BYOD - High School

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KillerHulk

349 posts

Ultimate Geek

#281176 4-Feb-2021 09:03

Hi All,

i have been asked by my friend to choose a Laptop for her daughter (Y9 student).

Requirements:

OS : MS Windows 10

Processor: Intel Core i3 Minimum

Ram: 4 GB minimum

Hard Disk Drive: 200 GB minimum or SSD 128 GB minimum

External Ports: 2 USB ports minimum

Wifi

Looking to spend around 500-800 max.

Found few options but i am confused when it comes to AMD & not sure how they compare to i3. little help here would be great.

PS: also had a quick look at other thread but they were from 2018.

I Eat Dumbbells for Breakfast

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Jase2985

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#2646752 4-Feb-2021 09:09

care to post the few options you have

nothing wrong with AMD, especially 3000 and 5000 series.

KillerHulk

349 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2646771 4-Feb-2021 09:36

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN145806/Lenovo-V145-Laptop-156-HD-AMD-A6-9225-8GB-256GB-SS

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKASU202041/ASUS-W202NA-GJ0041R-Laptop-116-HD-AG-Intel-Celeron

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/TABMST12106471/Microsoft-Surface-Go-2-Student-Price--105-17Ghz-In can add keyboard.

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Jase2985

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#2646778 4-Feb-2021 09:48

neither of the intel options are I3 equivalents , only the lenovo meets the minimum storage requirements.

from what i can see on PBTech there is only one under your 800 price tag, and one that's slightly above at $805

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKDEL3480R/Dell-Remanufactured-Latitude-14---3480-Business-La

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKASU412093R/ASUS-Remanufactured-VivoBook-Flip-14-TP412UA-EC093

Lias

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#2646790 4-Feb-2021 10:01

Current generation AMD options are excellent choices generally.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.

jonathan18

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#2646861 4-Feb-2021 10:31

In hunting for my son's own BYOD over the past few months, my experience was many AMD-powered laptops under $1k tend to have Athlon rather than Ryzen processors, let alone the latest gen of these.

Here's the cheapest Ryzen-powered one I could see on PB Tech's website, which is only a few bucks over that $800 budget and I think exceeds all noted specs; this may come down a bit at sale time or be available cheaper elsewhere perhaps?

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKASU5091222/ASUS-D509DA-BR1222T-Laptop-156-HD-AG-AMD-Ryzen3-32

Edit - meant to say I ended up looking solely at Ryzen's latest gen processors (4xxx) as they are a decent amount faster; this one linked to above is a previous gen 3 3250.

vexxxboy

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#2646889 4-Feb-2021 10:56

Smith City have this one for under $800, has the Ryzen 3 and 512Gb ssd. Good deal

https://www.smithscity.co.nz/computers-and-phones/computing/laptops/asus-156-ryzen-fhd-r3-3250u-8gb-512gb-laptop-9064742

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Lias

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#2646991 4-Feb-2021 12:20

vexxxboy:

Smith City have this one for under $800, has the Ryzen 3 and 512Gb ssd. Good deal

https://www.smithscity.co.nz/computers-and-phones/computing/laptops/asus-156-ryzen-fhd-r3-3250u-8gb-512gb-laptop-9064742

Nice find!

magnetonz

20 posts

Geek

#2647019 4-Feb-2021 12:54

Also worth considering battery life.

At the college my son attends, they are not allowed to charge their laptops/Chromebook.

Minimum battery must last 6 hours.

KillerHulk

349 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2647161 4-Feb-2021 15:54

Thanks

And yes, says battery life 4-6 hours minimum & up-to-date antivirus (windows defender would work just fine) right?

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Jase2985

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#2647229 4-Feb-2021 16:49

could be worth a look

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=77&topicid=281189

1101

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#2648134 5-Feb-2021 13:11

I would say be wary of 'remanufactured' or ex lease (or used)

No telling how old or how good the batt will be . May be OK for a some hours , but for a whole school day, then homework ?
Just factor in the cost of a new batt .

jaymz

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#2648234 5-Feb-2021 15:21

Might I suggest looking at Ex Lease HP Elitebooks from somewhere like pctraders.co.nz.

Most, if not all, schools lease their staff devices through TELA and use HP Elitebooks. These are returned and then sold onto places like PCTraders.

Often these devices are in extremely good condition, not to mention, being enterprise grade hardware they have many more years of life in them.

We have got them for family in the past and they are still going strong, 4 years later.

openmedia

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#2648249 5-Feb-2021 16:14

For BYOD larger != better, battery life is king.

Also a number of schools specify their BYOD provider.

For example my daughter's new school requires laptops to be purchased thru Cyclone.

Low base spec is a Chromebook
Mid spec is a Lenovo Yoga 11e
High end is a Mac Book Air (M1 models) or a HP ProBook x360

Nothing is over a 13" screen

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.

ghettomaster

382 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2648321 5-Feb-2021 17:34

openmedia:
For BYOD larger != better, battery life is king.

Also a number of schools specify their BYOD provider.

For example my daughter's new school requires laptops to be purchased thru Cyclone.

Low base spec is a Chromebook

Mid spec is a Lenovo Yoga 11e

High end is a Mac Book Air (M1 models) or a HP ProBook x360

Nothing is over a 13" screen

How can they require that? It’s your money - buy from who you want.

If they specify a model, that may be fine, but I think even then they should just say the OS and maybe min specs then the rest is on you.

openmedia

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#2648331 5-Feb-2021 18:18

Here is the guidance from Albany Senior High School

- https://www.ashs.school.nz/byod/

You aren't required to buy thru Cyclone but it is recommended. At Albany Junior they mandated Chromebooks and wouldn't support students with other devices

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.

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