High School BYOD Laptop - Chromebook suggestions

ozprash on 18/01/2024 - 15:03
Last edited 14/02/2024 - 09:03

Another High school BYOD laptop suggestion request. I have gone through countless earlier BYOD threads, but couldn't get a definite answer regarding Chromebooks.

Our daughter is ready for Year 7 in a public school and the school has recommended Chromebooks as the preferred option. The school has a tieup with JBHiFi for BYOD, but the listed laptops seem too underspecced for the price they're asking for. Also, the suggested list has a couple of Windows options as well (again very basic specs). Hence asking the community for suggestions.

Options suggested by JBhifi for the school's BYOD are:
$399 - Lenovo 100e Chromebook Gen 4 / 11.6-inch Non Touch / MediaTek Kompanio 520 / 4GB / 32GB eMMC
$499 - Lenovo 100w Gen 4 / 11.6-inch Non Touch / Intel Celeron N100 / 4GB / 128GB SSD / Windows 11 Pro National Academic
$520 - Lenovo 300e Chromebook Gen 4 / 11.6-inch Touch / MediaTek Kompanio 520 / 4GB / 32GB eMMC / Pen
$599 - Lenovo 500e Chromebook Gen 4 / 12.2-inch Touch / Intel Celeron N100 / 4GB / 32GB eMMC / Pen
$620 - Lenovo 300w Gen 4 / 11.6-inch Touch / Intel Celeron N100 / 4GB / 128GB SSD / Pen / Windows 11 Pro National Academic
$800 - Lenovo 500w Gen 4 / 12.2-inch Touch / Intel Celeron N100 / 8GB / 256GB SSD / Pen / Windows 11 Pro National Academic

Also, Lenovo Edu support is $99 and accidental damage protection is another $100.

  • Any of the above worth it? To me, they seem under worthy?
  • Any drawbacks getting a refurb Windows device with SSD rather than a Chromebook?
  • If yes, are refurb Chromebooks worth it?
  • If not, any good CBs bang for the buck considering school rough usage?

EDIT:
Finally went with a ex-corporate Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon i5 8th Gen 8GB/256GB SSD for ~300 from EBay. Waited until now so that I could check the usage and performance and daughter's been pretty happy. Battery's around 89%, lasts through the school day and laptop's lightweight at 1.1Kg as well, so all in all, satisfied. Thanks OzB community for your suggestions. Definitely helpful!

Computing Chromebook

Comments

  • jv on 18/01/2024 - 15:15
    -1

    but the listed laptops seem too underspecced for the price they're asking for.

    Chromebooks aren't laptops. They appear underspeced because all they can pretty much do is browse. They're not built for installing and running applications.

    • Nillionaire on 18/01/2024 - 15:26

      What applications would Year 7 students need to install that you can't do within Google Chrome?

      • jv on 18/01/2024 - 15:27

        Depends on the subjects they do.

        • Nillionaire on 18/01/2024 - 15:28

          Which subjects require any external applications? I can't think of any at that level.

          • jv on 18/01/2024 - 15:29

            @Nillionaire:

            Which subjects require any external applications?

            Some IT subjects… Some Art subjects… depends on the school's curriculum.

        • SBOB on 18/01/2024 - 15:46
          +1

          "and the school has recommended Chromebooks as the preferred option"

          Perhaps the school is better informed at what software and applications their students will be using.

          • jv on 18/01/2024 - 16:19
            +2

            @SBOB:

            Perhaps the school is better informed at what software and applications their students will be using.

            Doesn't hurt to think ahead past year 7…

          • ozprash on 18/01/2024 - 16:29

            @SBOB: Though the school says Chromebook preferred, I see some Win options in the BYOD list. Hence, thinking ahead if they would need something else in future.

    • MS Paint on 18/01/2024 - 16:29
      +2

      They're not built for installing and running applications.

      My Chromebook has heaps of applications that I've installed and run just fine. I'm confused.

    • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 11:02
      +1

      This is simply not true.
      I've been using Chromebooks for many years now and they do everything that the vast majority of people need. On the rare occassions that I can't find a webapp or PWA to do what I want I can easily load both Android and Linux apps.

      • jv on 19/01/2024 - 11:02
        -2

        This is simply not true.

        It is true.

          • jv on 19/01/2024 - 11:31

            @Bystander: Can't run Excel with all the features on a Chromebook.

            Can't install MS Access, SQL server, Photoshop etc. etc….

            • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 12:05

              @jv: You can run Excel on a chromebook for free on a Chromebook and this service is usually provided to school students and staff. On a personal level, on the rare occassion that I've needed more I use the free LibreOffice.

              MS Access. How many people really need to use that? Is it even relevant nowadays? Many other modern alternatives.

              SQL server. Again how many people even know what that is? There are options available from MS and Google and others.

              Photoshop. I haven't used that for more than 20 years. There are alternatives like Photopea or Adobe Express or my preference is Pixlr. Also note that using the desktop version of PS on a cheap Win machine is not going to be optimal at all.

              • jv on 19/01/2024 - 12:09
                -1

                @Bystander:

                You can run Excel on a chromebook for free

                A limited functionality version.

                MS Access. How many people really need to use that?

                Many

                SQL server. Again how many people even know what that is?

                Many

                Photoshop. I haven't used that for more than 20 years.

                My kids require it for school. The get a free licence for all the Adobe products.

                • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 12:38

                  @jv:

                  A limited functionality version.

                  Yes. And more than enough for most people. Personally I find Google Sheets a better free alternative. As mentioned LibreOffice has all the functionality of the desktop Excel and is free and it runs on Chromebooks.

                  MS Access, SQL, etc,… we're talking about school students here and the general public, not data analysts. As mentioned use one of the many online services.

                  PS is avialable online.

                  At the end of the day there's a reason Chromebooks are so popular in schools and elsewhere. They're quicker, more reliable, require far less support, and also happen to be cheaper. Not to mention the fact that for the vast majority of people they do everything needed.

                  • jv on 19/01/2024 - 12:57

                    @Bystander:

                    Yes. And more than enough for most people.

                    Not more than enough for people who want to use all of Excel's features.

                    • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 16:28

                      @jv: Once again the vast majority of people don't need the full Excel. LibreOffice is free BTW.

                      • jv on 19/01/2024 - 16:37

                        @Bystander:

                        LibreOffice is free BTW

                        🤣🤣🤣

                        Try creating a PowerPivot in LibreOffice, or recording a macro.

                        • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 16:40

                          @jv: Seriously?
                          Once again the vast majority of people are not data analysts, etc and have no use for this.
                          I'm talking about regular users here, not niche occupations.

                          • jv on 19/01/2024 - 16:45

                            @Bystander:

                            and have no use for this.

                            They do have a use for it, they just haven't bothered to learn how to use it.

                            • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 16:54

                              @jv:

                              They do have a use for it, they just haven't bothered to learn how to use it.

                              LOL
                              Too funny.

                  • jv on 19/01/2024 - 12:58

                    @Bystander:

                    MS Access, SQL, etc,… we're talking about school students here and the general public

                    One of my kids built a database for a school project.

                  • jv on 19/01/2024 - 12:58

                    @Bystander:

                    At the end of the day there's a reason Chromebooks are so popular in schools and elsewhere.

                    Yep, but they won't suit many people, depending on what apps they need to use.

                    • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 16:38

                      @jv:

                      they won't suit many people

                      And this is the point.
                      While there are a minority of specialised use cases that won't be suited to a Chromebook the absolute vast majority of people can do everything they want on one. I can and so do many people I know. Most people are surprised once they give it a go.

                      • jv on 19/01/2024 - 16:46

                        @Bystander:

                        the absolute vast majority of people can do everything they want on one.

                        proof ?

  • jv on 18/01/2024 - 15:17

    Any drawbacks getting a refurb Windows device with SSD rather than a Chromebook?

    No, go for that…

    https://www.ebay.com.au/str/australiancomputertraders/Laptop…

    • Jake D on 18/01/2024 - 15:49

      any experience with these guys? reviews are pretty mixed.

      • jv on 18/01/2024 - 15:54
        +1

        I've never had any problems and I've been using them for years.

        They sometimes do take a couple of days to respond to messages though.

    • ozprash on 18/01/2024 - 16:30
      +2

      Yup, they were onwe of the options on my list. Might need to delve into their products. Thanks jv!

  • SBOB on 18/01/2024 - 15:49
    +2

    Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook has served my kid well for years in primary and now transitioning to high school.

  • erasimos on 18/01/2024 - 16:15
    +1

    Have a look at retail prices at the moment as the shops are doing some back to school specials including jbhifi.
    Lenovo chromebooks are pretty bullet proof.

