High School BYOD

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Networkn
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#1936058 11-Jan-2018 10:37

yitz:

Those things are massive and heavy and have low resolution screens. 2.5KG is crazy for a 13" notebook!

Probook 430 has always been around 1.8kg here? I'd imagine the new 430 G5 is also similar in terms of weight.

mdav056:

Well 2.5 was what was on the HP Website.

Dulouz

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#1936080 11-Jan-2018 11:09

yitz:
networkn:

Those things are massive and heavy and have low resolution screens. 2.5KG is crazy for a 13" notebook!

Probook 430 has always been around 1.8kg here? I'd imagine the new 430 G5 is also similar in terms of weight.
mdav056:

Today, Noel Leeming, HP laptop as above, $399. Very good price, pretty awful place to buy it from!

1.5GHz AMD E2-9000e
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
AMD Graphics
Windows 10
Manufacturer Warranty: 12 months
The HP 14-bw series is also available with 64 GB eMMC and 128G M.2 SSD configurations. The 128 GB M.2 SATA SSD version is available for $529 at Warehouse Stationery until the end of the month (boxing day sale was $489.30). However it could be worth getting the cheaper HDD configuration then installing the SSD yourself (and keeping the spare HDD as a backup drive) as I'd imagine you'd need it for acceptable performance in these entry level machines.

The Amazon reviews are less than positive about this machine - https://www.amazon.com/HP-14-inch-Dual-Core-E2-9000e-14-bw010nr/dp/B072HQLGY7

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#1937642 12-Jan-2018 12:49

I think more schools should lean toward the Google Apps side as the devices (Chromebooks) are so much cheaper, and have near zero long term maintenance costs. If something misbehaves, reset the thing to factory defaults and login again. Easy.

With a Windows based device you are committing families to long term maintenance costs including antivirus software (free or paid) and software hassles. If the software misbehaves, troubleshooting takes a lot of time and resetting a machine to factory defaults then means reloading software.

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#1937681 12-Jan-2018 13:34

Dynamic:

I think more schools should lean toward the Google Apps side as the devices (Chromebooks) are so much cheaper, and have near zero long term maintenance costs. If something misbehaves, reset the thing to factory defaults and login again. Easy.

With a Windows based device you are committing families to long term maintenance costs including antivirus software (free or paid) and software hassles. If the software misbehaves, troubleshooting takes a lot of time and resetting a machine to factory defaults then means reloading software.

It's quite interesting this. I've watched 4GB Chromebooks go from $200 to $4-500 the last couple of years with no increase to any spec to justify the increase. Many screens are less than 13" and are still only 720P. My only guess is retailers are aware of the number of people looking now and they have upped the prices accordingly.

Laptops on the other hand have seen prices drop to well under $500 in some situations but their specs are awful. N-blah processors, little ram, big screens (but only 720p), poor battery lives and awful plastic builds which make them as sturdy as a used tissue.

I've lost count of the number of parents who have come to me after buying from HN, etc and realising the laptops are rubbish.

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#1937685 12-Jan-2018 13:47

martyyn:

It's quite interesting this. I've watched 4GB Chromebooks go from $200 to $4-500 the last couple of years with no increase to any spec to justify the increase. Many screens are less than 13" and are still only 720P. My only guess is retailers are aware of the number of people looking now and they have upped the prices accordingly.

Laptops on the other hand have seen prices drop to well under $500 in some situations but their specs are awful. N-blah processors, little ram, big screens (but only 720p), poor battery lives and awful plastic builds which make them as sturdy as a used tissue.

I've lost count of the number of parents who have come to me after buying from HN, etc and realising the laptops are rubbish.

I've not watched the price history, but the 11.6" size is pretty good for kids/teens with a balance of weight vs battery for the price. My work laptop these days is a 14" Chromebook which zips perfectly insoft my notepad folio. I mainly use it as an RDP terminal to access my office computer and its fantastic for that. Light. Excellent battery. Boots in no time. Maintenance free. If it gets lost or stolen, there's no information on it for someone to steal.

And I completely agree about the sub-$500 laptops.

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#1937722 12-Jan-2018 15:12

Dulouz:

The Amazon reviews are less than positive about this machine - https://www.amazon.com/HP-14-inch-Dual-Core-E2-9000e-14-bw010nr/dp/B072HQLGY7

At the end of the day, it's a $400 laptop, not a gaming rig.

For essays and web apps (school work) it should be fine (like the reviews say).

Like I said, my eldest is 2nd year at secondary school, and gets along fine with a 11.6in that's got a smaller drive.

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#1937724 12-Jan-2018 15:20

Dynamic:

I think more schools should lean toward the Google Apps side as the devices (Chromebooks) are so much cheaper, and have near zero long term maintenance costs. If something misbehaves, reset the thing to factory defaults and login again. Easy.

With a Windows based device you are committing families to long term maintenance costs including antivirus software (free or paid) and software hassles. If the software misbehaves, troubleshooting takes a lot of time and resetting a machine to factory defaults then means reloading software.

And, unlike typical users of this forum, the average parent doesn't have the skills to deal with software meltdowns on a Windows system. A couple of hours of a technician's time to reinstall or reconfigure stuff must cost at least $100, and if you do that two or three times over the life of the machine then your sub-$500 Windows laptop suddenly becomes a lot more expensive.

