Laptop Recommendation for Starting High School (Year 7) - Budget $1500 - $2700

MrEphemera on 16/10/2024 - 12:51
Last edited 16/10/2024 - 15:35 by 1 other user

Hi OzB's, our child is starting High School next year so have started to think about IT requirements.

The school has an online portal through which new laptops can be purchased and I was interested in other people's experiences.

Is it worth buying the laptop via the school portal (which also offers a three year onsite warranty including accidental damage and theft protection for an extra $15)? If so, which of the laptops in the poll would you get?

I am tempted to just get a refurbished ThinkPad X1 Carbon and use that instead…thoughts?

Thx,

MrE

Poll Options Fri, 15/11/2024 - 00:00

  • 2
    Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 - 13.3", Core i5, 16GB $1,510.00
  • 2
    Lenovo ThinkPad L13 2-in-1 Gen 5 - 13.3", Core Ultra 5, 16GB, 512GB $1,654.00
  • 0
    Lenovo ThinkPad X13 2-in-1 Gen 5 - 13.3", Core U5, 16GB, 512GB $1,919.01
  • 3
    Lenovo ThinkPad L13 2-in-1 Gen 5 - 13.3", Core Ultra 7, 16GB $2,070.00
  • 0
    HP Elitebook 830 x360 G11 - 13.3", Core U5, 16GB, 256GB, Pen $2,082.99
  • 4
    Lenovo Thinkpad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 - 14", Core U5, 16GB, 512GB $2,325.99
  • 1
    HP Elitebook 1040 x360 G11 - 14", Core U5, 16GB, 512GB $2,544.99
  • 0
    Lenovo Thinkpad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 - 14", Core U7, 16GB, 512GB $2,710.00
Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • BlackorRed on 16/10/2024 - 12:54
    +10

    I got ThinkPad X1 Gen 7 on Gumtree for $400 when my son started Y7 and it was more than enough for him, it is light and battery lasts for his school hrs…He did not complain anything about it which is good…lol

    • HeWhoKnows on 17/10/2024 - 09:06
      -7

      Op wont find another like this but very good point.

      A decent used one will suffice

      OR one sub-$1,000 new with 16GB RAM and a decent processor

      • rumblytangara on 17/10/2024 - 09:46
        +3

        Another zero-information lookitmee reply, desperately hanging off the first post from the usual commenter.

        • lew380 on 18/10/2024 - 00:19

          He reiterated and expanded on the comment. You(rumbly) seem unhinged or mad, am I missing a joke or something?

          To OP. Spending more than $1000 new is a waste of money unless it's for gaming or some high end software/editing programs. I would prioritise something cheaper with a big screen.

          • rumblytangara on 18/10/2024 - 09:50
            +2

            @lew380:

            am I missing a joke or something?

            Yeah, you are missing the joke.

            Check his post history. He has a long standing pattern where he gloms onto the first response for visibility, then posts something utterly inane, tangential, or has been said (better) before by others. He's also quite often (and ironically given his username) factually wrong.

            He gets called out on this BS regularly- apparently this is a second iteration of username, and the first did the same. Often he gets downvoted enough to hide the useless post, it's likely to happen again with this one.

            In this case:

            1. It's not hard to find Gen7 X1Cs for 4-500 on Facebook Marketplace in major cities. I almost picked up two for my kid earlier on.
            2. Suggesting a used laptop is what most of this thread has been about, at least a dozen people have suggested it already.
            3. 'Sub 1K 16GB' machine is totally random with no model suggestion, no justification, and so it's just inane.
            • lew380 on 21/10/2024 - 00:33

              @rumblytangara: You seem to be way more knowledgeable about him than me, I won't fault you for that. You are probably right, but leave him alone, let him get his 2-3 likes with his generic posts.

              As you say, scroll down and 95% are just saying the same shit. Hell I do it too, it's kinda just the internet, giving your shit opinions, like everyone else, is kinda cathartic and won't slow down anytime soon.

              • rumblytangara on 21/10/2024 - 09:50

                @lew380: Yes, you are right- it's the internet, he and you are both free to do as you please. And I'll feel free to continue to call out a user who always posts bullshit noise into the most visible part of a thread. Especially when the noise is also flat out wrong and misleading to people asking for help.

