I'm looking for a tablet/laptop for my daughter. She loses her school laptop over the school holidays, so wants to spend her hard earned money on her own device. Price is limited to around $400…
She is looking for:
Any help you can give is much appreciated.
+1 to this. Only $400 for 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is asking too much.
I know its a hard ask. Anything close to it would be great.
For something around that price, I would recommend the Dell Inspiron 11 3000 which usually goes for $319 during sales. Has 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD and an adequate processor for school student needs. But do keep in mind that it's not a touch screen.
Just to give you an idea of what you're asking, ALDI have a touch screen laptop and they're cheap. Atom processor, 32GB drive and 2-4GB RAM and it's $299.
Yuck. For that price I got:
HP x360 Celeron N3060 4GB ram + 32GB drive - $300
And I hate it.
Was that a foldable touch screen laptop?
Yes it's an x360. If you aren't familiar with them that has the iconic 4 positions (I lol'd at "foldable") making it a convertible and yeah it was touchscreen.
Good for $300? Yes, the processor can go up to 2.6Ghz.
But good for everyday? No. It's almost always 100% utilised and the ram floats between 80-85%
Worth it's $500 RRP? Definitely not.
They are not good, I've seen two returns at my Aldi store already.
I've not had issues with mine, but I only use it as a media table for the most part. But it's office 365 subscription come in handy a few times.
there is a touch screen version of the inspiron 11 which goes for around 450 with the 20% off dell that comes from time to time. it only has 4gb and 128gb ssd though
In all seriousness, hit up Dell's outlet (refurbished/as new) store or visit a pawn shop (either on eBay or in person). Or maybe like at 20% computers on eBay.
If you can find me something that is only $400 but has 8gb ram, 256gb SSD and a touchscreen please let me know. That laptop I mentioned above's RRP was $500.
HP x360 Celeron N3060, 4GB ram, 32GB drive.
Don't think many tablets have 8GB ram other than the Surface.
With those specs and that budget, you'll have to hunt for a second hand device. If battery life is a concern, take in mind that batteries age over time and second hand devices are likely to have a not-so-great battery.
If buying new:
For $320 you can get a Dell Inspiron 11 (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/338510) which is probably as low-end you can go whilst still getting a usable laptop.
For reference, an i3/8GB/128GBSSD non touch 15.6 inch HP was $498.75 recently https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/339529. This is probably the cheapest new machine you can get that will feel fast and responsive. For the specs you've listed, you'll need to spend around $650 (Acer Spin 5 Amazon deal, now expired and it doesn't look like it'll come back).
Is Mac an option? If so a second hand MacBook Pro might be a good avenue to explore.
I got the missus a 2011 13" MacBook Pro a few months ago for $350. I replaced the old HDD with an SSD now it should be good for a couple of years at least. Apple stuff tends to last for ages and even 5-6 year old hardware is still very enjoyable to use (e.g. great keyboard and trackpad which you don't tend to find on cheap Windows machines today).
Apart from that, agreed with what others are saying in this thread :)
Good luck 👍