Laptop for a year 9 student next year. Recommendations.

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Laptop for a year 9 student next year. Recommendations.

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#311219 24-Dec-2023 07:40

Looking for some ideas on laptops for my 13 year old who will be in year 9 next year. Time for her to move on from her faithful ipad. I'm looking somewhere around the $1000-1200. No big hurry, as she won't need it till next year when school starts. Ideally it will last her 3 years or so. I'd really like it not to be to heavy and have a reasonable battery life, even better if it was reasonably robust, 8 or16 GB of ram, 512 GB storage, something like that. I got my son a 14 inch Dell vostro 2 years ago when he started year 13, and it felt like a good compromise of size and computing, has an aluminum lid. It's been pretty good after some initial issues which seemed to be resolved after I stripped out most of the dell bloatware which was a slightly painful experience. I can't seem to find an equivalent model currently.

I'm not too fussed on the brand but I'd probably like to stick with one of the main players.

Some of the HP Elitebook and probooks, particularly the off lease versions look like they might be a good choice. I'm unclear if this exlease models have new batteries installed? Are there particular retailers to keep an eye on.

I'm not super up to date with what are good CPUs currently and if there are some that should be avoided.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.

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2829 posts

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#3175126 24-Dec-2023 07:57

What does the school prefer in terms of OS and applications?

At a guess, there would be a school login (with policies administered by school) and a personal login correct?

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#3175128 24-Dec-2023 08:12

They've been pretty slack this year in sending out device requirements /recommendations. There seems to be a mix of windows PCs and Mac books being used by students at that year group. They didn't have a school login, they had a school email address, and I remember my son needed to have a security certificate installed or something like that on to his device. I remember I'd locked down his account so it wasn't an administrator, and their IT guy was impressed that I'd bothered to try and secure it.

They mainly were using a lot of Google apps, and I specifically remember installing a program called unity which they did some work on.

Oh and she's been a big user of procreate in her iPad so I will try and encourage her to continue using something like that

Shoes2468

785 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3175140 24-Dec-2023 09:18

My son is in a similar position and I got him one of these.

https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-5/ideapad-slim-5i-gen-8-(14-inch-intel)/82xdcto1wwnz3

Reasons I got this
Good size 14inch, note, no number pad
Display is 1920 x 1200, gives you more vertical real estate. aspect ratio 16:10
Camera supports windows hello.(face login)
13 gen intel
DDR5

$1099. I think you get another $100 off for spending over $1000

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#3175148 24-Dec-2023 10:12

Shoes2468: My son is in a similar position and I got him one of these.

https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-5/ideapad-slim-5i-gen-8-(14-inch-intel)/82xdcto1wwnz3

Reasons I got this
Good size 14inch, note, no number pad
Display is 1920 x 1200, gives you more vertical real estate. aspect ratio 16:10
Camera supports windows hello.(face login)
13 gen intel
DDR5

$1099. I think you get another $100 off for spending over $1000

Oh yes that one is ticking a lot of boxes. An aluminum chassis too, and about 1.5kg which is manageable.

This one is going on the list. Thank you. I wonder how often it hits that price.

stocksp

708 posts

Ultimate Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#3175149 24-Dec-2023 10:17

I know it costs a bit more than you were planning on but I would go for a MacBook Air You can pickup a refurb for less than $1500. https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/product/FGN63X/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-air-apple-m1-chip-with-8%E2%80%91core-cpu-and-7%E2%80%91core-gpu-space-grey?fnode=03bc547112e4431b4e0e3c35d6639c035047b164e235c85ccb5c51ec1d6b64ccd67dc4557ba85e8623ca6beb7ac581a4b79ec8a5e68c62bb063dfc5b440d7da7930e3e7de2cf80e2a630d684c55d1ac9

shrub

775 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#3175153 24-Dec-2023 10:25

Just went through this for a work mates kid same year but the requirements included must have touchscreen and a stylus. Check the schools website it might have a list like this one.

"Device Specifications
These recommended specifications are set with 2-3 years of use, and senior
subjects, in mind.
• Windows 10/11 Operating System (Do not buy an MS Office license - see the
Office 365 note at the bottom of the page.)
• Touchscreen and stylus
• Screen size of at least 11 inches
• 4GB RAM minimum, but 8GB does improve performance
• 128GB+ SSD
• 5GHz Wireless capability. 802.11ac or ax standard and 2x2
• Battery life 7+ hours"

Picked up this for $1380 https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN88642/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Flex-5-14-WUXGA-Touch-Flip-Laptop-A

Jase2985

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#3175242 24-Dec-2023 17:28

stocksp:

I know it costs a bit more than you were planning on but I would go for a MacBook Air You can pickup a refurb for less than $1500. https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/product/FGN63X/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-air-apple-m1-chip-with-8%E2%80%91core-cpu-and-7%E2%80%91core-gpu-space-grey?fnode=03bc547112e4431b4e0e3c35d6639c035047b164e235c85ccb5c51ec1d6b64ccd67dc4557ba85e8623ca6beb7ac581a4b79ec8a5e68c62bb063dfc5b440d7da7930e3e7de2cf80e2a630d684c55d1ac9

would be nice if you could give a why with your reommendation

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stocksp

708 posts

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#3175255 24-Dec-2023 19:26

Because they are rock solid, robust, huge battery life, and would integrate to his daughters previous use of IOS.