    • SnoozeAndLose on 17/10/2024 - 09:10
      +1

      There are so many on Marketplace and they are reasonably cheaper compared to this new one, yr 7 won't need the laptop listed by OP, it is just overkill.

  • liquornoodlescabbage on 16/10/2024 - 12:59
    +18

    Unless you have a lot of money to burn, I wouldn't be spending anywhere near that much on a child's laptop. It'll get thrown around and broke regardless of the price so may as well get something cheap. Most of the refurbs you see on Ozbargain for $400-$500 will be more than enough.

  • Nillionaire on 16/10/2024 - 13:02

    You're willing to spend that much money but not considering any MacBooks?

    • MrEphemera on 16/10/2024 - 13:05

      Not ruling MacBooks out…these are just the laptops being sold through HS portal…

      • UbuJetntu on 25/10/2024 - 16:05

        I'd go MacBook if the school approves it. Battery life is in my opinion the most important aspect of a laptop for students. I recall many a student lugging around their charger and complaining about a lack of power points.

        Although I concur with others that I don't see the value in spending anything north of $1500 for HS students. It's doubtful they'll be running software like MATLAB.

  • boomramada on 16/10/2024 - 13:05

    Is it worth buying the laptop via the school portal

    Yes for this reason - (which also offers a three year onsite warranty including accidental damage and theft protection for an extra $15)

    If so, which of the laptops in the poll would you get?

    Depend on your budget ?

    I am tempted to just get a refurbished ThinkPad X1 Carbon and use that instead…thoughts?

    Why not but check with the school first?

    Assuming Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 - 13.3", Core i5, 16GB $1,510.00 is https://www.mwave.com.au/product/lenovo-l13-yoga-g4-133-wuxg… that just standard pricing for new laptop.

  • 87percent on 16/10/2024 - 13:06
    +5

    2nd hand MBA M1 can be bought for $600ish

  • StonedWizard on 16/10/2024 - 13:06

    Will your kids have access to power? As HP Elitebooks have poor battery life.

    Don't discard a MacBook Air if the school allows Macs.

  • sumyungguy on 16/10/2024 - 13:11

    I valued the school notebooks because as a MacOS person I didn't have time to spend hours troubleshooting Windows hardware and software issues. My kids could just take their notebooks to the school help desk, get a loaner and not suffer any downtime. In some schools the whole curriculum and classroom experience runs online so being without a device means you may as well stay at home.

    • CrispyChrispy on 16/10/2024 - 13:26
      +1

      I didn't have time to spend hours troubleshooting Windows hardware and software issues.

      What is there to troubleshoot? The kids are pretty much exclusively using ths G suite and nothing else which is all done on a web browser

      • sumyungguy on 16/10/2024 - 14:26
        +1

        Depends on your school, ours used a proprietary curriculum management system

      • timmof on 16/10/2024 - 14:26

        For my first kid I didn’t go through the portal… had some weird network adapter driver issue that only was a problem at school. When that laptop came to an untimely demise, I went with the school portal option to replace it.

        Back to the OP, make sure you get a decent padded laptop case with a shoulder strap. The time they drop them is getting them in and out of their bags / lockers when they juggle other stuff… so a slip case with a shoulder strap is essential.

        • sumyungguy on 16/10/2024 - 14:35
          +1

          Our school required students to transport their notebooks in the school-issued case all times, which definitely would have reduced the loss/breakage rate and perhaps kept their insurance premiums at an affordable level

    • boomramada on 16/10/2024 - 13:32
      +2

      I didn't have time to spend hours troubleshooting Windows hardware and software issues.

      This is 2024, I haven't trouble shoot window machine in 10 years 😅

      If you haven't noticed, most schools start using Windows now.

      • sumyungguy on 16/10/2024 - 14:21
        +1

        Education is vested in the states, so there's no uniformity across borders and within each state and territory private schools may do as they please. My kids attended a school where students have their own devices from year 3. They used corporate device management so didn't welcome parental troubleshooting anyway. And it depends where you live. I know of a few schools where the BYOD spec includes both Windows and MacOS notebooks.

