Why not create labs without workstations - that is to say, give students big monitors, keyboards and mice and let them hook their laptops & netbooks in. Would be a cheap experiment to run, not to mention the much longer upgrade cycle. I usually bring an RGB cable and hack this setup myself, much to the ire of lab admins...
Agreed. Instead of getting rid of the lab altogether just remove a few desktops and leave the rest of the setup in place for the laptops. Though from what it sounds like it's not the computer itself that's the major cost in the lab, it's all the support that goes into it.
