Chromebook or Laptop?
Discussion
Which option is likely to be better for an 11 year old starting secondary school?
Looking at a budget upto a maximum of £300.
I'm leaning towards a Chromebook due to them generally being lighter and having a better battery life then a laptop at this price point. Also, daughter won't want to be seen dead with a 2" thick cheapo black laptop
The kids get an education office 365 account if that makes a difference.
Thanks
Looking at a budget upto a maximum of £300.
I'm leaning towards a Chromebook due to them generally being lighter and having a better battery life then a laptop at this price point. Also, daughter won't want to be seen dead with a 2" thick cheapo black laptop
The kids get an education office 365 account if that makes a difference.
Thanks
"The kids get an education office 365 account if that makes a difference. "
That implies a Windows machine but a lot of secondary schools are ChromeBook-centric. It's probably wise to call them and ask before splurging. Also Office 365 runs on a ChromeBook as do Android apps on some of the post 2017 ones. OneDrive support was 'tricky' the last time I tried. (?)
A Windows 10 machine can run as a Chromebook, whereas the reverse is more limiting. Size and weight is a limiting factor for 11 years olds, the usual solution is to traipse around the retail stores with them to find one which is acceptable to the student. All day battery life often useful. As is a 'spill-proof' keyboard.
A lot of the smaller, thinner (11.6") W10 machines and C/Books now come with 64GB EMMC drives, if a W10 machine; it's large enough for Windows 10 updates, plus online Office 365, and OneDrive for auto-backup. (About 43GB left after a full update cycle.) Older machines with 32GB drives often choked on Windows updates.
C/Books will operate with a 16GB drive. SD cards can be added for more local store. C/books do have some offline ability, improving with each update.
4GB ram on either a W10 laptop or a ChromeBook is about the minimum current standard.
New W10 machines will seem v. slow until about six hours of 'update cycles' have installed. ChromeBooks also update, but swiftly.
Some of the 'student' W10 machines (Asus VivoBooks/HP/Dell/Lenovo) come with Windows 10S - which means they only run 'safe' Windows Store apps. W10S is quite useful and 'streamlined for security and performance' but non-store apps won't install. This limits browser choice among others. The same machines can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for free from the Store, which is a small bonus.
PC World currently have a £50 trade-in on some models.
That implies a Windows machine but a lot of secondary schools are ChromeBook-centric. It's probably wise to call them and ask before splurging. Also Office 365 runs on a ChromeBook as do Android apps on some of the post 2017 ones. OneDrive support was 'tricky' the last time I tried. (?)
A Windows 10 machine can run as a Chromebook, whereas the reverse is more limiting. Size and weight is a limiting factor for 11 years olds, the usual solution is to traipse around the retail stores with them to find one which is acceptable to the student. All day battery life often useful. As is a 'spill-proof' keyboard.
A lot of the smaller, thinner (11.6") W10 machines and C/Books now come with 64GB EMMC drives, if a W10 machine; it's large enough for Windows 10 updates, plus online Office 365, and OneDrive for auto-backup. (About 43GB left after a full update cycle.) Older machines with 32GB drives often choked on Windows updates.
C/Books will operate with a 16GB drive. SD cards can be added for more local store. C/books do have some offline ability, improving with each update.
4GB ram on either a W10 laptop or a ChromeBook is about the minimum current standard.
New W10 machines will seem v. slow until about six hours of 'update cycles' have installed. ChromeBooks also update, but swiftly.
Some of the 'student' W10 machines (Asus VivoBooks/HP/Dell/Lenovo) come with Windows 10S - which means they only run 'safe' Windows Store apps. W10S is quite useful and 'streamlined for security and performance' but non-store apps won't install. This limits browser choice among others. The same machines can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for free from the Store, which is a small bonus.
PC World currently have a £50 trade-in on some models.
Edited by Slushbox on Monday 12th August 18:47
CustardOnChips said:
The kids get an education office 365 account if that makes a difference.
Thanks
The web version of Office365 is pretty well featured. Especially for secondary school work. I'd be leaning towards a Chromebook purely because the opportunity for borking it are considerably less than a Windows 10 machine. Maybe later on in her school career having a fully fledged Windows machine would be useful, but for now I'd go for a Chromebook. They're pretty much bullet proof.Thanks
I am in the same position as the op and was going to go for this for £299 with windows 10s.
My daughter also gets office access from her new school for 5 devices
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...
Would this be ok? 4gb and 128gb drive
My daughter also gets office access from her new school for 5 devices
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...
Would this be ok? 4gb and 128gb drive
Edited by interstellar on Thursday 15th August 05:06
Slushbox said:
"The kids get an education office 365 account if that makes a difference. "
That implies a Windows machine but a lot of secondary schools are ChromeBook-centric. It's probably wise to call them and ask before splurging. Also Office 365 runs on a ChromeBook as do Android apps on some of the post 2017 ones. OneDrive support was 'tricky' the last time I tried. (?)
A Windows 10 machine can run as a Chromebook, whereas the reverse is more limiting. Size and weight is a limiting factor for 11 years olds, the usual solution is to traipse around the retail stores with them to find one which is acceptable to the student. All day battery life often useful. As is a 'spill-proof' keyboard.
A lot of the smaller, thinner (11.6") W10 machines and C/Books now come with 64GB EMMC drives, if a W10 machine; it's large enough for Windows 10 updates, plus online Office 365, and OneDrive for auto-backup. (About 43GB left after a full update cycle.) Older machines with 32GB drives often choked on Windows updates.
C/Books will operate with a 16GB drive. SD cards can be added for more local store. C/books do have some offline ability, improving with each update.
4GB ram on either a W10 laptop or a ChromeBook is about the minimum current standard.
New W10 machines will seem v. slow until about six hours of 'update cycles' have installed. ChromeBooks also update, but swiftly.
