High School BYOD

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › High School BYOD

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 373

#2134943 26-Nov-2018 23:11

I think I've found the winning combo...

HP Chromebook 14 G5 3QN47PA

14" 1080p touchscreen, 7th gen celeron, 8gb ram, 64gb ssd, 3.1 usb-c, all for $650

Oh and runs Android apps

old3eyes

9158 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1364

Subscriber

#2135315 27-Nov-2018 15:16

Wade: I think I've found the winning combo...

HP Chromebook 14 G5 3QN47PA

14" 1080p touchscreen, 7th gen celeron, 8gb ram, 64gb ssd, 3.1 usb-c, all for $650

Oh and runs Android apps

No good for my grand daughters school . Must be Windows PC but I should be able to get her a x lease HP laptop in the boxing day sales.

Regards,

Old3eyes

jonathan18

7415 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2850

ID Verified

Trusted

#2135321 27-Nov-2018 15:35

I've checked info on the high school my kids are likely to go to and found he'll need a Windows or Mac laptop - so this means it's likely we'll only get two years out of the Chromebook my son needs next year for intermediate. I wish there was more coordination between schools (especially in this case, given the intermediate and high schools are right next to each other!).

Even with that in mind I'm still likely to get him the Lenovo 500e, given it supports (and comes with) a pressure-sensitive stylus - I'm thinking he'll get a good lot of use out of the stylus, whether it be for note-taking etc or, in particular, art (he's using his iPad Mini for that, despite the crudeness of 'drawing' with his finger).

Interestingly, I see the cheaper Lenovo 300e supports using a pencil as a stylus, which is a cool feature. While it's not pressure-sensitive, it's still a better option than those clunky capacitive styluses.

jonathan18

7415 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2850

ID Verified

Trusted

#2135323 27-Nov-2018 15:51

Wade: I think I've found the winning combo...

HP Chromebook 14 G5 3QN47PA

14" 1080p touchscreen, 7th gen celeron, 8gb ram, 64gb ssd, 3.1 usb-c, all for $650

Oh and runs Android apps

There are certainly very few Chromebooks with 1080, eg https://classic.pricespy.co.nz/category.php?m=s327105036&o=produkt_pris_inkmoms#prodlista

That HP is the top-spec model of the three variations at the top of that list (ie, three cheapest with 1080 screens) - the differences being:

* from $483: 32GB, 4GB, non-touchscreen

* from $587: 64GB, 8GB, non-touchscreen

* from $627: 64GB, 8GB, touchscreen

I find the 4GB of my Asus C302 perfectly zippy, so wouldn't be too worried about that; so I'd have to be convinced the touchscreen is worth that additional $140 (and personally I'd want a 360 design if buying a touch screen).

yitz

2239 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 594

#2135325 27-Nov-2018 16:02

I think 4GB has become what 2GB was before, not sure about Chrome OS but Chrome browser just quits unexpectedly when you try to run it on 2 GB Windows machines these days, especially the low spec HP Stream types where the 32GB of eMMC is also full and the system can't extend the page file and there's just no virtual memory left.

jonathan18

7415 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2850

ID Verified

Trusted

#2135331 27-Nov-2018 16:25

yitz: I think 4GB has become what 2GB was before, not sure about Chrome OS but Chrome browser just quits unexpectedly when you try to run it on 2 GB Windows machines these days, especially the low spec HP Stream types where the 32GB of eMMC is also full and the system can't extend the page file and there's just no virtual memory left.

I'm no expert on this but I understand the memory requirements of Windows isn't comparable with those of ChromeOS - Windows is a notorious RAM hog whereas ChromeOS seems to be fairly light (both in storage and RAM usage), so judging a similarly spec'd Windows laptop and assuming it'll perform like that in ChromeOS isn't the case.

Perhaps @michaelmurfy could respond, as I remember he commented on my own questions re adequate RAM for ChromeOS.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 373

#2135332 27-Nov-2018 16:28

8GB/Touchscreen i see as future proofing, with native android apps becoming a thing on chromebooks I'm guessing Ram and touch will become a critical factor moving forward

In my daughters user case I envisage her old iPad becoming redundant if i get her the touchscreen version so i can then re-purpose the iPad to her little sister saving me from buying another device :P

michaelmurfy

meow
13580 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10910

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2135378 27-Nov-2018 16:41

ChromeOS is very lightweight. I’d say 4gb should be plenty for a BYOD device. The Chromebook doesn’t run anything heavy - just a Linux kernel, and a lightweight window manager wrapped around Chrome.

I use a Samsung Chromebook Pro which has a Core M3 processor and 4gb of ram. It works incredibly well with heavy use. I agree, 8gb is future proofing things a bit more but at this stage it is overkill and the OS likely won’t make use of it. The only reason I’d consider 8gb or more is if you’re running Linux containers on top of this which most people will not.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

kotuku4

485 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 137

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2148426 20-Dec-2018 15:06

For boy starting college have decided to dust off an old Lenovo X201 laptop. Its early I5 processor and 4GB ramm, running windows 10. With a new battery, sleeve and mouse, cost less than $100.

For Daughter third year at college looking at Asus Zenbook Flip possibly from PB tech, probably core I7, 8-16GB ramm, MX-150 graphics, perhaps I will split the cost with her.

Davy

200 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 66

#2148441 20-Dec-2018 15:45

Also it depends on the subject - if your kid is doing computing (coding) or digital design, they will need a Mac or Windows PC and realistically for that you want 8GB RAM to work nicely. The HP ProBook 430 is a decent choice at about $1K, and I think so is the Surface Laptop at currently $1288 (with 128GB storage).

I'd try to purchase new if possible for the best battery life and reliability. I know it's a lot of oney though so your kids better not lose it or drop it!

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 373

#2151874 29-Dec-2018 14:06

Wade: I think I've found the winning combo...

HP Chromebook 14 G5 3QN47PA

14" 1080p touchscreen, 7th gen celeron, 8gb ram, 64gb ssd, 3.1 usb-c, all for $650

Oh and runs Android apps

Bought madam above Chromebook this morning, so far so good, beyond Miss 13's expectation, currently installing her Android apps via PlayStore... Shame it doesn't do a 360 deg flip but knew that going into this so no issue

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5