    You can also convert certain corporate machines with Chromeflex OS but you lose some things like Android apps I think. An N100 would be close to an 8th gen i5 notebook but use a lot less power. Getting a full day out of the machine is probably the most important thing and most of them have usb c chargers so easy to recharge.

    School will provide probably provide a gmail account but also may want to manage the device in which case they might hit you for the license cost about $50.

    • ozprash on 18/01/2024 - 16:46

      Yup, been trawling through JB/OW/TGG back to school options. Too many options, and too much to think spend! Thanks for warning on the license cost, another thing to check with school.

  • bobokingdom on 18/01/2024 - 16:31

    Looking at the suggestions, they all have 11 - 12 inch screen. It seems the school is aiming for a small, easy to carry laptop.

    The price looks reasonable if they comes with 3 years warranty (most laptop you buy from JB / HN/ Officeworks only has 1 year warranty) . Also, all the listed models are designed for younger school kids, they tends to be more drop-proof than the ones you find the JB/HN/Officeworks.

    The N100 is an entry-level, but modern and power efficient processor for low demanding tasks. MediaTek Kompanio 520 on the other hand is much much slower. If you are going for a ChromeBook, pick the N100 option.

    • ozprash on 18/01/2024 - 16:43

      I was initially thinking of going with the school option, but looks like all models just have the standard 1 -year RTB warranty. Additional 3-year warranty either via JBHiFi or Lenovo is another $150-$200. Which seems excessive, and hence the lookout for self BYOD options.
      Thanks for the comparison on N100 vs MTK, will definitely keep away from MTK if I go with a Chromebook.

    • rumblytangara on 18/01/2024 - 19:28

      The price looks reasonable if they comes with 3 years warranty (most laptop you buy from JB / HN/ Officeworks only has 1 year warranty)

      Very few laptops come with 3 year warranty unless they are corporate. Certainly not these POS Chromebooks.

  • BoltThrower on 18/01/2024 - 16:43
    +3

    Whatever you do, don't spend $800 on a Chromebook when you can get a ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 AMD for $914….then 10% Cashrewards brings that to $822.60

  • JimmyF on 18/01/2024 - 17:21

    the listed laptops seem too underspecced

    They are… Try to get a chromebook with an i3 or i5 with 8gb of RAM

  • loropy9 on 18/01/2024 - 18:50

    I installed Chrome Flex on a 2-year old i5 Dell laptop. It runs pretty well, it updated to OS 120 no issues.
    According to Google, Chrome Flex is same as Chrome OS only can't access Play Store. I don't know whether students need to access Play Store to download apps.

  • rumblytangara on 18/01/2024 - 19:19
    +7

    I've never known anyone who's interested in tech (and not just professional techies) who have had anything good to say about Chromebooks. I certainly wouldn't buy one for my kid (we've had one loaned to us). But then, I have the hope that my kid learns a bit about what computers can do.

    For those prices new, I'd get a secondhand ex-corporate laptop for less. Even moreso when they are asking an extra $200 in support and accident insurance- just buy 2 bleedin' laptops and have a spare.

    All those options look bad. Especially the Win11 machine with 4GB RAM- total joke which makes the entire list from the school or JBHiFi something to be not taken seriously.

    • ozprash on 19/01/2024 - 10:52

      I had the similar thought conflicts, especially extended warranty costs and the machine costs, hence this post to get the community's suggestions. Your points definitely give a useful perspective veering me towards a secondhand one.

  • Lil0leMe on 19/01/2024 - 09:21

    Maybe it's just my kid, but all I can think when weighing up the options of letting my preteen walk around with tech in the backpack is
    https://insurance4that.com.au/

  • Bystander on 19/01/2024 - 11:19
    +3

    My daughter completed high school with a 100e and it did everything she needed. The model that she used is currently $270 from BigW.
    This Gen 2 device gets automatic updates until June 2029

    I've bought a few thousand 100e's for schools and they've been terrific. There are many people who don't quite understand the benefits of these devices but I can say that they are more than adequate for the vast majority of users.

    BTW
    The model that you listed is a Gen4 MediaTek device which can be bought for $410. Your price was slightly less.
    I much prefer the Intel powered Gen3 that costs slightly more at $414
    Having said that there is nothing at all wrong with the Gen 2 for $270.

    • Presence on 19/01/2024 - 11:40

      beautiful HD display

      Damn my laptop in 2006 had that resolution. I can't imagine the pain of using a spreadsheet or word processing program. Even most websites would require an enormous amount of scrolling.

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