Would this be okay for a year 7 high school student as a BYOD? Prefer 14" for portability
BYOD for Year 7 Student
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They do and this fits the bill, but does look pretty crap. Cheap though
does look pretty crap
It probably is…
Schools usually provide discounted links to educational stores (lenovo including). I'd probably shop there than this generic piece of junk.
If you hate your child it does
Weak Athlon processor but the 4gb ram on Win 11 will kill them
For uncompromised productivity and entertainment
doubt
Would this (harveynorman.com.au) be okay for a year 7 high school student as a BYOD?
Who knows but the specs look horrid, 4gb and 128gb, yuck.
What is the schools recommendation for a BYOD specs and what device are they recommending?
Pretty lenient and don't recommend anything, but min 128GB lappy. They do advise against Chromebook as education dept designed to be compatible with MS Edge browser.
Seems like a weird requirement considering Edge and Chrome run the same browser engine.
MS Bing Chat stuff is exclusive to Edge, just because MS is trying to make people use Edge. And the Copilot sidebar is Windows exclusive.
There are probably other examples of MS forcing exclusivity, so it is sensible for IT Admin to anticipate that a wave of exclusivity for the Office365 browser features is probably on the horizon and a Windows system is the safer bet with education dept in the MS ecosystem.
Agreed seems strange to say no chromebook when lots of schools are chromebook only and they are going to do everything in the web browswer anyhow, so why not support chrome!
128gb for windoze is going to be tight on a good day. Try to go bigger and 8gb of ram as well.
Also strange the school doesn't have a list of min specs, as all schools I've seen do.
@Pusdi: God that list of specs looks like something from the 80s, ok maybe not that bad but those OS versions are 3-5 years old!!
Also confusing as it claims you can use a iPad? MacOS or Windose as everything is done in Edge, but not chromeos, but the apps mostly work in Chrome? But ignoring the Edge is basically chrome with a MS wrapper ;)
Seems like this is written by a non IT person and never updated.
Disk capacity is not the biggest issue, and 64GB is fine even. Extra storage can be plugged in easily.
Memory is the weakest link here, and processor power next most important.
Best bang for buck improvement to maintain user sanity is memory.Disk capacity is not the biggest issue, and 64GB is fine even. Extra storage can be plugged in easily.
Yeah nah…. 64GB is half filled from just installing windoze, before any apps and then trying to have space to do an update, its laughable that MS claims 64GB as passable. The 'extra' storage that is plugged in can't be used. Plus now you have a kid lugging around a device and a portable storage device.
Memory is the weakest link here, and processor power next most important.
Agree 4GB of memory is weak.
But all this doesn't matter as the OP got a decent unit with 8gb of memory and 512gb of storage.
Been changes over the last few months with how MS is leveraging their OpenAI features. Seems sensible to side with MS ecosystem over Google when schools are already MS based for Office and OneDrive.
Seems sensible to side with MS ecosystem over Google when schools are already MS based for Office and OneDrive.
It depends on the school, many schools are Google. My kids primary school is all google based, while the high school is all MS based.
8GB ram and 512GB minimum. You don't want to fill up your SSD, leave at least 40% space to free up SLC cache. This will ensure good performance and wear.
No, its a chromebook. Its pretty limited in what they will be able to do.
This Lenovo laptop runs on Windows 11S and Microsoft 365 pre-installed,
My son in Year 6 and the requirement for next year is 8GB RAM. Windows 11 + 4GB will not have very good experience. :(
Do you have a maximum budget?
No, but I was hoping to get away with 600ish or less. Any more than that and I may be better off giving him my wife's 3.5 y.o. Lenovo 14inch and buying her something on special for around 1k.
Take a look at these few:
Fast Processor (13th Gen Intel i5), OKish Screen (IPS): https://www.harveynorman.com.au/acer-aspire-5-15-6-inch-i5-1…
(your kid needs to treat it well as Acer is not well known for it's built quality. I would say this is the same quality as the Lenovo you wanted to buy.)Similar to #1 but 12th Gen i5 (1 gen older). JB HiFi and made by HP: https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/hp-15s-fq5211tu-15-6-full…
In general, Acer is slightly cheaper than HP/Lenovo. Buy with a credit card that offers free extended warranty.
The second hand options are OK too….$300-350 should get a decent 8th gen processor, but when you factor in Battery Replacement, it won't be much cheaper than a new machine. Don't get anything Intel 11th gen, they are hot and drains battery fast (and they are always on special in JB/HN/GG these days)
Cheers. Would prefer 14 inch for portability. Should have mentioned in OP, sorry. Please see my comment below
Curious if your son's school allows iPad with keyboard?
A 8-10th gen Intel i5 refurbished laptop would stomp all over this at the same price or lower.
After your kid gets this you will be forced to buy another laptop at the end of the year after months of complaints by your kid and your kid's teachers due to the slowness of the laptop.
Concerned about battery life in used devices
Replacement battery is about $60, still under your initial price.
If you want new, how about this MSI Modern 15 inch (i5-1155G7) at $599 with eBay code (PLUSNOV)
Modern 11th gen Intel i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, IPS Screen, battery life approx. 7 hours or better - comes in right at your budget.
Thanks. Would prefer 14 inch screen (sorry, was in unpublished comments above). See my post below
4GB of ram is obsolete today, how long do you want to keep the laptop for?
Also that CPU is basically obsolete for anything but very basic usage. Way too long for Teams/Word Online and other more dynamic websites.
