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My daughter is going away to university plus it's her birthday and needs a new laptop.What do I get her ,she's not into games etc,doesn't want an expensive one and I have office to put on for her.Any buying help advice gratefully received.
Read the 257 other threads that have run in the last month asking the same question?
Define "expensive".
What does she need?
What does she want?
The normal STW response is Dell Outlet for refurbished Dells, but not used them myself, but will soon for the same reason as you.
My normal STW response is Lenovo for build quality. But before one can proffer a solution, one must first define the question.
Sorry not seen the other 257 threads I will do a search.
As for cost I'm not sure I was hoping for less than £300.
She wants it for writing essays and social stuff and watching telly I think.(I was thinking I could put sky go on for her)
I hope this helps I know very little about computers but know a lot of people on here do ,which is why I ask.I don't come on here lots so don't follow threads daily but in the past have found people's advice really helpful.
Once again thanks in advance .
Right. So, you'd be hard pressed to find anything that didn't meet that criteria, that's not a big ask. So my and richmars responses hold.
Does she have an idea of what she wants? Robust or shiny? Big or small, is portability an issue? A 17" monster will be awesome for typing up projects, but a PITA if she's got to carry it on foot half a mile from her digs every day.
Her only ask is could it be a bit smaller than a current 15.6 inch laptop but not tinyI was thinking of 14 inch as my limited work experience of the small mini laptops is that they are not much use .She has no interest in IT so shiny,name etc is of no interest.
Depending on what she really needs it for a Chromebook may be an option Acer Chromebook 14 for £200 is what I'm on right now 🙂
Regarding chromebooks, whilst you can do a lot on them, it's quite likely that if youre being expected to hand in work, that they will want in a standard ms word format. as such, having a Windows or Mac machine with a student version of office on it will prevent compatability issues from the outset.
That's not to say that a chromebook wouldn't be create and edit such files, It's just that if you have to spend time going through workarounds to keep things compatable then that distracts from studying.
Sort of but not really unless you need to do really complex stuff in office.
Since Microsoft offered office 365, you can do all the proper excel, word, PowerPoint, etc online. Try it out yourself :
https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx
[quote=Ed2001 ]Her only ask is could it be a bit smaller than a current 15.6 inch laptop but not tinyI was thinking of 14 inch as my limited work experience of the small mini laptops is that they are not much use
Depends - the one I'm typing on has a 11" screen and is decently powerful. You may be thinking of netbooks which came with crippled Atom processors - there are certainly a few small but powerful computers out there.
About the only one of your requirements which would make something this small less than ideal is watching TV - though TBH a proper TV is better for that, and you could always plug it in if it's just providing content. She has young eyes and is presumably used to typing on a phone, so won't have any other problems, and if she is carrying it around much small is quite handy.
Yes it was netbook that I was thinking of.Thanks so she could go smaller than 14 and it still be a usable laptop.Thanks for all the help up to now.
A quick trawl suggests 13" may be a sweet spot - almost as light and portable, but a useful improvement in screen size
Thanks aver I will start looking,much appreciated.
[url= http://www.3000rpm.com/acatalog/Lenovo-Thinkpad-X230-Intel-i5-3320M-2.60Ghz-Laptop---16Gb---320Gb--12.5-Inch---Webcam---Windows-7-Pro.html ]Refurbished Lenovo X230 with SSD drive[/url], docking station, monitor and wireless mouse and keyboard. Bought mine from 3500rpm. Teen1 has loved it whilst away for hist first year. Definitely 13" with a docking station. They carry it around all day. I upgraded to a new nine hour battery as well.
If your going small and there is a lot of typing to be done have a look at a screen, keyboard and mouse to go with it. Screen will double as a TV and a decent keyboard and mouse will make the small portable stuff much more usable for prolonged typing and if you need a number pad.
It's quite difficult to buy a really bad 13" laptop nowadays, some are a bit more robust or have better screens/keyboards than others, it's worth checking out some reviews at www.cnet.com www.techradar.com www.notebookreview.com etc
I 2nd that having an external screen/keyboard/mouse really helps with productivity, especially if the laptop has a screen less than 15".
Making sure there is a good system to back up e.g. to cloud also a good idea, tales of woe from students who have lost their coursework when their laptop got lost/stolen are still not too uncommon!
Lenovo ThinkPad 13 looks good to me; SSD, tough design, sounds about right size-wise and money-wise too. Done a few Lenovo for home users lately and if I was buying for myself, I'd get one.
The latest Dell home laptops haven't impressed me too much, unfortunately I use one for 9hrs a day at the moment.
Chromebook (I.e google docs/sheets/slides etc) all support MS file types both opening and saving.
13 to 14" screen. High def will make life a lot nicer if budget allows. If she ends up doing most of her work in a library spend money on a separate larger screen will be wasted and better put towards a higher quality screen. If she works a lot from her room then A separate large screen and keyboard will be worth it.
Wireless mouse is useful in either case.
As much as I love my Chromebook, both me and my sister found them a pain for academic work. A proper laptop with office will be better, I found the way google docs formats stuff to .doc(x) doesn't show true in Word.
Out of interest why would you be distributing a docx document rather than a pdf anyway? I can't remember the last time my colleagues or I sent out an editable document. We collaborate in editable space with each other and clients but when we "publish" something it is in a locked format.
Because of turnitin. It would only allowed .docx format when I was using it.
I disagree with the calls for separate kb/screen, have never felt the need for those on my 11", though it is a Lenovo which manage to fit decent kbs in their small laptops. Need for a bigger screen depends on your eyesight - I have no problem, but I've got better than average eyesight, mrs aracer who doesn't have good eyesight doesn't like it. I'd think the average student with normal eyes (and used to interacting with a 5" screen) would be fine with a 13" screen.
As pointed out, you can just use Word (docx), etc online and you guarantee no compatibility issues.
One may still be able to see what they are doing on a smaller screen, but it still kills productivity. For example there are many of situations where it is saves time to have two windows open side by side for example (e.g. plagiarising 😉
It is also simply more comfortable / less straining to use a larger screen.
Having laptop + external screen also allows the option of running dual screen.
If the PC is not going to be used much at the desk then maybe an external screen is overkill but on the other hand if it is going to be used a few hours a day then I think it is absolutely worth the investment - why spend hundreds of hours hunched over a small screen when a much larger height adjustable IPS one can be had for <£100.
Teen1 loves his docking station. The house used the monitor as a TV. Most people have only used a desktop OR a laptop, so it was quite a revelation to his house mates to see him just plot it on the station and then take it away. Cheap off Ebay too.
You don't need a TV license to watch TV on a battery powered mobile device away from home, either. So unplug the PSU and everything is legal 8) .
Thank you very much for all your help and advice I think I am sorted.Love singletrack hive mind.