Laptop Required for Daughter for High School - Need Help!

31mop on 29/10/2018 - 18:43
Last edited 29/10/2018 - 19:01 by 1 other user

Hey everyone

My daughter needs a laptop for high school next year. Never owned a laptop in my life, so not sure where to start. They've given me the specs… can anyone help me working out where to get this from and rough cost?

Need either: Medium spec:
Windows 8 or 10 (64 Bit)
Intel i5 / AMD A9 (or higher - or equivalent)
3.2ghz or higher
8gb RAM (or higher)
500gb HDD (or higher)
256gb SSD (or higher)
Integrated GPU with at least 256mb
Dedicated GPU with at least 512mb

Or High spec
Windows 8 or 10 (64 Bit)
Intel i7 / AMD A10 (or higher - or equivalent)
3.6ghz or higher
8gb RAM (or higher)
750gb HDD (or higher)
512gb SSD (or higher)
Integrated GPU with at least 512mb
Dedicated GPU with at least 1gb

Any help appreciated - I'm in Brisbane - is it worth getting a lenovo or something like that from online and using cash rewards? I find it hard to search for these things when I need all the specs.

Cheers,

Matt

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • John Kimble on 29/10/2018 - 18:48
    +4

    Wouldn't the school have a supplier they get a good deal from given the number of students that would bulk buy?

    My understanding is that some suppliers even repair/replace for free or a small fee given the high probability of damage. Part of the deal the supplier makes with the school(s).

    • timmof on 29/10/2018 - 19:24
      +1

      Correct. Our local schools has that. Check the schools website and they’ll have a link.
      They offer education style laptops, which to my understanding are a bit more robust, but for the specs seem overpriced. They also offer insurance and repair deals. My mates tell me given the regular smashed screens they deal with for their kids, insurance is almost a no brainer….

    • Colombian on 29/10/2018 - 20:39
      +2

      School supplied laptops are not cheap. Source: I work at one in the ICT department.

      This situation is good for people who have no idea about computers and want a hassle free laptop for their kids. 3 Years warranty on site at school plus accidental damage coverage.

      But if you want a cheap laptop, just go to Dell Outlet.

      • John Kimble on 29/10/2018 - 20:47

        That seems to describe the OP…

        • Colombian on 29/10/2018 - 20:50

          Agree, I was just informing for people who don't know about this.

      • Findo on 30/10/2018 - 02:44

        Having been in different schools with different student ICT policies (BYOD free-for-all, BYOD specific models, school-issued laptops/MacBooks, etc), the efficiency of having the school supply a laptop and associated software makes a world of difference to teaching and learning because everyone’s on the same page and the IT infrastructure can accomodate the same devices without much hassle. It sucks having Mac and Windows users coexisting in a classroom.

        • Colombian on 30/10/2018 - 08:34
          -1

          Well it depends of the ICT department. I like to think we are very accommodating here. We like to help students/parents in whatever they choose and support them anyway.

          We see this more like a challenge when someone brings a Mac or a PC as BYOT. Not only we help them, we also learn about how to solve things and get more experience.

          ICT departments that decide to impose a school supplied laptop are just lazies in my opinion.

          • Colombian on 30/10/2018 - 08:47
            +3

            @Colombian: lol! being negged for giving an honest opinion…

            • John Kimble on 30/10/2018 - 08:52

              @Colombian: They probably just disagree with your opinion and CBF typing a response

            • HighAndDry on 30/10/2018 - 09:54
              -1

              @Colombian: Probably negged for:

              ICT departments that decide to impose a school supplied laptop are just lazies in my opinion.

              Because that's an objectively stupid take. If anything, that'd require more work.

              Personally I'd neg (don't have any right now) because you said:

              We see this more like a challenge when someone brings a Mac or a PC as BYOT. Not only we help them, we also learn about how to solve things and get more experience.

              School is a school for the students, not for you. If I'm a parent, I don't want to send my kids to school so that their ICT dept can "learn" on the job - I'd expect the ICT dept to already know what they're doing. Not to mention you can't learn to fix potential software incompatibilities between Windows and iOS.

              • Colombian on 30/10/2018 - 09:58

                @HighAndDry: I think you misunderstood my point or I did not explain myself properly.

                What I was trying to say is that in our ICT department we leave parents free choice. We are here to support them.

                As to "learning" that is what I do everyday. Most of the things I do everyday I already know how to fix them, but I also like to be challenged and see different problems I don't know how to resolve. That motivates me to help people and at the same time help myself through learning in the process.

                • HighAndDry on 30/10/2018 - 10:04
                  +1

                  @Colombian:

                  What I was trying to say is that in our ICT department we leave parents free choice. We are here to support them.

