Please Recommend Good General Use Laptop - Budget around $1300

Yael on 21/08/2021 - 23:18
Last edited 22/08/2021 - 13:12 by 1 other user

Hey everyone,

I need to find a new laptop - and fast! We currently have a 10 year old HP Pavilion that my 15 years old son has been trying to use for home schooling, but it is getting to the point that the whole family is going to fall apart because of the stress of it not working very well!

Budget is around max $1300 (preferably around $1150 mark) but I also get discounts from work including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Lenovo & HP commercial which helps, and would rather get a better model if it is worth the extra $$, without going overboard.

Not looking for anything super duper, my son and daughter will be the main ones to use it for general high school work, plus watching movies, and maybe a little bit of gaming, but nothing hardcore. Probably good to get 15.6'' screen (kids won't take it out of house so weight isn't a major issue), but really have no idea what other specs I should be looking for.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks from a very frazzled mother :)

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • tsugnev on 22/08/2021 - 00:46
    -2

    M1 MacBook Air I'd say

    • sane on 22/08/2021 - 10:22
      -1

      OP has made it fairly clear that they are looking for a windows PC. The M1 might be impressive in what its able to achieve with the ARM processor, and be able to run some windows apps under emulation, but its in the same way a dog walking on it's hind legs is impressive - it a frazzled OP does need the hassle of sourcing an ARM copy of Windows.

      Suggest the op make sure they get 16GB of RAM, and a bright screen (lots of low brightness 250 nit displays around), and look for deals to get the price down (lots of silly prices around). Oh, and built for kid abuse.

      • coxjon on 22/08/2021 - 12:39
        +1

        OP has made it fairly clear that they are looking for a windows PC

        No they haven't.

        Office 365 runs on Mac. So do movies and Minecraft Education.

        • sane on 22/08/2021 - 20:30
          -1

          No they haven't.

          Yep, they have.

          Not looking for a Mac

          • coxjon on 22/08/2021 - 22:00

            @sane: Where did you get your time machine!?

  • Aap Ke Papa on 22/08/2021 - 01:15

    Macbook air M1

  • JonoEfthy on 22/08/2021 - 01:56

    Very thorough buying advice, worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sYNn9RlyOw
    They also do videos on specific models if you want more info.

    Ultimately it comes down to your use cases, that vid will help you narrow your search to what you want/need.
    Since you mentioned gaming, I would advise against macos as there is some games available but windows is usually the better option for gaming.
    A recent deal looks to be pretty solid, a bit over your budget though but latest gen hardware for a good price. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/646039
    Last tip would be once you decide on what you want, do a quick search on staticice to see if it's the best price available, just consider shipping too.

  • Switchblade88 on 22/08/2021 - 12:21

    Two high schoolers, I'd potentially suggest a Chromebook each for the same budget, if Windows/gaming is not critical (of course it is though!!)

    Of course, game streaming has come a fair way… maybe XCloud could be a stopgap/tide-over for gaming needs on a Chromebook. But this gets into unexplored territory beyond what you're asking for.

    • Void on 22/08/2021 - 21:48

      Surely you could get better than 2 Chromebooks for $1300?

  • Yael on 22/08/2021 - 13:23

    Hey everyone,

    Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate everyone's input.

    Not looking for a Mac, as everything else in the house is non apple (except my stupid work phone!), and if we ever do buy software I would like to not be limited.

    Don't want to get another Chromebook, as we have one that works, but it doesn't run MS teams so well and the kids online schooling is using that.

    Just want to get a good, reasonably fast laptop that will be somewhat future proof (at least to run well for the next 3 years whilst kids still in highschool). Plus I need something in stock, as I need to buy it over the next few days before we all end up in tears!

    Thanks

  • the Unforgiven on 22/08/2021 - 14:51

    If you can go to $1500, start here
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/646039?utm_source=newslett…
    [Afterpay] Asus ROG Strix G15 15.6" Ryzen 7 5800H 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, RTX 3050, 144hz Laptop $1572.50 Del @ Futu Online eBay

  • greatlamp on 22/08/2021 - 15:05
    +1

    I would look at the IdeaPad Slim 5 Pro Gen 6 16

    base model: $1100 on the student portal
    https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/education/laptops/ideapad/ideap…

    I would upgrade to 16GB ram for the extra $100.
    The upgrade from 5600H to 5800H (+$100) gives more multicore processing power, but I doubt the extra 2 cores will get much use.

    The 5800H also comes with 45% better integrated GPU which is (barely) enough for casual gaming, but you would be better off with the GTX 1650 upgrade (+$150) instead

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join