Chromebook for year 7

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Lizard1977

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#323710 5-Jan-2026 11:25

My eldest is starting year 7 in a few weeks, and in the enrolment letter they mentioned she would need a device (e.g. Chromebook) for school. While the school has a library of devices so students can borrow a device for the day, I would prefer to have a dedicated device for her.

Chromebooks are a new device-category for me, so I'm trying to work out what to look for. I scanned PB Tech's deals over Christmas and noticed that most devices use eMMC storage. Is this something to avoid, or not really a big issue for this class of device? Are there any other specs I should be looking for or avoiding?

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#3449884 5-Jan-2026 11:34

Poor child having to use a Chromebook (sorry not helpful) but these things are terrible

Dynamic

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#3449887 5-Jan-2026 11:40

Chromebooks are brilliant for basic education stuff as the cost-of-ownership is relatively low. Device misbehaving? Powerwash it. Connect to Wi-Fi. Login. You're good to go.

While my kids are past Chromebooks, the advice used to be avoid 2Gb RAM devices unless budget is tight. These days, this probably translates to 'get 8Gb of RAM budget allows, otherwise 4Gb will be fine). As an experiment I used a 14" Chromebook as a companion device for a few months back in 2019. It worked brilliantly. I couldn't cope with the web version of Outlook at the time. :)

eMMC storage is fine. I've not seen this be a performance bottleneck and I've never seen an NVME Chromebook. I've also not come across someone who has hit the storage limit of a device as the local vs cloud storage seems to be self-managing. If you were dumping lots of photos from a digital camera onto the device that might cause a temporary problem. Caching movies might also cause a temporary problem. Both are edge-cases.

My suggested research would be processor performance vs battery life, though I've also never seen a Chromebook that would not last a full school day.

11.6" still seems to be the standard screen size. 14" is quite a bit bigger in a schoolbag.

The major retailers like Noel Leeming often have back-to-school specials where a Chromebook, a sleeve, and a 'kid-proof-warranty' are bundled at a sharp price. I've suggested this bundle in the past as it doesn't have to be your kid that does something dumb resulting in tech damage.

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#3449889 5-Jan-2026 11:46

Linux:

Poor child having to use a Chromebook (sorry not helpful) but these things are terrible

not all are terrible. Lenovo have a great 14” Chromebook. Each to their own.

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Lizard1977

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#3449958 5-Jan-2026 13:14

Dynamic:

Chromebooks are brilliant for basic education stuff as the cost-of-ownership is relatively low. Device misbehaving? Powerwash it. Connect to Wi-Fi. Login. You're good to go.

While my kids are past Chromebooks, the advice used to be avoid 2Gb RAM devices unless budget is tight. These days, this probably translates to 'get 8Gb of RAM budget allows, otherwise 4Gb will be fine). As an experiment I used a 14" Chromebook as a companion device for a few months back in 2019. It worked brilliantly. I couldn't cope with the web version of Outlook at the time. :)

eMMC storage is fine. I've not seen this be a performance bottleneck and I've never seen an NVME Chromebook. I've also not come across someone who has hit the storage limit of a device as the local vs cloud storage seems to be self-managing. If you were dumping lots of photos from a digital camera onto the device that might cause a temporary problem. Caching movies might also cause a temporary problem. Both are edge-cases.

My suggested research would be processor performance vs battery life, though I've also never seen a Chromebook that would not last a full school day.

11.6" still seems to be the standard screen size. 14" is quite a bit bigger in a schoolbag.

The major retailers like Noel Leeming often have back-to-school specials where a Chromebook, a sleeve, and a 'kid-proof-warranty' are bundled at a sharp price. I've suggested this bundle in the past as it doesn't have to be your kid that does something dumb resulting in tech damage.

Thanks for this. Useful advice.

t0ny

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#3449961 5-Jan-2026 13:32

I bought one recently for my kid. I dont believe in 4GB devices and options were limited in the 8GB range with a lot of devices having older CPU's. In the end i ended up with the 14" N355 model as the 11" seemed too small. I have multiple profiles set up on the chromebook so we have some control over the chromebook.

froob

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#3449968 5-Jan-2026 13:54

I was in the same boat a couple of months ago. My aim was to get one that is fanless, but with reasonable specs (for a Chromebook). In the end I went for:

Asus CB1405CTA-S60377 Chromebook, 14", 1920x1080, Processor N150, 8GB RAM, ChromeOS, Grey, 128G eMMC

It seems ok so far, no major complaints. Time will tell how well it holds up in a school bag.

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Lizard1977

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#3449976 5-Jan-2026 14:19

Where did you get that Asus from?

froob

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#3449977 5-Jan-2026 14:23

Ascent.co.nz - just checked and it looks like that specific model is out of stock though.

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Jase2985

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#3450006 5-Jan-2026 15:33

I brought a Lenovo IP Flex 3 Chromebook with a 12.2in screen and a intel N100 CPU and 8GB of RAM about 3 years ago for my son, it's still running fine and will likely do him till the end of year 10 where I will get him a Windows machine. Still has a claimned 92 % battery life left. No issues with them, as most schools work in the Google suite of products to Chromebook just work.

Have had to replace the screen because he was careless, but it was something him and i were able to do with the help of a YouTube video. So it was a good learning experience for him.

Jase2985

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#3450009 5-Jan-2026 15:35

@Linux:

Poor child having to use a Chromebook (sorry not helpful) but these things are terrible

Why? They run the Google suite of products just fine, which is what most schools use, and things just work. You don't need a performance monster to run that stuff, and the battery lasts all day. They are also cheap.

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#3450143 5-Jan-2026 20:01

Chromebooks are great for what they're designed to do — be dropped by kids, have cables yanked out of them, and have sugary drinks spilled on them.

My 19-year-old is still using the chromebook he got when he was 11 for casual Internet related stuff, watching Youtubes, and chatting with his friends. Even the battery lasts quite well.

In my mind, for kids they're the right tool for the job.

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#3450172 5-Jan-2026 21:54

I just got a cheap used lenovo laptop that was much higher spec than any chromebook and also could.upgrade/replace some of the parts if needed. Just install chrome os flex for the chromebook like experience.

robjg63

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#3450188 6-Jan-2026 07:19

Linux:

Poor child having to use a Chromebook (sorry not helpful) but these things are terrible

Can't say that I agree and you havent said why.

I got one to evaluate for home use and I use it a quite a lot.

Is a reasonably priced Samsung and it has great battery life and is pretty durable - I have taken it away overseas several times.

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Wilko

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#3450379 6-Jan-2026 14:56

I have an 11.6 inch chromebook that I use when travelling as well as in bed, and I love it. Don't get a 32 GB storage model - 64 GB is much better. The only other reservation I have is that the ChromeOS is going to be replaced with a new OS called AluminiumOS possibly later this year - though the current OS should continue to be updated for several years.

caffynz

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#3450394 6-Jan-2026 16:06

We recently got a Lenovo 11" Chromebook for our kid starting Year 7 this year. Hope it goes well - first Chromebook purchase for us.

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