What Chromebook do you recommend for a 9 year old?

Forums › Chromium OS and Google Chrome OS › What Chromebook do you recommend for a 9 year old?

Gruntam

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#227456 8-Jan-2018 08:52

Hey Team,

Just wondering if you have any ideas on what I should Chromebook I should get for my 9 year old for his school use?
It need to be able to take a bit of a a few knocks and be touch screen capable.

Thanks - Grunta

tchart

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#1931945 8-Jan-2018 09:03

We usually go for Acer (Amazon ship here). They are semi-rugged and can take a few knocks.

tchart

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#1931946 8-Jan-2018 09:07

Oh, none of our have been touch screen. Any reason you need touch screen? That will greatly inflate the cost of the chromebook. TBH I'd avoid touch screen unless its a requirement. Even if the Chromebook survives a school year they are pretty throw away and we generally replace every 18 months (kids, even college kids, are very hard on these devices).

Gruntam

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#1931947 8-Jan-2018 09:14

Thanks - the touchscreen is more for the freehand drawing type stuff that he is into..

throbb

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#1931957 8-Jan-2018 09:34

Lenovo Yoga Chromebook has touch screen

nzkc

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#1931958 8-Jan-2018 09:36

We got our children this Chromebook a little over a year ago: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKACN691188/Acer-Chromebook-R11-C738T-Flip-Chromebook-116-Touc

At the time I wanted to get one that supports Android apps and am glad we did. For a pure internet browser, word processor type device you wont need the Android apps or a touch screen. If you want to do more than that (and I think most people will) then I'd recommend looking for one with thoes capabilities.

As for the device I linked to above, I've found it to be a solid little device. Performance is good, works with everthing. Did find the microphone in it to be "bung" but didn't bother getting that sorted as its not used. Could always use a headset for better audio anyway. It was a bit more than others because of touchscreen - still impressed what I got for the price though. Also got a "hard" case for it to help protect it in the childrens bags which is something I would also recommend.

freitasm

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#1932176 8-Jan-2018 12:11

I was looking at this today and decided on an Acer R13 Chromebook. Amazon is about 2/3 of the NZ price.

I will post a link when back in the office.

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freitasm

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#1932234 8-Jan-2018 13:39

Here we go:

Those were the two models I ended up with, decided on the Acer R13 because of longer battery life (albeit a bit heavier than the Samsung). Both have Google Play apps.

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Gruntam

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#1932253 8-Jan-2018 14:58

Thanks so much - will have a look at both....

Most appreciated!!! - Happy New Year

Grunta

jonherries

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#1943715 19-Jan-2018 18:15

How common is it that kids in primary school need a chromebook or laptop? Have a nine year old myself and just back in the country so wondering what the story is...

Jon

scuwp

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#1943729 19-Jan-2018 18:43

jonherries: How common is it that kids in primary school need a chromebook or laptop? Have a nine year old myself and just back in the country so wondering what the story is...

Jon

Increasingly common but still up to the individual school. BYOD is far easier (and cheaper) for schools to administer compared to providing their own.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

empacher48

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#1943737 19-Jan-2018 18:58

I ended up buying this for our 7 year old to take to school next year. With the rubber edges and corners, spill proof keyboard and I was sold. So far it has held up very well!

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKASU202066/ASUS-C202SA-GJ0066-Premium-Rugged-Education-Chrome

His teacher is very technology focussed as she said she finds that boys have to concentrate very hard at this age just to write letters when creating stories. By providing a laptop the focus goes more on the creative writing and less on to the handwriting. But they use the computers one week, the following week they don't so its not all technology.

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sudo

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#1947252 26-Jan-2018 17:13

I've now started looking for a Chromebook, as school starts in another week.

The Asus model above looks good (C202SA), as I expect they will take the knocks/spills as you expect around young kids.

But for an extra 60 bucks the Lenovo Yoga Chromebook (Lenovo N23 yoga) looks like a better bet, where it has a USB-C charger/data port and touch screen.

I agree the Acer/Samsung are better models, but the ones mentioned above are larger/heavier/pricier/less durable.

If I could trust my son to actually take care of it, I would get a Acer C738T/R11 for my son, as it's a really nice device. But also another 50 bucks over the Lenovo Yoga.

Any other factors I may have missed on choosing a mid-range/rugged Chromebook that may give advantage over others?