                  I get that, but a completely laissez-faire ICT BYOD policy just seems… inefficient. Even something like OP's situation where the school has a BYOD policy but supplies the minimum specifications would lead to a more consistent learning experience.

                  Plus, from a pedagogical perspective, a lot like uniforms I think a consistent BYOD policy can minimise actual socio-economic differences and remove/lessen that from being a distraction to students.

                  • Colombian on 30/10/2018 - 10:28
                    +2

                    @HighAndDry: There are many ways of seeing this in my opinion. And I think one is not better than the other. I was talking to a friend yesterday about his daughter's school requesting parents to buy Surface Pro as the only device allowed to use at the school. Price? $2500. It does not feel fair to me.

                    I see people struggling here at the school to buy a $1000 Lenovo laptop, that is why we allow free choice.

                    Again, I'm not saying I don't agree with you, it is just that there are different optics to this issue and all of them are valid.

    • ms_caz on 29/10/2018 - 20:56

      Not all schools have a supplier. We have a school supplied laptop for some year levels but others have a BYOD. Apparently this gives families choice (within the specifications named). However, the choice they tend to make is to not supply any kind of device at all!

      Frankly I'd rather have a school supplied device or a nominated supplier. I suppose there are families out there who are computer literate and able to shop around to get good deals but in my experience they aren't the majority in my community.

      • Colombian on 29/10/2018 - 20:58
        +1

        We got bot choices. BYOD and also School supplied laptop for parents to choose.

  • FireRunner on 29/10/2018 - 19:04

    Does it mean 500GB HDD or 256GB SSD (it would be odd if required both).
    Same goes for Integrated and dedicated graphics.
    I'd recommend Dell Outlet for a cheap refurbished laptop.

  • timmof on 29/10/2018 - 19:21

    I went with one of these during a 20% off ebay sale.

    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lenovo-YOGA-720-12-5-inch-FHD-Di…

    • GPT4 on 04/11/2018 - 13:25

      Hi mate, How was the condition of the laptop? Are these pre-owned? Ta

  • Presence on 29/10/2018 - 19:31
    +1

    I'd get a second hand ThinkPad off eBay. Backpacks are a tough life for laptops.

    What's your budget and how good are you with computers?

  • Sage on 29/10/2018 - 21:11

    They require Windows? I thought schools normally use Mac.

    • Agret on 30/10/2018 - 08:42
      +1

      Mac schools are very uncommon in Victoria.

      They're not exactly enterprise devices.

      IPad as a BYOD is very common though.

    • bg on 30/10/2018 - 22:09
      +1

      Our Victorian school had MacBooks down as an option - only to discover they just put boot camp on it! A disaster, every time there was a windows update, there was an issue with boot camp and connections to the wifi and/Ethernet. Meaning can't access online books, can't upload school assignments. I spent hours trouble shooting. When my child went yo the IT dept they simply told him to go try switching it on and off again and come back later. For our next child went straight to hp spectre. Interestingly, from next year on, they are not going to support MacBooks.

      • Agret on 31/10/2018 - 11:45

        The IT department often will not accept Mac and it is probably one of the admin staff somewhere in the bureaucracy that likes them and wants it as an option so you just go ahead with it until disaster strikes, then you can justify not allowing them.

        Schools use a standardised image on every device so that you know everyone has access to the same software. As you said, on a mac it needs bootcamp and then there is complications brought in as a result of their hardware abstraction layer.

        • bg on 31/10/2018 - 21:53

          Haha, You are spot on! Another parent (dare I say my brother-in-law) was the MacWorld editor and practically demanded they offered it as a choice. We have been an Apple family before it was trendy (and before BIL editor), but would never recommend buying a MacBook purely to run bootcamp, how insane is that…

  • Randxyz123 on 29/10/2018 - 23:04
    +2

    Get something with a SSD not HDD.

    Make sure it’s in a well protected case cover. School laptops will have a hard life.

    Lenovo or DELL would be my pick. Maybe a business spec laptop. Any home laptop from JB/HN are always rubbish heaps of crap.

    Look out for eBay sales and DELL refurbished.

    I would avoid second hand with laptops. You don’t know how they’ve been treated.

  • Eeples on 29/10/2018 - 23:35
    +1

    Both these specs medium and high look like overkill to me for Year 7.

    My advice, get low specs, and buy something better in Year 9 especially if she does subjects involving photograpy, design or similar.

    EDIT: I recommend a chromebook (I'm serious; way lighter and cheaper and good enough for year 7)

    And, the specs you have given as others have implied don't make much sense. You don't need two GPU's one internal and external nor do you need a HDD and a SDD.

    • Randxyz123 on 29/10/2018 - 23:55
      +1

      Both these specs medium and high look like overkill to me for Year 7.

