Looking for a cheap laptop / netbook for young primary school student

LSavvymum on 21/08/2013 - 11:39
Last edited 21/08/2013 - 13:15

Hi my 9yo daughter has saved up $250 and was hoping to buy a netbook similar to my husbands (I bought it for $250 off ozbargain about three years ago).

She only needs it to use the Internet (for Mathletics and research for assignments). Also Microsoft word and PowerPoint for schoolwork. (I can add these later to the computer.) She is also quite insistent she wants her own instead of just borrowing ours whenever she needs it.

Anyway as it turns out it seems netbooks are almost non existent nowadays. All the well reviewed ones seems to no longer be made.

Ideally we would prefer to buy something new (not second hand off eBay) and I'm also happy to loan her an extra $100 towards the purchase if it means buying something better.

Any suggestions or ideas for me. We would also consider a cheap laptop instead of a netbook if that ended up being more cost effective.

Thanks so much in advance!

Computing

Comments

  • Riczter on 21/08/2013 - 12:54
    +1

    Yeah netbooks kind of died out hey. sub 13" laptops are now usually all the more expensive ultrabooks.

    You can usually get a 11.6" Asus vivobook for around $370, (right now they are $426 at JBHiFi :( ) but these are pretty damn slow at only 1.1ghz CPU. Still my sister's got one and it runs ok, fine for internet and MS Office. And the touch screen is nice..

    Otherwise there's always deals for really cheap 14-15.6" laptops for around $300-400. You'll be pushing to get anything less than $300. Running Windows anyway.

    MSY is probably your best bet if you need it now http://msy.com.au/Parts/notebook.pdf they always have cheapies around $350.

    Otherwise keep your eyes open on ozBargain and you will see one for $300 eventually.

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 13:06

    Thanks for that. I guessed I have been rather spoilt by all the bargains on ozbargain and such a shame the netbook died out because we have found ours to be fantastic.

    My daughter, being the persistent little girl that she is, actually found a netbook she wanted to buy off graysonline. Here's the link:

    http://www.graysonline.com/retail/1025c-pik026s-r/computers-…

    It's a ASUS Eee PC 1025C-PIK026S 10.1 inch Netbook and I think she likes it because it's both pink and within her price range. But I'm worried as I've never bought anything off Graysonline so don't know what their warranty policy would be like. Also cant tell if its even a good deal or it. That is its cheap but Im worried that it's cheap because its so crappy. Can anyone tell by the specs? Here they are:

    ASUS Eee PC 1025C-PIK026S 10.1 inch Netbook Pink (Refurbished)

    A color to match your every move

    FEATURES
    Intel® Atom™ Cedar Trail processor
    Instant on resumes from sleep mode in 2 seconds
    Long battery life for all day computing
    Enjoy multimedia in Full HD 1080p through a HDMI connection
    USB charge empowers your on-the-go lifestyle

    SPECIFICATIONS
    Intel® Atom™ N2600 (2C, 1.60GHz)
    1GB DDR3 RAM
    320GB SATA HDD
    10.1 inch WSVGA (1024 x 600) LED Backlight display
    Intel® GMA 3150
    10/100 LAN, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN
    High Definition Audio
    Webcam (0.3 Mega Pixel), Digital Media Card reader
    HDMI (1), VGA (1), USB 2.0 (3), RJ-45 (1)
    AC Adapter, Battery, Power Cable
    Windows® 7 Starter pre-installed

    Warranty

    ASUS CERTIFIED REFURBISHED PRODUCTS LIMITED WARRANTY SERVICE

    ASUSTeK Computer Inc warrants this ASUS Certified Refurbish Products to be free from defects in workmanship and materials under normal use for a period of ONE (1) YEAR from the date of purchase. A copy of the proof of purchase and the warranty card must be presented to ASUS service centre for any warranty claim. ASUS reserve the right to reject the warranty claim if the proof of purchase is not provided.

    The battery is only eligible for SIX (6) MONTHS warranty from the date of purchase. The warranty does not cover free accessories, which were delivered together with the notebook, such as: carry bags or mouse, etc.