I've got three kids (11, 19 and 22) and the oldest 2 both started with PCs and migrated to Macs as their preferred school / uni devices. My 11 Y/o would probably still go for a windows laptop, but mainly because that is he is used to and he likes to fiddle with his machines

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#3175273 24-Dec-2023 21:20

stocksp:

I know it costs a bit more than you were planning on but I would go for a MacBook Air You can pickup a refurb for less than $1500. https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/product/FGN63X/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-air-apple-m1-chip-with-8%E2%80%91core-cpu-and-7%E2%80%91core-gpu-space-grey?fnode=03bc547112e4431b4e0e3c35d6639c035047b164e235c85ccb5c51ec1d6b64ccd67dc4557ba85e8623ca6beb7ac581a4b79ec8a5e68c62bb063dfc5b440d7da7930e3e7de2cf80e2a630d684c55d1ac9

Thanks for pointing this out, I had no idea refurbs direct from Apple got that low. This would tickle Miss 13s fancy considerably. I totally see the hardware is outstanding. The downsides are that that would create some issues in that her older brother advocated for a mac but was denied! Also, I'm loathe to buy any more apple stuff. Uggggh I struggle big time with Apple. Trying to set up anything parental related become such a chore on the ipads because I'm not in the apple ecosystem. Many hours have been spent cursing Apple as I tried setting up something on an ipad. I'll be the one having to make sure it's updated etc etc, doing the troubleshooting, the thought of doing that on a mac does not fill me with Christmas cheer hahaha. It's defintely now under consideration.

Why would you go macbook air?

Edit - Sorry, just now saw you last post with you reasoning.

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#3175275 24-Dec-2023 21:26

shrub:

Just went through this for a work mates kid same year but the requirements included must have touchscreen and a stylus. Check the schools website it might have a list like this one.

"Device Specifications
These recommended specifications are set with 2-3 years of use, and senior
subjects, in mind.
• Windows 10/11 Operating System (Do not buy an MS Office license - see the
Office 365 note at the bottom of the page.)
• Touchscreen and stylus
• Screen size of at least 11 inches
• 4GB RAM minimum, but 8GB does improve performance
• 128GB+ SSD
• 5GHz Wireless capability. 802.11ac or ax standard and 2x2
• Battery life 7+ hours"

Picked up this for $1380 https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN88642/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Flex-5-14-WUXGA-Touch-Flip-Laptop-A

Ahhh interesting with the touchscreen and stylus requirements. The shcool used to have a list of requirements and recomnedations but it seems to have disappeared, I may have to reach out and ask some questions. That looks like a decent machine for the price. I wonder how good the stylus works. Art will most probably be a subject she will take and I could see this type of machine being an advantage and something she would probably use.

SpartanVXL

1306 posts

Uber Geek

#3175276 24-Dec-2023 21:38

Fair warning with using the new Apple silicon chips with any software that doesn’t explicitly support it. For high school it may be okay but it’s not fun explaining to people that no their uni kids can’t run ‘stuff’ without parallels or docker at reduced performance.

lxsw20

3552 posts

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#3175277 24-Dec-2023 22:23

Ya what? Rosetta 2 runs Intel stuff pretty damn well IME.

SpartanVXL

1306 posts

Uber Geek

#3175296 25-Dec-2023 02:32

Sorry should point out that yes, running intel versions of mac software is good but the support or explaining to non tech people for anything else isn’t.

The point remains that you should explicitly check that the main software can run before committing to apple silicon.

MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3175297 25-Dec-2023 03:04

Is there in particular subject interests/classes?

Some examples for design, electronics, computing, engineering classes:

SolidWorks is Windows only (All sorts of classes for 2D/3D CAD modeling).
Archicard & Revit are Windows & Mac (Architectural design - DVC class).
Lumion is Windows only. Twinmotion and Endscape is Windows & Mac (Architectural design rendering - DVC class).
MS Access is Windows only (Year 11, 12 & 13 in computing NCEA assessments).
MS Visual Studio and Code studio are Windows & Mac (Computing classes).
Arduino editor is Windows & Mac.
A number of music processing software is Mac only.

Then the basics every computer can do of word processing and sideshows.

I hope that brings some ideas to think about.

My sincere apologies to my high school for getting DVC department onto using Archicad and Twinmotion when I was there 😀.

25th December - Merry Christmas!

CNZ

167 posts

Master Geek

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#3176090 28-Dec-2023 22:52

All apple devices are horrendous for repairs if they are damaged in any form.

Worth keeping in mind considering they quote 1200 for a screen replacement when a new one is 1500

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