      It’s the specs recommended by the school for a reason. Probably so students don’t rock up with chrome books or a shit 5 year old machine.

      They’ll need to run office and having a chrome book will be annoying.

    • Agret on 30/10/2018 - 08:45
      +1

      Good luck running Access, Visio or Photoshop on your Chromebook. None of the design or photography programs will run on it either.

    • FireRunner on 30/10/2018 - 10:17

      Why get a chromebook just to need the better laptop later down the line?
      May as well just get a decent laptop from the start.

    • Japius on 02/11/2018 - 01:33

      My daughter is going into year 6 next year and the school recommends at a minimum: i5 8gb 256gb SSD and win10……here I was thinking I could grab a celeron….

      • portard on 04/11/2018 - 22:29

        Lol…that is exactly what I have for uni as a computer science student and it is way more than enough. That is definitely overkill for a 12 year old.

        Curious as to what year 6 kids even need a laptop for?? What are they learning nowadays?

        • alvian on 05/11/2018 - 02:59

          Video editing for projects?

        • Japius on 05/11/2018 - 06:37

          I know…they will be doing some video editing and coding but even then those things at year 6 I cannot imagine they’ll be that intensive

  • alvian on 30/10/2018 - 03:53
    +2

    Your choice is very limited because there is only one Intel Core i5 mobile processor that satisfies your clock frequency requirement: Intel Core i5-7287U @ 3.3GHz

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i5_micropro…

  • altomic on 30/10/2018 - 06:51
    +1

    One of my kids started high school this year and needed a laptop. Bought a refurb Lenovo idea pad 100s 14" from grays eBay store. $125. It has been great though I have to upgrade the storage with a m. 2 ssd as the onboard emc storage is only 32gb - which is now full.

    This doesn't meet the specs you listed but has done everything that is required for her schooling

    Have a look at grays eBay store.

  • Chubbsmcfatflabs on 30/10/2018 - 09:34

    My daughters school provides Apple devices up until yr 9. After that it is BYOD…as long as its Apple and its a 13-15" Mac Book Air or Pro and it has the 256gb SSD and is at least a 2017 build. So I can't even use the one she has or get a refurbished one.

    So its not BYOD at all. I am still raging over that. I despise Apple devices.

    Isn't BYOD supposed to give you a choice ?

    Oh and you can buy the device from the Apple sponsored "online school store" at an amazing $50 off the price I can get it from JB Hi Fi.

    Thanks for that.

    Its very lazy IMHO, and does not take into account that I can get a similar spec machine for hundreds of $$$ less..its a rort.

    There's a reason that large corporates don't use apple…

    • Randxyz123 on 30/10/2018 - 10:29

      I disagree. It’s a lot easier to support a single OS and a single device running a single OS. Windows 10 home has limitations on networks it will play nicely with.

      Some schools prefer apple and a lot of business do now as well. Apple not playing nicely with AD is a reason some larger companies don’t use them. As well as software limitations (If anyone wants a get rich quick idea, make a program that will run Visio and project on mac!!) They are also much better for developers, and for design. Not to mention not having to screw around with drivers every single time you do anything.

      FYI there are refurbished 2017 models on the apple refurnished store. I’m sure if you bought a 2016 model it would be fine. They just don’t want someone using a 5-6 year old machine.

      • Agret on 30/10/2018 - 22:02

        They just don’t want someone using a 5-6 year old machine.

        I've got a MacBook Pro 2011 with a 2.5" Samsung Evo SSD in it. It's got a i7 2.5ghz and 16gb ram has no problems running any software including the latest MacOS Mojave. Nothing wrong with older macs unless they are from the core 2 era.

  • Chubbsmcfatflabs on 30/10/2018 - 16:07

    Fair enough comments I guess, If you put on your pragmatic hat you will get that there is no need for these.

    It's a secondary school. The school does not do software development nor does it do much design.

    They will be running Office 365 on these things, they are not used for software development or graphic design purposes. Funnily enough they also use MAC versions of MS office and also have installed windows 10 on some of them.

    The vast majority of student users will not use them for much more than creating Power Point presentations, word documents, excel and internet/email purposes. Its an expensive word processor/net surfer.

    Also, they already use 2014/15 builds NOW in their environment. They have to hand them back ! , so the argument that the latest and greatest is required is very much a moot point.

    Then theres the cost. Near enough to $1500.00 for the basic version. 2017 builds are still $1200 plus.

    TBH I know no matter how much I hate this I will end up having to comply with it even though I know its a rort and a money making exercise for apple.

    No amount of one person ranting will make any difference at all.

    The school community could not give a flying F*&k as it is easier to go along with the crowd and get little johnny the device that the APPLE marketing marketing has deemed he needs to run Microsoft office products that would run fine on a 2nd hand 500 buck laptop.

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