Some of the 'student' W10 machines (Asus VivoBooks/HP/Dell/Lenovo) come with Windows 10S - which means they only run 'safe' Windows Store apps. W10S is quite useful and 'streamlined for security and performance' but non-store apps won't install. This limits browser choice among others. The same machines can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for free from the Store, which is a small bonus.
PC World currently have a £50 trade-in on some models.
Echo this.That implies a Windows machine but a lot of secondary schools are ChromeBook-centric. It's probably wise to call them and ask before splurging. Also Office 365 runs on a ChromeBook as do Android apps on some of the post 2017 ones. OneDrive support was 'tricky' the last time I tried. (?)
A Windows 10 machine can run as a Chromebook, whereas the reverse is more limiting. Size and weight is a limiting factor for 11 years olds, the usual solution is to traipse around the retail stores with them to find one which is acceptable to the student. All day battery life often useful. As is a 'spill-proof' keyboard.
A lot of the smaller, thinner (11.6") W10 machines and C/Books now come with 64GB EMMC drives, if a W10 machine; it's large enough for Windows 10 updates, plus online Office 365, and OneDrive for auto-backup. (About 43GB left after a full update cycle.) Older machines with 32GB drives often choked on Windows updates.
C/Books will operate with a 16GB drive. SD cards can be added for more local store. C/books do have some offline ability, improving with each update.
4GB ram on either a W10 laptop or a ChromeBook is about the minimum current standard.
New W10 machines will seem v. slow until about six hours of 'update cycles' have installed. ChromeBooks also update, but swiftly.
Some of the 'student' W10 machines (Asus VivoBooks/HP/Dell/Lenovo) come with Windows 10S - which means they only run 'safe' Windows Store apps. W10S is quite useful and 'streamlined for security and performance' but non-store apps won't install. This limits browser choice among others. The same machines can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for free from the Store, which is a small bonus.
PC World currently have a £50 trade-in on some models.
Edited by Slushbox on Monday 12th August 18:47
interstellar said:
I am in the same position as the op and was going to go for this for £299 with windows 10s.
My daughter also gets office access from her new school for 5 devices
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...
Would this be ok? 4gb and 128gb drive
I have the 330S. (15") Nice machine. The 340S in the link is Windows 10S (not Home or Pro) so will only run 'Windows store' apps. I don't know if it will upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free. (In the Store. Some other Lenovo models do.) This may not be a disadvantage for school work. RAM is upgrade-able. My daughter also gets office access from her new school for 5 devices
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...
Would this be ok? 4gb and 128gb drive
It can run Office 365, or the free Office Online in the Edge Web browser. Extensions like U-Block Origin for Edge are in the MS Store.
Case top is 'aluminum' so will suffer dings if not in a decent bag.
Edited by Slushbox on Thursday 15th August 07:06
The specification of Windows 10 S machines should state if they are running Windows 10 Home in S mode or Windows 10 Professional in S mode.
All Windows S machines are one or the other and can be "upgraded" for free to the "host" version, so a machine running Windows 10 Home in S mode can be switched to run Windows 10 Home.
This is a one way, one time decision though ... you cannot go back to S mode.
The Lenovo S340 linked to above is running Windows 10 Home in S mode according to the specs on the Lenovo website.
All Windows S machines are one or the other and can be "upgraded" for free to the "host" version, so a machine running Windows 10 Home in S mode can be switched to run Windows 10 Home.
This is a one way, one time decision though ... you cannot go back to S mode.
The Lenovo S340 linked to above is running Windows 10 Home in S mode according to the specs on the Lenovo website.
Well thanks to this thread I took my daughter today and had a look at the chromebooks and walked away with this. At £199 its a bargain and if it only lasted a couple of years I would be happy.
She gets the windows 365 licence from her new school and this does everything she needs. 90 day trial also so money back from google if she doesn't like it.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...
She gets the windows 365 licence from her new school and this does everything she needs. 90 day trial also so money back from google if she doesn't like it.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...
Edited by interstellar on Friday 16th August 20:39
interstellar said:
Well thanks to this thread I took my daughter today and had a look at the chromebooks and walked away with this. At £199 its a bargain and if it only lasted a couple of years I would be happy.
She gets the windows 365 licence from her new school and this does everything she needs. 90 day trial also so money back from google if she doesn't like it.
That's quite 'posh' with a 64GB drive. :-) Nice keyboards on the current Lenovos.She gets the windows 365 licence from her new school and this does everything she needs. 90 day trial also so money back from google if she doesn't like it.
Testing a 'WinBukChrome' here with Chrome browser on a similar W10 Acer E201. (4GB ram /64GB EMMC) Quite a useful 'student' or lightweight travel combo with either Office 365/Online or Google Docs.
Working well here as a 'Pseudo-Book.' (11.6")
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-E201NA-Laptop-Celero...
Edited by Slushbox on Saturday 17th August 07:20
ging84 said:
Installing Chrome browser on a windows pc does not make is a puesdo Chromebook. It is how nearly half of people use Windows.
This indeed!I think chromebooks are a great design for a big percent of people: in general people are less technical, and Windows (imho) is still a for the most part.
That Lenovo one looks a great spec & a fab price, I bet it will work a treat for a good few years
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
I think I'm heading towards a Chromebook as they will do everything she needs with what looks like less hassle than a windows machine.
The current family laptop takes more looking after than it should so anything that need less maintenance will be good.
Also. It never fails to amaze how some on PH can turn an topic into an argument.
I think I'm heading towards a Chromebook as they will do everything she needs with what looks like less hassle than a windows machine.
The current family laptop takes more looking after than it should so anything that need less maintenance will be good.
Also. It never fails to amaze how some on PH can turn an topic into an argument.
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