Kids Christmas Ideas - Chromebook vs Laptop

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Afternoon all.
Thinking about christmas and with both mini-DBWs at secondary school now and having homework to complete online now, we're thinking about getting them a laptop-type thing for Christmas but conscious that it shouldn't just be a tool for homework! Ideally I'd like them to have the option to play games etc as well so whats best - laptop or chromebook? Did a bit of reading yesterday about it and now that xbox game pass (already have it for the xbox) can be used on a chromebook, that looks like a great option???

[Defcon5]

I thought Chromebooks were light on processing any graphical power (by design, thanks to low overhead OS and to keep the price low) which would make them useless for gaming?

[Corso Marche]

@ OP
I'd search reddit for what suitable Chromebooks will provide a decent Xbox Game Pass experience (minimum specs etc). Sorry - I've no direct experience.

Defcon5 said:

I thought Chromebooks were light on processing any graphical power (by design, thanks to low overhead OS and to keep the price low) which would make them useless for gaming?

There are gaming Chromebooks now, they use games from the Steam library, a la the Steam deck, Steam OS etc
More expensive than regular Chromebooks but that's to be expected.

[rodericb]

Do they use any particular chromebook/windows type of thing at school?

[Brainpox]

Corso Marche said:

There are gaming Chromebooks now, they use games from the Steam library, a la the Steam deck, Steam OS etc
More expensive than regular Chromebooks but that's to be expected.

For compatibility reasons it would just make sense to get a standard Windows laptop. Chromebooks work with cloud gaming services, which need a decent internet conneciton and ongoing subscription, and Steam for ChromeOS is in beta and only works properly with a few games. If you just want to get the laptop and play games on it a Windows laptop is the way to go I think.

[dcb]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Afternoon all.
Thinking about christmas and with both mini-DBWs at secondary school now and having homework to complete online now, we're thinking about getting them a laptop-type thing for Christmas but conscious that it shouldn't just be a tool for homework! Ideally I'd like them to have the option to play games etc as well so whats best - laptop or chromebook?

Neither.

I've just taken delivery of a top-of-the-range Raspberry Pi 5
and it's so far very good.

For homework, all they will need a browser to fish for answers.

What's better, them learning how computers work at the grass roots level
or just being a downstream consumer of games ?

[BoRED S2upid]

I thought most schools were IPad?

[Corso Marche]

Brainpox said:

Chromebooks work with cloud gaming services, which need a decent internet conneciton and ongoing subscription,

That's the point. The OP already has Xbox Game Pass and intends to use it for game streaming.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Thanks all.

Added complication is that the eldest is doing GCSE engineering and its something he's interested in doing going forward to accessing some kind of CAD software would be beneficial which I think points us in the direction of a laptop vs a chromebook (even though there does seem to be some options for it).

[Baldchap]

If they're doing anything remotely beyond what you'd use a phone for, proper laptop is the answer in my experience.

Chromebook is a nice idea but the reality is often very frustrating and somewhat limiting.

[Corso Marche]

Yep, if CAD is in the equation then "traditional" laptop is the way to go.