  • rumblytangara on 16/10/2024 - 13:39
    +1

    2 in 1- does that mean a glass touchscreen? Something I'd avoid.

    The refurb idea I agree with. That's what I did. Replaced the battery too.

    The list is expensive but at least the include cheap accidental breakage cover and they are not garbage laptops. So it really depends on your level of comfort being the kid's IT support.

  • RogerLoger on 16/10/2024 - 13:49
    +4

    I was involved supporting the free laptops scheme when first introduced by government. Laptops were engineered to keep costs low. Hinges tested by machines that lifted from both corners were very different to kids who lifted from one side or the other only. Constant uneven tension lifting one side caused light frames to flex. Hinges slowly stiffened over time, increasing the flexing. Screens cracked s a result of bending. New screens are expensive.

    Some real life examples of problems:

    • "Spilt coffee" (that was a teacher).
    • A top student who kept her laptop pristine for two years when asked about a solid substance found inside the laptop said, "a carton of milk opened in my bag months ago but it kept working. I thought it was OK".
    • "I accidentally dropped it" was common.
    • "Someone kicked a ball and it hit the screen".
    • "My cat chewed the charger cord".
    • Quite a few stories I did not believe as well (maybe they were school bag fights or bags tossed off trains or buses). We weren't there to be inquisitors.
    • Deliberate vandalism wasn't a problem where I was (apart from drawing on laptops or scratching names into the body, which was not permitted - kids are kids).
    • Breaking the rules installing 3rd party software, music and video was rife. Sometimes kids would come in with hard disks so full of non-school related music and videos, Windows did not have the space to function.
    • Occasionally someone presented a laptop crippled by malware from 3rd party software or sites they should not visit.

    That was Year 10 and up. I can imagine year 7-9 would be even more chaotic. Enjoy!

    There is no doubt the range of laptops you are considering are far better engineered, but $15 insurance against theft and breakage sounds very attractive compared to those days. Make sure accidental damage covers a very broad range of scenarios (including what if A deliberately damages B's laptop).

  • altomic on 16/10/2024 - 14:57
    +6

    my advice as a parent of 3 kids (eldest in uni, other 2 in high school).

    for grade 7 - 10 get something inexpensive and light weight.

    e.g. like this Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 1 15.6" Athlon Silver 8GB 256GB Win 11 Laptop 82R10012AU $219.60 + $8/$10 Shipping @ The Good Guys eBay.

    your kid drops it - it's $230.
    one of their friends throws your kids bag off the 2nd story balcony - it's $230
    your kid leaves it on the bus/train - it's $230

    compared to Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 - 13.3", Core i5, 16GB $1,510.00

    is your child doing 3D graphics modelling? or quantum calculations? or they looking on the interwebs, word and excel ?

    when they get to year 10 or 11 then consider something more powerful if their needs require it. and then you can throw money at a more appropriate laptop.

    when my eldest started high school in (2017) - I bought a bulk lot (5) of Lenovo IdeaPad 100S-14IBR with 4gb/32gb emmc (with an empty m.2 slot) and win 7 - for ~$80 each

    windows could not update to win 10 due to the limited size of the emmc drive , so I added a 256gb m.2 drive - updated windows with no problem on the next boot up.

    they worked fine for a few years - nearly daily use , the batteries did degrade, and so when they reached year 10 I would buy them higher spec/more expensive used laptops.

    for $80 + m.2 upgrade cost - it was a no brainer as a parent sending them to school with a basically disposable laptop. if they destroyed it then I could just remove the m.2 drive and swap it into one of the spares -(which I did twice, and then also used the battery from a smashed one to replace a degraded battery in a working machine)

    • FireRunner on 16/10/2024 - 20:36
      +2

      I would strongly recommend a refurbished laptop over a low end new laptop.
      At the same point it will be mych better experience

  • Bruceflix on 16/10/2024 - 15:29
    +1

    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is amazing for school use. And battery life cannot be beat.