Athlon CPU? Haven't heard that for a very very long time.
Ok, thanks everyone. The general consensus is that this is too slow even for basic high school use.
How about this then?
Description says OLED but specs say IPS, which is it? Only 8GB DDR4 but should suffice.
@tonyhawksbargains thanks for your suggestions but against guidelines it seems. Perhaps you can clarify screen question though?
That is good but I would hope you can manually upgrade to 16GB of ram otherwise its usable life will be a lot shorter. 8GB barely cuts it right now.
Have you seen this? https://www.harveynorman.com.au/acer-aspire-3-15-6-inch-i3-n…
Yes it was discussed in moderator unpublished comments above. Great bang for buck, but not very portable at 15.6". Also Acer, which is generally considered a brand with very unreliable product quality.
Not sure if 8GB or 16GB after I found inconsistencies between HN description and specs. And then checked against this using model number, which may vary according to region:
https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/p/laptops/yoga/yoga-slim-series/yoga-slim-7-pro-(amd)/len101y0001#compatible_acc
Great laptop for the price! 100% sRGB screen too! 2 years old model but much better thermals than Intel 11th Gen
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Yoga/Yoga_Slim_7_Pro_14ACH5?…
Does the school allow iPad with keyboard?
Probably but no IOS in our household
Thanks everyone. Bought this in the end. Still wondering whether a cheaper chromebook would've sufficed. It was more than I wanted to pay but pretty good apart from soldered 8GB RAM. Hopefully will last 3-4 years. Was tossing up between this and the $798 deal here with 16GB but it had 11th gen CPU so I avoided it. Thanks @bobokingdom for your advice on 11th gen.
Both are GREAT for the price, AMD runs cooler AND you save $100 right away. ChromeBook can't run Microsoft Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), I am not sure about Tasmania, but in NSW, Education Department provide a copy of MS Apps for each student. They also claim iPad and ChromeBook are not suggested due to WiFi compatability.
AMD has 6 cores and Intel has 4 cores….. way better performance for school work.
Tas issues free MS365 to each student.
Thanks again!
Exactly, no ChromeBook even they are super deal these days (as they don't sell as well as 2 years ago).
@bobokingdom: Didn't read all of this as I need some shuteye:
https://www.androidpolice.com/chromeos-microsoft-365-work-be…
Good buy!
That looks to be a much better buy. 8GB RAM & 512GB SSD are what I'd buy as a minimum these days, 4GB & 128GB just isn't going to cut it. The 128GB will fill up pretty just with all the Windows Updates cached files and you'd be forever clearing disk space. I bought my son a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Pro earlier this year as he spilt Ribena in his old Surface laptop (school recommendation - and a terrible laptop). I've been very impressed with the Yoga I got him so far. He's very happy with it. No issues so far bar one time it didn't sleep properly so when he took it out of his bag it was quite hot. That's not a Lenovo issue, that Windows 11's crappy power saving implementation, so I've told him to just pay attention to if the laptop is actually in sleep mode before he puts it in bag.
Cheap "educational" laptops suck compared to an ex-corporate business grade used laptop.
Look for 8GB FHD 8th-gen Intel minimum with 12 month warranty.And speaking from personal experience, avoid Surface Pro or similar for school (which our school recommended) as they break easily, and repair or upgrade with great difficulty/expense.
The school will give a link to the place they want you to buy from, go there and you can see the MINIMUM specs to look at, pay close attention to battery life too as they can't charge at school usually. then you can shop around,
I would not recommend Harvey Norman every time I used to go in to kill some time at lunch there were salespeople scamming with inflated prices and bad specs (i used to tell the people getting scammed ie pensioners etc where to go buy cheaper.)Check out JB Hi-Fi and Good Guys as they have a bit or range and price can be negotiated as well, you can even print out the schools recommended PC and take that in and they will help you get as close as you can.
Schools tend to do everything through Google Drive or OneDrive/Sharepoint so storage capacity of the actual laptop don't tend to matter too much most of the time.
Battery life is probably your largest concern since kids don't tend to have powerpoints on every desk to charge up old crappy batteries.My advice is to pick up something really cheap and second hand (if you can) and consider the first one a practice device and accept that it will get destroyed. Both of my kids that have had school devices have followed this path totally destroying the first device before the second one (so far) seems to remain nearly perfect! They just have to get used to carrying it around.
That said, there are some cheap options for new. Something like this is bigger than I would like, but at $764.10 is pretty damn cheap for a decent spec.
IdeaPad Slim 3i (15'', Gen 8), non touch i5-13420H 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD.
https://www.lenovo.com/au/edu/education/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-3/ideapad-slim-3i-gen-8-(15-inch-intel)/83emcto1wwau1
https://ibb.co/WDrcYcw
https://ibb.co/G3VrLjYThere is a 14" version with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage for $818.10 (which is probably the better pick):
https://www.lenovo.com/au/edu/education/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-3/ideapad-slim-3i-gen-8-(14-inch-intel)/83elcto1wwau1We have had a couple of the L13 Yoga range and have recently bought one of these to replace and older device and it seems fine so far.
https://www.lenovo.com/au/edu/education/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadl/thinkpad-l13-yoga-gen-4-(13-inch-amd)/len101t0055I've actually inherited the Gen 1 L13 Yoga from my eldest and it's still working well enough for my needs.
Also, try the chat function from Lenovo and ask for a further discount… we probably saved an extra 20% for reasons unknown.
Does the school not have minimum recommended specs?