Bulk iPad storage ideas

[teachher]

Hi all -
This is my first post, but I'm a longtime lurker. Thanks in advance to all who can help me.

I'm a high school teacher and I recently receieved a $20,000 grant to do an iPad pilot at my school. Part of the pilot will be creating a mobile lab with 15 iPads that teachers can check out and take to their classroom to use for lessons. The problem is that the $20k is less than I requested and I hate to drop a chunk of it on the Bretford iPad cart. I mean, it's pretty cool, but it's $1600!

.

I want to create some sort of DIY solution to store 15 iPads in a secure way. It doesn't need to have charging/syncing built in - I don't mind mounting a couple powered USB ports on whatever I find.

I had a couple of ideas:
1. I could get two of these:

and attach them to a cart.

OR

I could get something like this:

and just have one drawer for each iPad.

Of course, neither would be as secure as the Bretford cart, but they'd be significantly less expensive. When they aren't being used I can always lock them in a closet.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any ideas of how to store/transport 15 iPads?

Thanks!

 

[ctyhntr]

My DYI suggestion. Check out this steel rifle locker from walmart for $99. Walmart only charges 97 cents to ship it. Have the school handyman install wheels, or attach it to a dolly platform so it doesn't tip over when you push it around.

For storing the iPads, get a couple of 8 1/2 x 11 plastic folder stacking trays. They're like $3 from staples.

If you want to turn into a mobile charging station, mount a couple of power strips inside, and run a 25 foot extension cord through out of the locker. You can keep iPads charge over night, and have it under lock and key. Add a wireless router, and turn the gun locker into a portable wifi access point. You'll never have to worry about signal strength.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sentinel-10-Gun-Security-Cabinet/14710131