screen teachers actually use, tested before the visitor arrives. Settle each of these by message a few days ahead so the session starts on time.

Check	What to arrange before the day
Room	A real classroom rather than the hall, booked for the whole session plus setting-up time.
Power	Enough working sockets near the desks, or an extension reel the school is happy to use.
Wi-Fi	A guest network or a mobile hotspot for the visitor's laptop. Never hand out the staff network password.
Projector	The classroom projector or screen switched on and tested, with the school's usual cable on the desk.
Accounts	A teacher or test account ready for signing in to the school's learning tools.
Entry	The visitor's name and time given to the guard post and the school office in advance.

Keep real pupil information off a visitor's laptop. If a teacher signs in with their own account to test the school's tools, they should sign out fully before the session ends. UNESCO's 2023 GEM Report found that "only 16% of countries guarantee data privacy in education by law".

The projector check deserves its own few minutes; our guide to connecting a laptop to a classroom projector walks through the cables, display settings and sound.

When in the school year should the demo happen?

Inside term time, in a slot where teachers and students can actually attend, away from exam weeks and the last days before a break. The Ministry of Education's 2026 academic calendar ends the school year on 3 December 2026 for Kumpulan A schools (Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu) and on 4 December 2026 for Kumpulan B schools, every other state and federal territory.

The same circular (Surat Siaran KPM Bil. 3 Tahun 2025) shows the two groups start their school weeks on different days: Kumpulan A's 2026 year began on Sunday 11 January, and Kumpulan B's on Monday 12 January. Check which days your school is in session before proposing a date, and remember that a vendor's office hours may not line up with your school week. The final stretch of 2026 runs from 6 September to 3 December for Kumpulan A and from 7 September to 4 December for Kumpulan B, 62 school days for each group.

What should teachers and students try during the demo?

Tasks from a normal school week, done by the teachers and students themselves rather than watched. Sign in to the school's own learning tools, open a lesson and project it, type and save a piece of work, run a short video call, and pass the laptop around a group. Note how long each task takes and anything that needed the vendor's help.

Testing it yourself matters because a brochure cannot tell you how a laptop behaves in your classroom. UNESCO's GEM Report press release cautions that "When the evidence only comes from the technology companies themselves, there is a risk it may be biased." A demo is the school's chance to gather its own evidence.

Start and sign in. Start the laptop from off and sign in to DELIMa and the tools behind it. When the Ministry refreshed DELIMa in 2020, Microsoft Malaysia's announcement listed Google Classroom, Microsoft O365 and Apple Teacher Learning Center among its tools.
Project a lesson. Connect to the classroom projector with the school's own cable, switch between showing the same screen and an extended screen, and play a short video with sound.
Edit real teaching material. Open a slide deck or worksheet a teacher made, change it, save it and share it the way the school normally does.
Type in every school language. Type in Bahasa Melayu and English and, in SJK(C) and SJK(T) schools, Chinese or Tamil. Check that switching input languages is easy for the age group.
Do a student task. A student searches for something, writes a short paragraph and hands it in through the class's usual platform.
Run a short video call. Join a call in a room with normal classroom noise and listen to how the other side hears you.
Pass it around. Hand the laptop along a group, close and open the lid, and carry it between rooms the way pupils would.
Watch the battery. Note the battery percentage at the start and end of the session, with the laptop used normally throughout.

Watch the class as well as the laptop. The OECD's 2024 brief on PISA 2022 results found that "across the OECD, 59% of students said their attention was diverted due to other students using phones, tablets or laptops in at least some maths lessons." Ask how a teacher would turn off notifications and keep a class on the task in hand, because the same brief notes students "appear to be less distracted in class when they switch off notifications from social networks and apps".

How should the school score the laptops afterwards?

On one simple table, filled in during the session, with the same rows for every laptop the school tries. Score each task from 0 to 3, add a line in the teachers' and students' own words, and file the sheet with the vendor's written answers to the after-sales questions. The decision then rests on the same evidence for every option, not on whichever demo was most recent.

Row	A score of 3 looks like
Sign-in	Teachers and students reached the school's learning tools without help.
Projecting	The lesson and its sound reached the projector with the school's own cable.
Teaching material	Slides and worksheets opened, edited and saved without changes to formatting.
Languages	Every language the school teaches in could be typed and switched easily.
Student handling	Pupils used and passed the laptop around confidently.
Video call	Both sides heard and saw each other clearly in a normal classroom.
After-sales answers	Every question below was answered, in writing, without hedging.

