Reply With QuoteIf ipad with keyboard is ruled out - i would go for MacBook Air.
light, good battery life, should do everything. Just check with school maybe?
our secondary schools I believe all have authority-provided iPads.
Hi folks,
My 9 year-old daughter starts at a new school in September, and all pupils are required to have their own laptop and to take this to / from school with them each day. I am therefore looking for suggestions on suitable laptops!
I think this is the brief criteria:
1) must be lightweight and not too large, since she will be carrying it around and she will be riding her bike to school
2) robust
3) doesn't need to be particularly high spec - they will most likely be using online apps, office docs etc
I was thinking about a used Macbook Air but I have no experience of using Macs and wonder if she would be better off getting used to Windows? She has only very limited experience using a computer but very familiar with using Ipads etc. so maybe a Mac would be OK?
Cheers!
If ipad with keyboard is ruled out - i would go for MacBook Air.
light, good battery life, should do everything. Just check with school maybe?
our secondary schools I believe all have authority-provided iPads.
Chromebook.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
The only guidance they have given is that it needs to be either Windows, Mac or Chromebook so no iOS devices. MacBooks are popular but that could be a fashion thing.Originally Posted by Aramis9
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Chromebook or Macbook depending on budget but check out AppleCare Plus if going the Mac route as no doubt a 9 year old will smash it.
If you do go Mac I'd look at used or genuine apple refurb.
I purchased Lenovo laptops for my two children during lockdown for approx £220 each with 2 years onsite warranty. The laptops are Windows 10S and locked down to Microsoft apps. My children use the browser only for Google Classroom or other school websites. I would recommend checking with the school.
I'm a huge Lenovo fan (but always go for the top of the range ones), and while I recognise that even Lenovo are building to a price (£220) - that would appear to be a very good deal.
The Chromebook suggestion seems a good one, as I would guess that school content will be online - so suit the limitations of the chrome-platform.
This definitely as also some schools use proprietary software, or at least required software.
I don’t think there will be any special requirements as they have said that it can be a Mac, windows or chromebook machine. Most likely they won’t be installing anything and it will all be online.
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That makes sense. A Chromebook sounds sensible and possibly cheap enough to replace if a primary school kid has a mishap.
With all work backed up with Google.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
I think the MacBook Air would be a better and more user friendly device, and certainly fits the requirements but would it also be a target for being stolen and potential bullying?
The current version of Mac OS can be installed on MacBook Air from 2015 onwards. Mac OS Ventura which is being released in a couple of months will be from 2018+.
That said, the earlier versions should be sufficient unless certain software requires the latest version to be running.
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A few years old Thinkpad would get my vote, something like an x250 is going to run you under £100 from eBay for an i5 with 8gb and a basic sized SSD and you can get a cheap dock for it for home use at a desk with a full size screen etc. Plenty of them have been barely used due to being primarily business machines so could have sat in storage or been lightly used, this one for example looks particularly clean https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115489588...4AAOSwb3hi8kag
They're not the prettiest (by conventional standards, I quite like matte black) but they will survive being lumped around all day in a bag by a 9 year all day and you can also add in a larger battery pack quite easily and cheaply.
Last edited by Gromdal; 11th August 2022 at 11:16.
I'd echo what others have said and say chromebook.
Cheap, light, fast (for the price) and they have amazing battery life. They also now run android apps which is useful.
My personal machine for the past few years has been a Google Pixelbook and it's simply fantastic. I work in IT and i'm very very picky about my kit. Overspecced for your use case but you'll find some really special machines in the £300-£400 mark. My son uses my old chromebook and it still works really well. As long as the school supoort it (which it seems like they do) then it's a no brainer.
In years of ownership the only issue i've found is that nowtv doesn't run on it - other than that i can recommend fully.
I work in schools and would only suggest a chromebook. They are relatively cheap and the battery lasts all day easily
Does the school not offer a purchase program. We do a salary sacrifice scheme over 3 years for the parents
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I had been thinking of getting the last pre-M1 chip version as i would hope it would be quite a bit cheaper than anything newer. Re. potential bullying, this could work the other way round unfortunately. Its a fee-paying school so there is a good chance that many of the parents will think nothing of splashing out on the very latest M2 chip version for their kids sadly!
The Chromebooks sound like a good option so I'll check them out as I've no experience of using them personally.
I've got an old HP Elite X2 utraportable machine (one of these with the keyboard https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c05415563) that I guess she could use for the start of term until she can report back on what they are using them for and what others are using.
Thanks all!
If the School uses Google Classroom, I'd get a Chromebook. If the use Office365 I'd get a Windows or Mac laptop
None of my old enough grandnieces or grandnephew were required to buy a laptop and surprised that a school would require them.
What about families that can't afford one or two or more
Can only imagine the number that might be left on the playground or forgotten by 9 year old's
DON
Its a fee-paying school so i guess they figure the cost of buying a laptop is fairly inconsequential compared with the tuition fees. They also go a bit over the top with uniform lists - for example separate uniforms and PE kits (all branded with school name or crest) for summer and winter. Changeover is at October half term so she'll wear the summer uniform for all of 6 weeks, then it will probably be too small by next Spring!
Difficult to instil "the value of thing's" when cost is of little consequence, that said we all give our children the best start we can.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Thanks all, I managed to pick up a 12” MacBook from 2016 for under £200 off eBay, so will see how it goes. For the money it seems to be a great little machine, and hopefully more than capable for what she needs. Battery cycle count is only 62 and seems to last a good while too. I think she will be happy
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314105049...app-cvip-panel
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