  • Devastator0 on 16/10/2024 - 15:42

    I don't have a specific recommendation to make but when trying to help out my best mate with this sort of thing, I pretty clearly saw that the schools are all trying to push people to buy Macbook Air's. Reason being is (not sure if this is the case with your kids or school) for my mate's kids, their school explicitly does not allow kids to charge their laptops on-site and, again explicitly, demand that whatever laptop is purchased for them be one that can last the entire school day without needing to be charged. I did my best to try and help my mate out but all of the Windows based machines just couldn't come close to a Macbook Air in terms of battery life (and I would say compatibility with all the school stuff because they highlighted it as their "Recommended" device to get).

    • Bruceflix on 16/10/2024 - 16:10

      but all of the Windows based machines just couldn't come close to a Macbook Air in terms of battery life

      The 14+ hours of the Surface Laptop 7 was somehow left out of your equation.

      • Devastator0 on 16/10/2024 - 16:21

        Too expensive which was why it wasn't considered for my friend's kids at the time

  • itoyjobed on 16/10/2024 - 17:11

    I was in the same situation as you. Finally I reached out to both Dell and HP school programs. They have a portal with High school logins. I selected P ProBook 435 x360 G10 13.3" AMD Ryzen 5 |16GB|256SSD , got a free wireless keyboard and mouse and had to pay little extra for 3 year accidental breakage

  • Benoffie on 16/10/2024 - 17:15

    You want something cheap and durable that can run the programs necessary but not games.

    • these break at an alarming rate. Everything from being tossed in bags and into lockers to being trodden on in hallways.
    • you need to factor in at least one battery replacement and 2 chargers plus the tag and testing
    • it's best if, at least in middle school, its a device the IT team are familiar with
  • ratoloko on 16/10/2024 - 20:13

    Lenovo is a solid brand imo.
    Apple will cost you a kidney because they do not allow parts replacement outside of Apple.

    With that being said:

    • Avoid laptops that comes with soldered storage and memory for obvious reasons. That will allow you to upgrade and keep the laptop for much longer.
    • AMD, all of those laptops are Intel, I prefer AMD because a) they are cheaper compared with Intel and b)You get more processing power for less
    • You will have minimal to no dramas with AMD, intel is a roller coaster
    • Avoid 1080p display or your kid will suffer. 1440p is the minimal for me
    • Avoid office/business laptops, they are more expensive while not being as great with hardware, they are usually all soldered.

    I bought a Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop for 1600 from 2300 from Lenovo Australia website by accident by paying them a visit.
    1600p display, 32GB memory, 2x NVMe storage, AMD GPU, 15".
    I will never find this specs on a office/normal laptop.

    • CrispyChrispy on 16/10/2024 - 21:24

      Avoid 1080p display or your kid will suffer.

      1080p on 14" and below is perfectly fine.

      Avoid office/business laptops, they are more expensive while not being as great with hardware,

      It's usually the other way around if you're comparing to consumer-grade laptops like Inspirons or Aspires, why else do you think refurbed Lenovo ThinkPads are posted here so often? Those are all ex-corp.

      I bought a Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop

      … I will never find this specs on a office/normal laptop.

      And yeah, for good reason. I wouldn't be wanting to haul that around all day on my back. Battery life wouldn't be great either.

      • rumblytangara on 16/10/2024 - 21:31
        +2

        Avoid office/business laptops, they are more expensive while not being as great with hardware, they are usually all soldered.

        It's definitely the other way round.

        Buy the business grade stuff because it's built to last longer and withstand the abuse dished out by kiddos and by corporate drones who don't buy their own hardware and therefore treat it like crap.

        I would never buy a gaming laptop, but that's because I consider laptops to be portable, light computing. Anything semi-serious gets done on a desktop.

      • ratoloko on 16/10/2024 - 22:25
        -5

        1080p on 14" and below is perfectly fine

        I stopped reading here…..

        • CrispyChrispy on 16/10/2024 - 22:31

          I have both a 14" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) and a 14" 1080p laptop in front of me. If you're sitting 10cm away from your screen, sure, 1080p is noticeably worse. If you're not pixel peeping 1080p 14" is more than serviceable…

        • rumblytangara on 16/10/2024 - 22:37
          +2

          I stopped reading here…..