Use 0 for "could not do it", 1 for "only with the vendor's help", 2 for "managed with some fuss" and 3 for "easy". UNESCO's launch release notes that "Many countries ignore the long-term costs of technology purchases", and the after-sales row is where a school weighs those long-term costs.

What should a school ask any laptop vendor after the demo?

Ask every vendor the same after-sales questions and get the answers in writing: what the warranty covers and for how long, who pays postage on a warranty claim, how laptops reach the school, where the nearest service centre is, what hours the support line keeps, what the returns position is, and whether there is a purchase option for educators.

Warranty. How long it lasts, when it starts, and what it does and does not cover.
Claim postage. Who pays to send a faulty laptop for repair and back. Across a class set, this adds up.
Delivery to the school. Whether delivery is charged, how long it takes, and whether the school's location changes that.
Service centre. Where the nearest one is, and its opening hours, so a teacher knows how far a repair trip is.
Contact hours. When the support line answers, and what happens to a message sent after hours.
Returns. What happens if the laptop is not right after purchase.
Educator options. Whether teachers can buy for themselves on special terms, and who is eligible.

A vendor that answers all seven in writing has given the school something it can compare; a vendor that will not answer has given an answer too.

How does a school arrange an on-site demo with Citzen?

Message Citzen's WhatsApp hotline on +60 12-565 2091, Monday to Saturday from 9am to 1pm; Citzen says messages sent after hours are answered as soon as possible. In Citzen's own words: "We run hands-on demo sessions at schools so teachers and students can try the CZ-4 in real classroom workflows. By appointment." The CZ-4 is Citzen's 14-inch notebook.

The educators and schools section of Citzen's About page is the place to start, or message Citzen on WhatsApp to arrange a school demo. Citzen does not publish further details of its sessions, so in your first message give the school's name and town, the dates that suit your timetable, who will attend and what the school wants to try.

Here is what Citzen publishes on each of the after-sales questions above:

Question	What Citzen publishes
Warranty	A 1-year (365-day) local warranty from the date of purchase, registered automatically on order. It covers malfunctioning components and manufacturing defects, not damage from negligence, mishandling or misuse.
Claim postage	Postal and delivery costs for warranty claims are borne by the customer.
Delivery	Free nationwide. Orders ship within 3 working days; for Sabah and Sarawak, allow up to 3 weeks.
Service centres	Ipoh, Perak; Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; and Sibu, Sarawak. All open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
Contact hours	WhatsApp hotline, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 1pm; after-hours messages answered as soon as possible.
Returns	A no-refund policy; Citzen invites buyers to ask on WhatsApp before they buy.
Educators	An interest-free instalment plan for government educators (eligibility applies).

The full terms are on Citzen's About page, under delivery, warranty and returns, the addresses in the service centres section of Citzen's About page, and our guide to what the CZ-4 warranty covers and what to prepare for a claim explains the claim side in detail. Schools in East Malaysia can read what Citzen publishes about delivery to Sabah and Sarawak. For any other question, Citzen's contact details are on its About page. Teachers weighing a laptop for themselves can also read our guide to choosing a laptop for teaching in Malaysia, and every other guide is listed on the Citzen guides page.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a school laptop demo take?

Long enough for a teacher and a student to try every task on the school's list themselves. A double period, with time before it for setting up and testing the projector, is a sensible booking; squeezing the demo into a break is not.

Should students take part in a school laptop demo?

Yes, if the laptops are meant for students. A small group shows how pupils actually sign in, type, hand in work and pass a laptop around. Follow the school's own rules for students meeting visitors, with a teacher present throughout.

Does a vendor's laptop need the school's Wi-Fi password for a demo?

No. Offer a guest network or a mobile hotspot instead of the staff network password, and keep real pupil information off the visitor's laptop. A teacher who signs in to test the school's tools should sign out fully before the session ends.

How do I book an on-site school demo with Citzen?

Message Citzen's WhatsApp hotline on +60 12-565 2091, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 1pm. Citzen says messages sent after hours are answered as soon as possible.

Can government teachers buy from Citzen in instalments?

Citzen offers an interest-free instalment plan for government educators (eligibility applies); ask on the WhatsApp hotline or see the educators and schools section of Citzen's About page.