High School Laptop Best Value for Money - Budget < $800

jamamamama on 18/01/2022 - 19:52
Last edited 19/01/2022 - 10:30 by 1 other user

Hi, Looking for the best value for money, absolute max $800 (better less, hence I threw some cheapo <600 in the mix). For year 7 high school, good battery, relatively lightweight, robust, performance ok for MS office, browsing, watching youtube, Zoom…doesn't have to last all the way through high-school (or better: WON'T last all the way through HS anyway, as he is very careless with stuff).
Not interested in buying refurbished, have been burnt before.

I've gone through the HS laptop <800 threads, Lenovo and Dell offers from the links, am a bit late to the party though… This is my current pre-selection.

Can you please give me some ideas of what's the best, what's the second-best in terms of value for money?

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 i5-1135G7 8MB Windows 11 Home (S) 1TB 5400 rpm 2.5" SATA Hard Drive
Price: $755 (with 3% Shopback)

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 12.4-inch i5/8GB/128GB SSD Laptop - Platinum
Price: $766

Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5i 14-inch Pentium 7505/4GB/128GB SSD 2-in-1 Device
Price: $598

HP Pavilion x360 14-inch Pentium 7505/8GB/256GB SSD 2 in 1 Device
Price: $698

Asus 14-inch Pentium N5030/8GB/128GB SSD Laptop
Price: $598

Acer Aspire 5 15.6-inch i5-1135G7/8GB/256GB SSD Laptop - Black
Price: $777

Acer Aspire Vero 15.6-inch i5-1135G7/8GB/256GB SSD Laptop
Price: $777

Acer Aspire 3 15.6-inch i3-1115G4/4GB/256GB SSD Laptop
Price: $795

HP 15.6-inch i5-1155G7/8GB/256GB SSD Laptop
Price: $797

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

    • JimmyF on 18/01/2022 - 20:11
      +1

      Chromebooks are great, but only if the school is ok with this. They most likely want windows on it.

      • jamamamama on 18/01/2022 - 20:12

        Yes, the only specs they gave is Windows and 6 hours battery

  • JimmyF on 18/01/2022 - 20:10
    +1

    128gb is tiny these days, so aim for at least 256gb…. So the units with the i5/8gb/256gb would be my picks I guess.

    Also have a look at the sizes of the units, 15" are pretty large (and sometimes heavy) units for a kid to be carrying around.

    • jamamamama on 18/01/2022 - 20:20

      Ok thanks, because of the OS and office? I thought 128 would be ok for the couple of word docs and PPT that he needs to backup/download? Most school stuff is saved on Google Classroom/Canvas or what they use anyway?

  • scrimshaw on 18/01/2022 - 20:13
    +2

    Do you have access to the Lenovo Education store? Occassionally you can get 6C/12T laptops for under $800. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/675417

    I also recommend aiming for a lighter device, 14 inches or smaller is optimal.

    See all deals with 13.3 inch laptops or 14 inch laptops

    • jamamamama on 18/01/2022 - 20:22

      Yes, thanks, you are confirming my hunch! I was initially looking for 14inch, 1.3kg max, but strangely mostly found 15 inch. What do you think about trhe 14 HP pavillion?

  • AndyC1 on 18/01/2022 - 22:01

    Search past posts on oz bargain as this has been discussed many times over the last 4 months.

    • jamamamama on 19/01/2022 - 15:56

      Thanks, I scanned these posts to all lengths yesterday. Unfortunately non of the ones that were discussed are currently available below 1000 or are discontinued altogether. So, above, I have narrowed it down to what is actually available right now for my budget.

  • dealhunting007 on 18/01/2022 - 22:18
    +2

    I bought Acer swift 3 under $800 few weeks back and it's amazing. I5/8gb/512gb ssd, fingerprint scanner, lite weight and 14" with v good battery time. Love it

    • jamamamama on 19/01/2022 - 15:59

      yes, that's what I am after. a pity I missed that deal.

  • altomic on 18/01/2022 - 23:54
    +1

    look on facebook market place.

    I just bagged a basically new Acer Aspire 3 15.6 inch Celeron N4120/8GB/128GB SSD laptop for $200

    seller only needed it for an exam and then sold it .

  • SBOB on 19/01/2022 - 13:57
    +1

    just over budget, but this deal was just posted
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/678378

    • jamamamama on 19/01/2022 - 15:58

      Thank you! It's a good little machine, my other son has a similar, slightly lower spec'd. A bit big/heavy though this deal is 15.6 inch

  • Rockgod70 on 19/01/2022 - 14:41
    +2

    I bought my High School kids laptops from renewd.com.au as i didn't want to spend top dollar on something that was going to get trashed.

    That was 4 years ago and the laptops are still going strong and being used in Uni.

    You can get warranties with them at a fraction of the original price.

    Kids just don't respect high end expensive products these days (especially 'other' kids)

  • McOzbargainer on 19/01/2022 - 19:07
    +1

    Check Facebook and Gumtree, you can usually get pretty used decent i5 laptops for cheap that will beat the pants off anything celeron/pentium

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