BYOD year 11 student - windows laptop choices

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Daftmuffin

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#311385 11-Jan-2024 09:28

Hi team, like many others we're in the market for a relatively inexpensive laptop. After several disappointing experiences with the local retail stores I'm having a look online. Having read the laptop topics here hoping for some advice.

The school is running office 365 and haven't given us many specs to go on - needs wireless, Windows and should run through a school day without going flat, around 5 hours. Preferred budget is around $1,000. I'd like it to last 2-3 years but pessimistic it will physically survive.

I'm not inclined to get an Acer, based on other recommendations and previous experience.

Currently looking at:

HP 14-inch Laptop 14s-dq5093TU - Silver - on sale $1,099 down from $1,099 direct from HP. - HP 14-inch Laptop 14s-dq5093TU - Silver - 14-inch (78D73PA) - Shop HP.com New Zealand

Lenovo Thinkbook 14 G $1,265 with an ex-demo $1,035 option - Buy the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G4 14" FHD Business Laptop Intel Core i5-1235U -... ( ) online - PBTech.co.nz

I also looked ex-lease and refurbed from PBTech but concerned about battery life in particular, any experience with these?

Cheers

Starlith

208 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#3180417 11-Jan-2024 10:58

Are you sure they don't need 2-in-1 with stylus with touchscreen? I say this because normally at that age with maths and physics they would require something like that so you would have to spend slightly more.

Might be best to check with the teachers but being a ex-techie for a school I remember it being an inconvenient time for students without 2-in-1 features but not impossible to get the work done especially for the mac users.

MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3180587 11-Jan-2024 14:29

Is your year 11 student needing any specific applications for their subject interests? Classes like metal/wood working, DVC, electronics and/or media.

The big ones are design/CAD classes. Software such as Archicad/Revit, Solidworks/Fusion360, Twinmotion, video editors, etc.

Highly dependant on your school as to what computers they have for bigger programs. But a great advantage if you can run these programs yourself.

The laptops you have mentioned there would be able to run Archicad/Revit, Solidworks/Fusion360 and do most video editing fine.

Daftmuffin

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3180686 11-Jan-2024 18:49

Thanks team.

I was actively avoiding touchscreen / 2 in 1 devices as I expect this would compromise on performance at the price point and more complicated hinges / touchscreen to fail.

I remembered that they emailed the specs, but as mentioned not much to go on.

Minimum specification for devices:

• 10 – 15 inch screen

• At least 5 hours of battery power

• Run windows 10 or Mac OSX (NOT Chromebooks)

• Must have enough storage to download and install Office 365 - Minimum 64Gb SSD

• Internet capable (Wifi connectivity – 801.11N/ac preferred)

• Physical (not just on-screen) keyboard

• Suitable, durable bag/cover for protection

As far as courses go he is heading into sciences / drama with no digital tech choices. They're required to have a graphics calculator which surprised me a little as I expected they would be using the laptop for this. No specific software packages have been mentioned. I should have mentioned that I'm not concerned whether it can play games, we have a gaming desktop PC at home along with Nintendo's and a Playstation.

Leaning towards the buy direct from HP option, my lovely wife 'live chatted' with the HP website and they indicated that for warranty issues they will arrange collection for RTB repairs.

I'm familiar with the HP Elitebook line through work and I'm not expecting the same build quality but interested in any horror stories about these cheaper options.

Thanks again!

lxsw20

3552 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3180695 11-Jan-2024 19:09

That HP looks decent for the $. You're right the build quality between the ProBooks/EliteBooks and their consumer stuff is quite different, but you'd be paying quite a bit more to get a Pro/Elitebook at the same spec.

Andib

1363 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#3180696 11-Jan-2024 19:29

For your budget I would personally go with an ex lease laptop (just make sure it’s at least 8th gen CPU so it can run Windows 11) as a 3 year old latitude / elitebook is going to be much better quality than a new $1000 consumer machine.

If you’re concerned about battery life ask PBTech what it would cost to replace the battery. Being commercial models (and they are the authorised repair center for the main brands) genuine replacements are easy to come by and are relatively inexpensive.

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Daftmuffin

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3181481 13-Jan-2024 15:12

Thanks for the replies, we went with the HP deal in the end, with an additional 10% off for signing up to their email list. I think that if I were getting a machine for myself I'd look at the ex lease but after minimal issues with this one for school.

If it turns out to be a lemon I'll follow up just to let the next BYOD person know.

Cheers