          You… don't actually have any school aged kids using laptops, do you? I am constantly amazed that my kid is totally happy on a 14" 1080 screen, when he has a 24" monitor sitting on his desk not even powered on. I used to ask him if he'd be more comfortable at the desk with the bigger monitor, and he would say he was perfectly happy without it. He didn't even want the 34" widescreen that I'd set up as a test.

          Everything you are posting reads like you're a young-ish adult tech enthusiast, not a parent of a late primary or early high schooler who has to start carrying a laptop in an already overloaded school bag. Dual M.2 slots, choice of CPUs, upgradeable RAM- these things do not matter in the slightest to a young kid. They need light(ish), decent battery power, rugged. Everything they're doing is online. By the time they're old enough to need serious grunt, it's probably time for a new machine or a dedicated desktop.

          I bought a Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop for 1600 from 2300 from Lenovo Australia website by accident by paying them a visit.
          1600p display, 32GB memory, 2x NVMe storage, AMD GPU, 15".
          I will never find this specs on a office/normal laptop.

          You're missing the target audience for this thread by a country mile- title reminder: Laptop Recommendation for Starting High School (Year 7)

          One of my kid's classmates has a honking great big gaming laptop. The consensus of his peers seems to be that his parents are idiots.

          • rumblytangara on 17/10/2024 - 08:23

            @rumblytangara: So I looked up the specs.

            The gaming laptop is literally 2x the weight of a refurbed X1 Carbon- 2.5 vs 1.1kg.

            Why are gaming laptops even being mentioned in a thread about computers for 12 year old kids?

  • djkelly69 on 16/10/2024 - 23:09
    +1

    Seems to be extra zeros in your budget line?

  • The Hawk on 17/10/2024 - 08:16

    We have had a few Lenovo Yoga L13's, one had a small issue which was fixed under warranty. Otherwise pretty much flawless. The oldest one (an 8th gen intel) is still in great condition and kicking on. It will be used by my youngest next year for the start of year 7 as I find every kid has destroyed their first device since they aren't used to carrying things around. The second one seems to survive just fine after that! I call it the first sacrificial device!

    My daughter started with a cheap HP off market place which I added RAM and an SSD to. When that was totally trashed we went with the 4th gen version of the L13 with the AMD processor and it has been excellent, the kids don't seem to notice any difference in performance or battery life.

    15GB / 16GB currently on sale for $1,298.95 inc. GST
    AMD Ryzen™ 5 PRO 7530U Processor + Windows 11 Pro.
    https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadl/th…

    I strongly recommend adding it to your cart then asking for a discount too, Lenovo (in my experience) will usually give you something if you case.

  • afah0447 on 17/10/2024 - 09:45
    +1

    Youre looking to spend way too much money on a laptop that only needs highschool level capability.

    The top of your range, at a big stretch, should only be $800. A $500 laptop will be more than sufficient given itll probably need to be replaced in three years anyway.

  • rumblytangara on 17/10/2024 - 11:06
    +1

    There was another thread a couple months back where a high school was not letting students use laptop chargers on school grounds (sounds utterly stupid, but that seemed to be the situation).

    Might be worth asking around if your upcoming school has any similarly idiotic restrictions, if so then your options narrow considerably (mostly to Macs).

  • Navanod66 on 17/10/2024 - 13:53
    +2

    There was a similar thread last month and another wise member suggested getting this Dynabook

    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/186373807814

    Note that it had a larger discount back then ($41 off, so $237 total). It currently has a $15 off voucher, so if you can wait for Black Friday, the better offer may return as it happened again 2 weeks ago and I ordered one immediately.
    In fact, my order is arriving today! Hopefully it will be in good condition

    • The Hawk on 17/10/2024 - 16:16

      That seems like a pretty damn good price for that spec machine, if it wasn't for the non-upgradable ram I think I'd grab one as my spare machine.

  • altomic on 18/10/2024 - 13:36
    +1

    The dell 3540 refurb for $260 looks to be a solid deal.

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