Recommendations for really robust laptop for school kid?

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jonathan18

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#306659 11-Aug-2023 11:06

My younger son is depressingly hard on his devices, with his current school laptop not too far off the point of no return - and that was a Lenovo 300E Chromebook which supposedly has "military-grade durability" plus was also in a rubber-edged shell case.

I'm therefore looking for a replacement laptop; while I know the obvious answer is he needs to take better care of his devices (queue unrequested parenting advice!), I'm also realistic that he needs something pretty solid, so the general requirements are:

Robust, solid, sturdy...
Windows-based (as ideally it'll still be in one piece for high school in 2025!)
USB-C charging
Absolutely fine with second-hand (if buying s/h I'd prefer to buy from a retailer; if a private sale for it to have at least some warranty left)
Other specs aren't so critical as it's for general school use; more about providing longevity than blistering performance.
Tough, rugged, strong...

What would people recommend - both in terms of suggested models, but also good retailers to purchase from?

Thanks for any ideas.

Dynamic

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#3114465 11-Aug-2023 11:17

Chromebooks have a near zero cost of ownership after the purchase. Windows laptops keep me gainfully employed. Sticking with a Chromebook for as long as possible would be my recommendation.

If he's not looking after it, replace it with a secondhand one would be my move as a parent.

My kids are spoiled for technology, though because they have always been surrounded by it they won't really appreciate that fact. My 14 year old daughter cracked her phone screen in April. I repaired it under my 'one repair per year' policy. She cracked it again in June and will be living with it until Christmas. There was surprisingly little grumbling. The backup plan is an old Nokia-style candybar phone so she can keep in touch with her parents. Lack of social media apps is not my problem. :)

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xpd

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#3114467 11-Aug-2023 11:20

Yeah, my daughter has been through about 4 laptops in last few years.

The best laptop I can think of that survives kids at school these days would be a Panasonic Toughbook :D But theyre mega $$ ;)

Only thing I've been able to do, is say to my daughter that the next laptop, will be coming out of her pocket, not ours - she seems to be keeping better care of the current one since she was told that.

HP Probooks are fairly reliable and easily obtained, but being "tough" as the school level, probably not so much... and you'd struggle to find something that dosent break the bank thats "tough" IMO. If you do find something, please let me know :D

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timmmay

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#3114648 11-Aug-2023 13:09

Give him something decent, but tell him if he breaks it due to carelessness all his future laptops will be pink with flowers on them.

jonathan18

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#3114649 11-Aug-2023 13:12

timmmay:

Give him something decent, but tell him if he breaks it due to carelessness all his future laptops will be pink with flowers on them.

The problem with that (well, it's actually a positive) is that at this stage he'd probably have no issue with that! Maybe not so much as he gets closer to high school age...

jonathan18

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#3114654 11-Aug-2023 13:23

I mentioned those Panasonic Toughbooks to my wife (in jest) as I recall seeing them in a clearance sale of my work's deleted equipment - I think I could offer my son up to Panasonic as a tester, perhaps?!

Fair point, @Dynamic, re sticking with Chromebooks as long as feasible, which for him means until the end of next year; the OS does everything he needs (plus he has an old Windows laptop he uses at home). There are some options second-hand, including this unused model on TM.

I've also realised that I have a once fairly (relatively!) high spec Chromebook sitting around pretty much unused. At least this way I don't have to fork out any money for a new laptop, and it's making use of a product that's otherwise sitting around doing nothing. It's an Asus C302, which is a slimline aluminium-bodied 1080 laptop, so the main downside is it's built nothing like his Lenovo. It's also just reached its Auto Update Expiration last month - how big an issue will that be over the coming 16 months?

As for going forward, he totally knows he's on a warning in terms of future damage; at a minimum his pocket money will take quite a haircut to pay for repairs or replacement.