Laptop for Year 7 child
Discussion
Can anyone recommend a half decent laptops that includes the likes of word/excel for a child starting secondary school in sept?
Her school offers a chrome book for a monthly payment over 3 years which equates to over £500 which I think is ridiculous! (Same one can be bought for £300. It’s Lenovo 300e
I’ve no idea how much these things are, just want for school work/internet for her really
Thanks in advance!
Her school offers a chrome book for a monthly payment over 3 years which equates to over £500 which I think is ridiculous! (Same one can be bought for £300. It’s Lenovo 300e
I’ve no idea how much these things are, just want for school work/internet for her really
Thanks in advance!
Chromebooks are great
But I seem to remember they rely on an internet connection to actually do any work (my knowledge is years out of date)
Cheap and efficient
Ebuyer are doing them for £180 plus £60 (per annum) for office (approx)
They will need an up-to-date version of office to make life easy interchanging files
Simples
But I seem to remember they rely on an internet connection to actually do any work (my knowledge is years out of date)
Cheap and efficient
Ebuyer are doing them for £180 plus £60 (per annum) for office (approx)
They will need an up-to-date version of office to make life easy interchanging files
Simples
Junior flatmates had Chromebooks from Y7 through till upper sixth
Were excellent, cost sub 200 Sovs and superb native security
School used Google platform which helped
Cloud based as stated which means they cant install all kinds of crap and bloat on them
Ones at Uni and was bought a £400 Chromebook when he left which has an aluminium chassis and is just sooooo much nicer than the entry level ones, other child actually studying computer science and so 'needed' Windows based machine
Cheers
The deal through the school may include extras such as extended warranty and insurance.
It may also include enterprise enrolment where the school completely manages the device which might be unavailable or might be chargeable if you use your own.
It may or may not be beneficial to you for it to be enterprise enrolled, it may be better for you to be setup as the device owner yourself, especially if you might want to use it on occasion, but if you're not very good with technology having the school in charge of it might be better.
It may also include enterprise enrolment where the school completely manages the device which might be unavailable or might be chargeable if you use your own.
It may or may not be beneficial to you for it to be enterprise enrolled, it may be better for you to be setup as the device owner yourself, especially if you might want to use it on occasion, but if you're not very good with technology having the school in charge of it might be better.
Thanks for the replies
Very good points, as it does include accidental damage and repairs/3 yr warranty.
I would appreciate the school dealing with any tech issues so might be tempted to pay the extra and have it done through them
Just begrudge paying so much for a child’s laptop and certainly hate the idea of paying Microsoft an annual premium to use their software. Can you buy them with it installed permanently?
Very good points, as it does include accidental damage and repairs/3 yr warranty.
I would appreciate the school dealing with any tech issues so might be tempted to pay the extra and have it done through them
Just begrudge paying so much for a child’s laptop and certainly hate the idea of paying Microsoft an annual premium to use their software. Can you buy them with it installed permanently?
It's worth bearing in mind that while Chromebooks are great and simple, chances are when the kids leave school they'll suddenly have to learn proper computers. If you want the child to be curious about technology and develop the sort of enquiring mind that finds ways to use computers to make work easier, get them started with Windows and Excel early.
The £60 a year for Office is optional, you can just buy an Office license and install it for a one-off fee. The annual fee is online storage that's cheaper than the Google equivalent, with Office thrown in for free really.
If you have access to the Microsoft Home Use Program through work or someone you know's work then it's £5 a month for O365 family, which is 6 people, all with 1Tb of storage, 6 Office installations and lots of shared stuff that can be helpful. It's a good setup to keep on top of kids homework and if you have several computers in the house it's worth the £5 a month for sure. In my view anyway.
I get value out of the £5 a month myself, so the fact that all the kids can be on there too is ace.
The £60 a year for Office is optional, you can just buy an Office license and install it for a one-off fee. The annual fee is online storage that's cheaper than the Google equivalent, with Office thrown in for free really.
If you have access to the Microsoft Home Use Program through work or someone you know's work then it's £5 a month for O365 family, which is 6 people, all with 1Tb of storage, 6 Office installations and lots of shared stuff that can be helpful. It's a good setup to keep on top of kids homework and if you have several computers in the house it's worth the £5 a month for sure. In my view anyway.
