Dear Amazing OzBargainers.
Could you please suggest me any good decent (value for money) new laptop for Year 8 kid?
Needs to be light weight and good battery life. I would rather Intel i7 12th gen or latest with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD + Touchscreen FHD.
Depends on your budget but something like this would be decent https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/p/laptops/yoga/yoga-slim-series…
Big battery. OLED screen (a few options). Can upgrade to an AMD AI7 for $50. Join the Lenovo education store to get it for about $1330.
I got a similar one but previous model for my daughter earlier this year. It's been great.
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/erazer-deputy-p60-15-6-14…
im not sure if its touch screen
t is 2.1kg so not exactly light weight but does handle games
Why would a year 8 kid need 12th gen+ i7?
Since this is the pretty latest and they could continue using this laptop for 4-5 years without the need to upgrade?
Your kid won't be doing any intensive CAD or gaming or anything of that sort, correct? If it's literally only being used for web browsing and word processing, a modern i3 or i5 (or AMD equivalent) will literally have zero issues
A good processor increases service life
IF you can snag a MAcbook air, would be best. I found that macbooks seem to last them the longest. My record so far is macbook air lasting 5 years and still going fine. Mising some keys though. Must have eaten them. I don't ask.
Windoze however sometimes don't last as long. Dunno why. Maybe they play more games on them etc and destroy the keyboards?
It's a bit hard to clump all Windows devices under one umbrella, a higher-end ThinkPad is gonna last a lot longer than another Windows laptop half the price.
And I'd argue it's on the user 90% of the time. My crappy $499 HP laptop lasted 6 years of intensive high school use. No missing keys or cracked screen, just a battery replacement and RAM upgrade. My older brother's 18 year old Dell Latitude still functions to this day.
YMMV. It's just how the kids treat their technology. Helps if they buy it with their own money IMO.
Fair call.
Only get a laptop that is on your school's approved list unless you want a world of hurt.
MacBook Air with windows loaded on to it.
Get at least a 2015 model with 8 gb ram. 13” screen is decent.
Your kid is in year 8, they won’t be doing 3D graphic modeling or mining crypto. I.e. it doesn’t need to be the most powerful thing. Get something you hope will last at least 2 years and you won’t be upset if it gets destroyed.
Re-evaluate the laptop’s usefulness in 2 years and either upgrade or go another year.
Source - my youngest of 3 is now in year 11 so the above advice comes from nearly 20 years (combined) of high school laptop purchasing experience
Is this still available?