Chromebook for 11 year old BYOD

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Dabble

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#261968 26-Dec-2019 21:30

Hi,

I am looking to purchase my daughter a Chromebook for Intermediate next year.

She is set on a 2in1 flip type Chromebook as she has used my ASUS-Chromebook-Flip-C434TA ( Fantastic Chromebook but overkill for intermediate )

I am trying to weigh up the difference between ASUS-Chromebook-Flip-C214MA and Lenovo-300E-G2-Flip

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

Thanks!

sdavisnz

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#2381532 26-Dec-2019 21:35

id probably buy the lenovo, im just assuming an arm based chip is better for battery life than a intel one.

but the spill resistant keyboard on the asus is a winner, they both lok like great machines for the money.

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zenourn

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#2381582 27-Dec-2019 07:12

I just went through this for my 12 year old daughter. Decided on https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN79306/Lenovo-14E-Chromebook-14-FHD-AMD-A4-9120C-4GB-32GB - although not a flip, the larger 14” screen with a higher resolution was a big bonus and also has a spill resistant keyboard. I’m actually reasonably impressed with the unit, although it is the first chromebook I have had a proper play with.

zenourn

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#2381583 27-Dec-2019 07:12

jonathan18

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#2381639 27-Dec-2019 10:06

At the beginning of the year I bought my son a Lenovo 500e, which doesn't seem to be sold anymore; in addition to a Celeron processor (vs the MediaTek), it also came with an active stylus, which my son loves to use for drawing - can also be useful at school for other purposes. The first gen 300e could use any object as a stylus, but unsure if that's still the case with this 2nd gen you're looking at. Some variants of the Asus you link to do come with a stylus, but not this particular one.

Personally, I think it's worth spending a bit more to get a 360 laptop; my son uses it in this mode a lot of the time - for example reading manga on Shonen Jump - and hardly ever uses his iPad now. Most seem to have a fairly similar build (I watched my son's laptop slide off his bed the other day onto a wooden floor and it survived with no issues), and most have the same cruddy resolution, but I don't think it's worth paying heaps more for that. (I've also got an older but similar Chromebook to yours - an Asus C302 - and I'd never lend mine to my son for school! (witness the knocking it off the bed) - that tough build quality is important, as it's not only how your child handles it but the risks it faces from other kids in the class as well...) One thing I did recall in many of the reviews I read was the quality of the screen in many of the laptops was really poor - not just resolution, but viewing angles, colour tint etc, so if you do get the chance check it out in-person before buying and/or read reviews to ensure it doesn't have such problems.

Dabble

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#2381641 27-Dec-2019 10:20

Thanks for the responses, some good feedback here.

I don't normally struggle this much with purchases but it seems like every model I look at there is just a 'small' bump up to a better spec and I keep going around in circles.

jonathan18:

At the beginning of the year I bought my son a Lenovo 500e, which doesn't seem to be sold anymore; in addition to a Celeron processor (vs the MediaTek), it also came with an active stylus, which my son loves to use for drawing - can also be useful at school for other purposes. The first gen 300e could use any object as a stylus, but unsure if that's still the case with this 2nd gen you're looking at. Some variants of the Asus you link to do come with a stylus, but not this particular one.

I do see the Lenovo 500e at PB Tech, this is probably at the limit of what I would spend.

I don't know the difference from Celeron to MediaTek - PB tech has two versions of the 300e for almost the same price which doesn't make for an easy comparison.

zenourn:

I just went through this for my 12 year old daughter. Decided on https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN79306/Lenovo-14E-Chromebook-14-FHD-AMD-A4-9120C-4GB-32GB - although not a flip, the larger 14” screen with a higher resolution was a big bonus and also has a spill resistant keyboard. I’m actually reasonably impressed with the unit, although it is the first chromebook I have had a proper play with.

Do you find this to be bulky, considering it would be carried in a school bag each day? Some reviews I saw online showed the screen is quite reflective.

jonathan18

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#2381650 27-Dec-2019 10:33

The key difference on basic specs seems to be a MediaTek processor vs Celeron; if all other things are equal (eg, if they're the same gen 2 model), I understand the Celeron model is superior. The latter is slightly cheaper than the former, but this is due to a slight reduction in price as it's on sale.

zenourn

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#2381651 27-Dec-2019 10:37

Dabble:

Thanks for the responses, some good feedback here.

I don't normally struggle this much with purchases but it seems like every model I look at there is just a 'small' bump up to a better spec and I keep going around in circles.

I had a lot of trouble as well. Didn't want to spend an excessive amount but wanted to get something that would work well.

zenourn:

Do you find this to be bulky, considering it would be carried in a school bag each day? Some reviews I saw online showed the screen is quite reflective.

My daughter finds the size and weight fine. Screen bezels are relatively small and keyboard fills up entire width as well. So size isn't wasted. Is a little bit thicker than it could be though.

Off-angle the screen is reflective but not too bad when looking directly at it.

Not perfect, but for my daughter was the best compromise of options for the price.

Lenovo

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mdf

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#2381658 27-Dec-2019 10:55

Our kids have Acer R11 flip style chromebooks. They are a few years old now but still going strong. I was so impressed with the Chromebook platform I went and bought an expensive one - currently using it to type this post. Things that may/may not be helpful:

- The flip/360 platform is definitely the way to go. The kids use tablet and tent mode a lot; even I use it a bit.

- Make sure the one you choose is compatible with Google Play store apps. They don't all work but you will leave yourself a lot of expansion options if they do. Most do now, but some older models may not.

- If you/she is particularly geek-inclined, you can run full Linux apps on some. Again, you would need to check compatibility if this is of interest.

- IME, Chromebook support for memory expansion is not good. You can save files, downloads etc. on SD cards (but you can also do that in the cloud), but the core apps have to go on internal memory. Many low end Chromebooks come with only 32GB. I've found managing that a bit of a trial with the children.

- Most of the cheaper chromebooks cheap out on the screen. The 1366 x 768 is pretty average even if you don't know any better. The step from that to 1080 (much less retina/super hi res screens) is significant.

- Ideally, pick something common-ish/mainstream. One of our Acer's needed repair (dropped!) and parts were easily available. From ebay, we also have hard shell clip on cases, as well as notebook bags (and pockets in backpacks) to keep them as safe as possible.

openmedia

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#2382038 28-Dec-2019 01:34

Check if the school has special deals. My daughters school has a deal with Playtech where the chromebooks come with a 3 year insurance plan to deal with broken screens etc.

She has the Acer R11 which can also be used in a pseudo tablet mode.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

cyril7

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#2382071 28-Dec-2019 09:44

Hi, definitely recommend going for a FHD display if your budget allows, also a celeron as I recall are the only ones that support Android apps, but could be wrong on that.

Cyril