Computer for school and home use.

[Zio Di Roma]

One of my children needs a school
Computer. He says he wants:

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE 12.4 Inch 128GB Wi-Fi Android Tablet Black (UK version)

He had stated that at school all they use is basic office software like word and PowerPoint so the android apps will more than do for that kind of thing. + he says that he wants to use it for leisure as well like watching YouTube so he does not want a bulky device:

My brother, who is an IT bod says a Windows machine would be better.

I am not techy enough to know who is right.

Opinions welcomed please. I don’t want to spend £550 and find its the wrong kit.

[xeny]

Possibly worth asking the school?

I woudn't want to have to type much on a tablet.

[S6PNJ]

xeny said:

Possibly worth asking the school?

I wouldn't want to have to type much on a tablet.

For an additional £25 or so you could have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse?

[grumbledoak]

xeny said:

Possibly worth asking the school?

I woudn't want to have to type much on a tablet.

^^^ That.

Ask the school. It's the software they want to use that will restrict your choices. He can watch YouYube on anything.

[CharlesElliott]

I would agree with asking the school, but I think a Chromebook would be the best compromise based on what has been described so far.

[xeny]

S6PNJ said:

For an additional £25 or so you could have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse?

Thus trebling the chance something will have flat batteries when the child goes to use it?

[anonymoususer]

CharlesElliott said:

I would agree with asking the school, but I think a Chromebook would be the best compromise based on what has been described so far.

They seem to be the preferred option for many secondary schools now.

[mike9009]

Chromebooks are the go-to device at my daughter's school.

They even free issued every child with a Chromebook about three months after I had bought her a £600 laptop.....

[interstellar]

He will also get windows 365 from school so you won’t need any software as he can log in on a browser.

I would say a chrome book but my daughter struggled in lockdown with teams and homework being set as not everything coming through teams is chrome book friendly.

Not an issue if we don’t go back in lockdowns. Her chrome book was £150!

[anonymous-user]

CheesecakeRunner said:

If the school is an Office 365 school then go to dell.do.uk and just spend whatever your budget is. Can’t go wrong.

Only get a Chromebook if the school is a Google School school.

Edited by CheesecakeRunner on Saturday 21st August 10:00

1 can 100% recommend Dell outlet, I bought a Ryzen 5500u Inspiron 5000 for £475 for my daughter which is currently retailing for £679 on the main site. When it turned up it looked brand new to me, not a fingerprint, mark or spec of dust on it.

I would not go for the tablet it will be useless for school.

[PH User]

xeny said:

S6PNJ said:

For an additional £25 or so you could have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse?

Thus trebling the chance something will have flat batteries when the child goes to use it?

Nah, the batteries last ages.

[SeanyD]

I just bought our 12 year old daughter a 8GB Dell Inspiron15 from Dell, for around the budget you mention. Absolutely rock sold work horse. You can also use their school email address to get a 10% discount.

Shared our O365 home license for Office installation at no extra cost other than the £6 quid a month we're already paying.

[page3]

Not sure how old your child is, or what sort of person they are. If they are the type to do their own research and come back with what they want then I see no reason to get them something they don't want, assuming their reasoning holds true.

[Captain Answer]

interstellar said:

He will also get windows 365 from school so you won’t need any software as he can log in on a browser.

I would say a chrome book but my daughter struggled in lockdown with teams and homework being set as not everything coming through teams is chrome book friendly.

Not an issue if we don’t go back in lockdowns. Her chrome book was £150!

This isn't limited to Chrome Book when the work is on teams, I had lot of issues with some stuff my 9yr old was getting on Teams, that was on any devise we opened it in, including windows 10 machines with full office and teams installed - some of it was limits of what teams/word etc can achieve, some of it was limits of basic IT skills in teachers sending it

Contrasted to 10yr old whos school opted for Google Classroom we had zero issues with anything