Laptop advice

Z

Zanzibobs

Active member
Bit of advice please. Oldest daughter is going into year 9 at school and desperately wants a MacBook. They are a bit pricey but wondering if anyone can advise on what to get instead. She is going to use it for the usual teenage stuff and school work. Possibly a bit of design type work but certainly isn’t a gamer. Thinking £500, maybe more but ideally less! Like the idea of a touchscreen too!
 
Zanzibobs said:
Bit of advice please. Oldest daughter is going into year 9 at school and desperately wants a MacBook. They are a bit pricey but wondering if anyone can advise on what to get instead. She is going to use it for the usual teenage stuff and school work. Possibly a bit of design type work but certainly isn’t a gamer. Thinking £500, maybe more but ideally less! Like the idea of a touchscreen too!
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Schools do tend to use Google tools so a chrome book will be suffice and for your 500 you will get a tablet/laptop dual purpose. So you can spin the keyboard round and turn it into a tablet.

I wouldn't buy a mac book unless you have other apple products you want to integrate.
 
If she's a fan of the Apple stuff and you don't want to pay mac book prices, you could get an 11" iPad Air and a keyboard folio/ pencil (not necessarily the apple ones). It won't be able to do what a laptop does, but it doesn't sound like she needs it to? Some people can get away with an iPad to work with for basic stuff, I can't mind, but I can't get away with Macbooks either, so I stick to a PC with a windows laptop backup. I bought the iPad pro for work, and it gets used for everything but work, unless I'm on holiday, it's brilliant, and works great for drawing on with the apple pencil (better than anything else I've used).

You might even be able to trade in an old apple product against it to get some money off, and they do 24 months interest free also.

No matter what you get I'd run it buy her mind. Possibly better paying more than you want over a longer time frame and it getting loads of use, rather than paying less for something to stack clothes on.

As above, the chromebooks are good, as are PC laptops, but they're only good for people who want them.
 
Also on roarys point is worth remembering that your daughter will need to maintain 2 Google accounts one for school and one for personal use. Not a big deal but something to consider
 
Not really 100% on topic, but I put Chrome OS Flex on an old Dell 5500 from 2008 the other day and was absolutely amazed by how well it ran. A Chromebook designed to run Chrome OS sounds like a fantastic piece of kit.
 
Laughing said:
Schools do tend to use Google tools so a chrome book will be suffice and for your 500 you will get a tablet/laptop dual purpose. So you can spin the keyboard round and turn it into a tablet.

I wouldn't buy a mac book unless you have other apple products you want to integrate.
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worked in IT in schools for over 20 years and schools don't tend to use Google tools. Some do but a majority use Microsoft as schools get huge discounts for licences. We currently use Office 365 and all students get a free licence to use on up 5 devices while a student at the school!

My advice would be if the school uses Microsoft (Windows, Office etc) then get a laptop that run Windows. If it uses Google apps, get a Chromebook.

Spec wise I suggest minimum 8GB ram (the more the better) and make sure the hard drive is solid state (most new laptops are).
 
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I got a Microsoft Surface Pro 8 at the start of the year, use it every day even though I’m very much an Apple user. I believe you can get entry level Surface devices for a cheaper price. It’s a 2 in 1 so acts as a tablet as well.
 
Deffo a chromebook...my daughter wasn't overly impressed with the idea 2 years ago when we got her 1 for her birthday. Within the hour she loved it and is on it for homework, streaming, playing games etc, everything a kid wants from one these days....paid less than £200, brand new lenovo
 
Another vote for a Surface Pro.
No bloatware. Almost instant boot up and log off and so light and versatile.
Never thought I'd ever get my Sony Vaio replaced but the SP is better.
She'll love you for it.
 
supermfc said:
worked in IT in schools for over 20 years and schools don't tend to use Google tools. Some do but a majority use Microsoft as schools get huge discounts for licences. We currently use Office 365 and all students get a free licence to use on up 5 devices while a student at the school!

My advice would be if the school uses Microsoft (Windows, Office etc) then get a laptop that run Windows. If it uses Google apps, get a Chromebook.

Spec wise I suggest minimum 8GB ram (the more the better) and make sure the hard drive is solid state (most new laptops are).
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Thats interesting my 3 youngest kids all used google tools, 3 different schools too. I wonderr if its a north south thing
 
I have always been a windows user, using Office programs to a very high level. My son wanted macs as he was an apple user. In the end I relented as he was going down an art/creative route which macs are much better for. For his 18th I bought him a desk top for him to use for his music degree, he also bought himself a second hand laptop. Macs last a lot longer than windows as their software updates are more efficient than windows patches.
In my last job, I had employed some people who were google users, I have to say their quality or work was rubbish and had no understanding of how to use their laptops efficiently. If in the future she is going to work in office functions get her to learn with a windows/office laptop.
 
Lots to digest here but thanks for the info. Very helpful! I love iPads and MacBooks. I worked in schools where I was helping kids on their iPads, teaching with my MacBook through the whiteboard and checking other kids work through my iPad. Unfortunately this was in China. The education system in this country is way behind and definitely under funded. I think we’ll look into a chrome book but also possibly a refurbished MacBook. Thanks again!
 
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