    ASUS provides 30 days limited Help Desk Support starting from the date of purchase for software sold with the product. The operating system included with the product is recommended to ensure normal operation. ASUS will only provide discretional support for your product if the operation system has been altered.

    TFT LCD Defect Policy

    Despite the highest possible standards, the intricate manufacturing of thin-film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) screens may still produce slight visual imperfections. These visual imperfections do not impair the performance of your ASUS notebook.

    Please See Warranty Card for WARRANTY DETAILS

    • Riczter on 21/08/2013 - 13:13
      +1

      Ohh god. Sorry that's the ugliest laptop I've ever seen, but I'm a guy so we'll move onto the useful information.

      I bought around 10 refurbished HP Laptops a couple of years back from grays online. Around 70% of them had a problem within the first 3 months.

      I've learned to stay away from them since. The warranty in this case would be handled by ASUS not greys. so it may be better but you would still be up for the cost of mailing it to ASUS if it screwed up I imagine.

      It's only got windows 7 starter on it, which is limited functionality. But for web browsing and office it might be ok. I would upgrade the ram to 2gb to make it run a tiny bit faster.

      For $229 it is probably worth the price so i would say that if you dont want to spend 350-400 on somethign decent then this will be ok.

      But In my experience I would say you can expect to need to use the warranty before the 12 months is up, and I would be surprised if it lasted very long.

      Just my experience, hope it helps :)

    • zelda707 on 21/08/2013 - 15:23

      The 1GB RAM is very limiting, i would say you need 2GB at the very minimum

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 13:07

    Just reread it and it actually sounds kind of okay to me. Off to do some googling of reviews!

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 13:13

    Okay just read some reviews.

    One of the negatives is a slightly cramped keyboard (like most netbooks) but this suits a 9 yo perfectly.

    One review conclusion:

    The last of a dying breed, the ASUS Eee PC 1025C Flare demonstrates why tablets have superceded netbooks as the lightweight computing device of choice — pound for pound, slates offer faster performance, sleeker designs and more intuitive touch interfaces. Still, if you're in the market for a compact laptop that costs a third of the price of an Ultrabook, the Eee PC 1025C is worth a look. It can handle basic tasks with ease, weighs only 2.4 pounds and lasts more than three hours longer on the charge than the average netbook. Not bad for a laptop that costs less than $300.

    Ermm I'm tempted as it would resolve my search for something within her budget. Unless anyone can think of something better??

  • mskeggs on 21/08/2013 - 13:25

    The processor is quite slow. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+N2…
    While it would be adequate for the light duties you have described, I'm a bit hesitant to suggest you buy such outmoded tech.
    The $299 refurbs on the front page offer CPU's benchmarking about double, and you will definitely notice the improved performance:
    http://www.wireless1.com.au/promotion/clickfrenzy1/

      • morpheu on 21/08/2013 - 14:53

        [email protected]? Ugh!
        Go for the 2nd one, the Asus E450, better graphics and Win8

        For outright cheapness, go 2nd hand on eBay for the EEpc, portability and battery life are top points here, I bought an eepc for like $70 from eBay, good for net surfing but not much else, however if she uses it more and more, save money by buying for the future, spend a bit more today, what I mean is if you buy a $200 PC today you might get frustrated and probably end up buying another in 3 months, but if you spend say $300 today that might last you a year or even more, see how you can save money by spending a bit more?

  • scotty on 21/08/2013 - 14:32
    +1

    My girl who is also 9yo is facing the same issue, but I wouldn't buy a $229 10.1" netbook to frustrate her (more likely it would frustrate me trying to get it working for her).

    For $250 I might look at second hand market for a 2-3yo laptop. I'll probably get a ThinkPad X201 or X200 for cheap on eBay — much better keyboard for typing and faster for Flash sites as well (Mathletics, etc).

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 14:54

    Has Anyone bought from the wireless1com.au site before? That looks great for what she needs?

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 16:22
    +1

    Okay looks like we have made our decision. We are going to purchase the Asus F501U-XX041H. Hopefully all will go well. Will report back if we have any issues.

    • scrimshaw on 21/08/2013 - 16:49

      Is that refurbished from Wireless1?

      This option would be closer to that of a netbook — also has a touchscreen and a faster CPU than Asus F501U-XX041H.

