Would a Chromebook Cut It for Early High School Years

jollster101 on 18/07/2021 - 19:57

Hi all

My daughter is year 7 and the Surface Go that we have been using for schooling isn't all that ideal. It takes an age to boot and then is slow as when opening apps and the like that she needs to use during school.

I have been looking at switching the device to a Chromebook as that appears that it will do everything she needs and run all apps and webpages as required. Some of her classmates also use Chromebooks so it looks like a suitable option.

Does anybody have any experience of using these devices for school? I have seen a few Chromebook deals of late so if it's a good option then I may jump down that direction instead of going the standard Windows path.

Cheers

Computing Chromebook

Comments

  • oscargamer on 18/07/2021 - 20:18
    +5

    Would definitely be good enough. IMO

    Just check with the school IT that everything they need a device to do, can be done by a chromebook.

  • echocae on 18/07/2021 - 20:43
    +3

    I Use the chromebook for a whole 3 years of Uni (From start to graduate).
    so I think highschool use will be more than suffice.

    Even until now I still use chromebook

  • Quantumcat on 18/07/2021 - 20:44
    +2

    Depends what software she will need. Check with the school.

  • mickyb80 on 18/07/2021 - 20:47
    +2

    Chromebook should be suitable, but it will depend on the app's required for use. Best to check with the school as mentioned by oscargamer.
    It might also be worth trying to reset/rebuild the OS if you haven't already. Make sure you back up everything you need/wants first and let WindowsOS reset do the rebuild for you. See if this helps.
    You will need to reinstall all the app you want/use once done.

    There is an option when the rebuild is triggered which allows you to keep all your files, but in this case, if you can back them up and go back to scratch, it might be a better idea. You 'will' lose your data from a clear rebuild.

    If you are unsure, check with an IT tech in person first.

  • mskeggs on 18/07/2021 - 20:53
    +4

    Get what the other kids use, so that the staff can offer some support.
    Some places that is an ipad, or a laptop, or a chrome book. Despite people occasionally saying they need high performance applications, they aren’t really necessary at school. Nobody is animating feature films or whatever for a job, so the hassle of using an underpowered system for a 3min video is no big deal.

    All laptops/chrome books/iPads can be fine for any year of school, but a slow loading old surface is probably a bit past it.

  • vinnychase on 18/07/2021 - 21:23
    +3

    From year 8 (about 2016) laptops became compulsory in my school and so I nagged my parents which resulted in them giving me a super old HP laptop with non-existent battery and a pentium processor. I was expecting it to be really underpowered but really all I used it for was for taking notes using OneNote in class. The only performance intensive usage applications I remember using from then to year 12 are Google SketchUp (Graphics, Design & Tech & Eng) Geogebra or other graphing software(Physics, Math),

    • jollster101 on 18/07/2021 - 21:27
      +1

      The nagging of parents is a common theme :o) across multiple areas.

      I am leaning heavily towards a Chromebook based on the responses and also what the daughter has advised are her use cases to date.

      Just got to wait now for a decent deal to be posted an I reckon I will jump in.

      • jpl on 21/07/2021 - 09:05

        Depending on the school, some starting to path the students in Y8 and Y9 with extra curriculum that requires extra software that your daughter will not know now. For example, STEM, programming, graphic design, video editing and etc.

        When this happens, all of a sudden ChromeBook will not cut it anymore moreover a good size screen (productive work) Chromebook is not cheap today.

  • Presence on 19/07/2021 - 09:39

    Software is the most important thing and no one here can answer that. If they have a class that needs Excel for example then using Google Sheets or something else might be very hard to follow.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/07/2021 - 20:40

      May I ask what's hard in using Google apps (Google Docs, Sheets, etc.), it's almost similar to M/S Excel and Word. As far as know high school kids do not go in-depth in terms of Formulas, VB Excel, etc… So in my opinion Chrome Device is quite good for high school kids. Easy to carry and have had really good battery life.

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