I think Chromebooks and iPads should be the preferred devices for all schools.

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#1937798 12-Jan-2018 18:50

alasta:

I think Chromebooks and iPads should be the preferred devices for all schools.

Yes because nothing ever goes wrong with non Windows devices....

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epr

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#1937850 12-Jan-2018 20:40

I always think that ssd devices are the way to go for students no moving parts so less likely to have an issue if dropped, and if the body of the laptop dies in a fall a better chance of getting the data back then you can upgrade later if necessary when the drives become cheaper and larger. Get an AV like Webroot as has a very minor imprint and it doesn't utilise the cpu anywhere near as much as traditional AV products better for the lower budget/spec machines.

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#1937883 12-Jan-2018 21:28

alasta:

Dynamic:

I think more schools should lean toward the Google Apps side as the devices (Chromebooks) are so much cheaper, and have near zero long term maintenance costs. If something misbehaves, reset the thing to factory defaults and login again. Easy.

With a Windows based device you are committing families to long term maintenance costs including antivirus software (free or paid) and software hassles. If the software misbehaves, troubleshooting takes a lot of time and resetting a machine to factory defaults then means reloading software.

And, unlike typical users of this forum, the average parent doesn't have the skills to deal with software meltdowns on a Windows system. A couple of hours of a technician's time to reinstall or reconfigure stuff must cost at least $100, and if you do that two or three times over the life of the machine then your sub-$500 Windows laptop suddenly becomes a lot more expensive.

I think Chromebooks and iPads should be the preferred devices for all schools.

Hmmm, you make it sound like Windows systems are really unreliable. That's not been my experience. Actually I think the parents, as the people buying the device should within reason get to chosse what they buy, it's their money.

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#1937889 12-Jan-2018 21:54

alasta:

And, unlike typical users of this forum, the average parent doesn't have the skills to deal with software meltdowns on a Windows system. A couple of hours of a technician's time to reinstall or reconfigure stuff must cost at least $100, and if you do that two or three times over the life of the machine then your sub-$500 Windows laptop suddenly becomes a lot more expensive.

I think Chromebooks and iPads should be the preferred devices for all schools.

My kids live with my ex who can only just turn things on... She's never had any issues with my eldest daughters laptop.

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#1937910 13-Jan-2018 00:21

Lias:

alasta:

I think Chromebooks and iPads should be the preferred devices for all schools.

Yes because nothing ever goes wrong with non Windows devices....

That's not what we are saying.

If the average computer user has a Chromebook meltdown, I can talk them through doing a factory reset over the phone and chances are they will be sweet as within minutes after logging back in. An iPad can be reset and apps re-downloaded similarly by the average computer user if things turn to custard on the iPad and its not a hardware issue.

Because a Windows PC is more flexible, you can fiddle with it more, and therefore there is a higher chance of breaking the software. At this point in time the vast majority of Windows-based devices are not easy to factory reset and then put back into their functional state including the desired programs. Therefore the average cost of ownership of a Windows-based computer is higher than a Chromebook, and I would argue it is considerably higher. When dealing with families who have kids at high school with overpriced uniforms and are paying ridiculous rent for an average house if they cant save a $50,000 + deposit to get a mortgage, the cost of ownership of a BYOD device should be given very serious consideration.

This is coming from a Windows 2000/XP/7/10 fan who gets paid to fix this stuff when something goes wrong.

blakamin:

My kids live with my ex who can only just turn things on... She's never had any issues with my eldest daughters laptop.

That's great and I hope nothing ever does. I get rather brassed off fixing things like (the most recent two examples) sound card drivers not working so they cant hear YouTube tutorials, and a programs crashing when trying to save a file. Relatives have come to me on multiple occasions asking for help because its too expensive for them to go through the standard school repair company.

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#1937952 13-Jan-2018 10:24

If you're going to get a laptop for School don't get one with a discrete gpu in it.

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#1937988 13-Jan-2018 10:48

Lias:

alasta:

I think Chromebooks and iPads should be the preferred devices for all schools.

Yes because nothing ever goes wrong with non Windows devices....

As someone who used to work in IT in schools, I can assure you ipads and Chromebooks are faaaarrrrr less trouble from an OS point of view to maintain than any Win device. Chrome is a very solid product, sadly some of the chromebook hardware (looking at you HP) is a bit flaky with trackpads and keyboards randomly stopping from hardware related issues.

That said, any device in the command of a 8-12yr old in a school setting is not in for a happy life, especially those that are school owned and used by everyone, so that you have to keep in mind.

Cyril

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#1938024 13-Jan-2018 11:23

It's not apples and oranges to compare a Windows laptop to a Chromebook or an iPad. A windows laptop is capable of doing far more than either of them. In the past, I'd agree it's a hassle to reset Windows machines, but with modern W10 builds it's just as easy to reset them to "factory".

Apart from being more capable, Windows is also the universal standard. Virtually every company in the world runs on Windows (sure some may have apple products as well, can't say I've ever heard of Chromebooks being used in a business thou). Ensuring your child knows how to use Windows is itself a useful part of their education.

I'd say go with a Windows laptop every time over a Chromebook or an iPad.

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