      The AMD E450 is actually slower than the Celeron 847, despite it's higher clock speed.

      For the best performance this option has the Intel B970 (incorrectly labelled as a COre 2 duo, but is in fact a Sandy Bridge).

  • [Deactivated] on 21/08/2013 - 18:12

    I would go for a Surface RT, so that way if she want's she can turn it into a tablet. $350 brand new.

    http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msaus/en_AU/pdp/Surface-…

    • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 21:10

      Hi my daughter actually already has an Ipad (well access to an Ipad - its mine). I tried to convince her that an Ipad Mini or tablet may be a good option for her. But no she is stubborn and seems intent on getting a grown up laptop or netbook (it's what she has been saving up for all this time, she now tells me. Anyway given that is what she has her heart set on getting and she has saved the money (well most of it) I guess I should follow her wishes. The Surface RT looks great though!

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 21:08

    Hi guys just checking in again and looks like I made a boo-boo. There were two $299 options from wireless1.com.au and I opted for the Asus F501 because it had the larger hard-drive and RAM. Now I can see that the second option Asus S200E as noted by scrimshaw would have been a much better option due to the touchscreen. Ah not sure whether wireless1.com.au would be happy to alter my order now but then again there's a chance given that I ordered after 5pm so maybe I can catch them in the morning.

    Actually cancel that idea - just rechecked and the touchscreen option has already sold out. Such is life on ozbargain…

  • Savvymum on 21/08/2013 - 21:18

    There is also this option for $319:

    http://www.wireless1.com.au/ASUS-F202E-CT063H-REFURBISHED.ht…
    .
    not sure whether it is any good?

    • scrimshaw on 22/08/2013 - 04:08

      It appears to be a variation of the S200E. There doesn't seem to be any difference in terms of specs.

      Its possible that one model is meant to be a newer updated version, but I'm not sure as to which is newer or what has changed. They look pretty much identical though.

  • Savvymum on 22/08/2013 - 13:11

    I ended up getting the touchscreen one instead for $319 yippee! Will let you know how I go

    • [Deactivated] on 23/08/2013 - 11:11

      If ever you're looking in the future Graysonline has regular laptop auctions. Some new, some second hand, some refurbished. Check the warranty before you bid! Bought two very cheap HP DV6s a couple of years ago, one minor problem with one of them fixed under warranty at the local HP warranty agent. Very happy with them, especially at < half price at the time and full warranty. The retail market is now more competitive so you need to do your homework and make sure you're getting a decent discount.

  • soza on 23/08/2013 - 10:24

    My wife picked up one of those ASUS EeePC last October for $250 (from catch of the day).
    We wanted something to take on our 6 week trip around Vietnam and this thing was perfect…small, light and compact.
    Popped a load of music and movies on the 320GB drive for the long bits of travel, battery life was great.
    Gave us somewhere to store, view and edit our photos and vids…and ran software like adobe photoshop and cyberlink powerdirector no probs. Front cam was good for Skype so we didn't need to take our phones, in fact when home the mrs still uses this rather than her phone or jumping on the main computer, very versatile little machine.

  • cletus75 on 23/08/2013 - 14:13

    I'm surprised nobody has suggested a Chromebook. From what you described, this would be pretty suitable for browsing and you could sub in Google Docs for the Office suite…

    • scrimshaw on 23/08/2013 - 14:24

      Can't say I recommend it. I had it for 4 months — thought It could outright replace my lenovo, but in the end I sold it off cheaply.

      It doesn't have enough grunt to handle tabbed browsing (lack of RAM and CPU performance = laggy interface) and it also doesn't run a desktop version of Office (Google Docs doesn't like to preserve formatting either).

      And for a flash-heavy site like Mathletics you'll need to have a fairly decent processor and enough RAM.

      The touchscreen should make the notebook a far better pleasant IMO.

      • cletus75 on 23/08/2013 - 16:13

        Very interesting - thanks. Had been tempted to play with one but am now sufficiently warned off!

  • Savvymum on 23/08/2013 - 17:16

    I have to say even if the asus touchscreen isn't the best it is still a million times better than the pink netbook I mentioned in my first few posts lol

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