I get value out of the £5 a month myself, so the fact that all the kids can be on there too is ace.
Oh the other thing, why a laptop? The schools supply them because they don't need setting up, but are kids taking them in and out of school these days? I can't imagine they are or they'd just be getting mugged all over the place.
Unless there's a decent reason for it, you'll get better value for money from a desktop and they're far better to work on.
Worth bearing in mind that with cloud storage and that you don't need a license to use Word/Excel etc online, you don't necessarily need a laptop for the odd time that homework needs to be done at a relatives etc, any one's machine can cover that.
Unless there's a decent reason for it, you'll get better value for money from a desktop and they're far better to work on.
Worth bearing in mind that with cloud storage and that you don't need a license to use Word/Excel etc online, you don't necessarily need a laptop for the odd time that homework needs to be done at a relatives etc, any one's machine can cover that.
paulrockliffe said:
It's worth bearing in mind that while Chromebooks are great and simple, chances are when the kids leave school they'll suddenly have to learn proper computers. If you want the child to be curious about technology and develop the sort of enquiring mind that finds ways to use computers to make work easier, get them started with Windows and Excel early.
Your first and second statements are contradictory. Encouraging curiosity and confidence with technology has nothing to do with learning a specific toolset.OP, if the school is encouraging the use of Chromebooks then definitely go down that route. My daughter has had one since a similar age and they are brilliant for what they do.
deckster said:
Your first and second statements are contradictory. Encouraging curiosity and confidence with technology has nothing to do with learning a specific toolset.
OP, if the school is encouraging the use of Chromebooks then definitely go down that route. My daughter has had one since a similar age and they are brilliant for what they do.
They're not really. Chromebooks are too closed shop, download the app, open and do what the app lets you do. You're too far away from the operating system and any notion of how computers work. And you're a big step away from how computing happens in the world of work because very few industries use Chromebooks or any closed ecosystem.OP, if the school is encouraging the use of Chromebooks then definitely go down that route. My daughter has had one since a similar age and they are brilliant for what they do.
They are brilliant for what they do, but what they do isn't teach kids to use computers with any level of skill.
The schools push them because they're cheap and easy to support, those aren't reasons you should automatically align with as a parent.
paulrockliffe said:
They're not really. Chromebooks are too closed shop, download the app, open and do what the app lets you do. You're too far away from the operating system and any notion of how computers work. And you're a big step away from how computing happens in the world of work because very few industries use Chromebooks or any closed ecosystem.
They are brilliant for what they do, but what they do isn't teach kids to use computers with any level of skill.
The schools push them because they're cheap and easy to support, those aren't reasons you should automatically align with as a parent.
Errr, yes. That's why I said they're brilliant at what they do. They work, they're easy to support. Perfect for schools who just want a tool for their students to use.They are brilliant for what they do, but what they do isn't teach kids to use computers with any level of skill.
The schools push them because they're cheap and easy to support, those aren't reasons you should automatically align with as a parent.
The rest of the discussion is off-topic, really. But if I were looking to get kids interested in the deeper aspects of computing, then Windows and Excel are exactly where I wouldn't start.
At my daughters school they get given an account that has access to Office 365 online included. I believe Microsoft offer Office 365 for free to schools and students.
I am looking for a laptop for my Daughter at the moment and as you are no doubt finding £500 doesn't buy you much anymore. My daughter is more concerned with looks and how thin/light it is than how powerful it is.
This is the current front runner, my only concern is that the screen brightness on the cheaper Lenovos tends to not be that great
https://ao.com/product/81yq0015uk-lenovo-laptop-gr...
At her age I would have gone for this (it was £549 when I looked 2 weeks ago) but apparently it is ugly
https://ao.com/product/81lk01pruk-lenovo-ideapad-l...
I am looking for a laptop for my Daughter at the moment and as you are no doubt finding £500 doesn't buy you much anymore. My daughter is more concerned with looks and how thin/light it is than how powerful it is.
This is the current front runner, my only concern is that the screen brightness on the cheaper Lenovos tends to not be that great
https://ao.com/product/81yq0015uk-lenovo-laptop-gr...
At her age I would have gone for this (it was £549 when I looked 2 weeks ago) but apparently it is ugly
https://ao.com/product/81lk01pruk-lenovo-ideapad-l...
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