Laptop recommendations for HS student

[MinnieTink]

I always get some good advice on the DIS! Can anyone recommend a laptop for a student? My DD will be entering High School in the fall and I'm hoping I can get some help. Thanks!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I've always been happy with Dell, assuming you want to get him a PC, not a MAC.

Getting something with WiFi will be helpful. If you already have a wireless network, he can connect to that. If not, he can at least take it to a Starbucks or other restaurants or stores that have free WiFi.

You will also want to make sure it has Microsoft Office. There is a student version for very cheap. Unless you already have a copy.

 

[bicker]

Yes, go with Dell. We've always been disappointed when we tried something other than a Dell: Gateway, HP and Toshiba were especially disappointing. Meanwhile, we've had a half dozen great Dells over the years.

If you can afford it, stick with their XPS line. You may not need the power, but if anything does go wrong, you get really incredible customer service.

 

[disney junky]

I'd at least consider a mac. Many schools use macs. They are a little more expensive but they have a lot more to offer and little chance of virus problems. My next laptop will be a mac. My kids have macs. They had dells before and won't go back.

 

[Minnie824]

We got an HP last year an love it...no problems. Picked it up at best buy for a good price too.

 

[powellrj]

If you are looking long term, I would go with a Mac. We got my DD who is the same age a refurbished computer, I am not even sure of what brand, her brother got it for us to use now and we will upgrade her when she is ready for college. If she still wants to go to the same school as her DB, we will get her a Mac book because that is what they recommend at his school.

 

[Christine]

My DD got a Mac before she went to college last year. It cost me $1300 plus protection plan. Pricey. She is VERY hard on things and it's still working with no problem. Not sure if I'd put that $$$$ out for a high school student. I really like the Mac and pondered getting one but just couldn't justify the cost.

I recently bought a Toshiba at Best Buy ($599) and it has WAY more features and speed than the Mac. I am really loving it. But it has far more on it that a high school student needs.

I did look into buying a Dell (we have them at work) but was told by a number of IT people here that they'd go with something else. However, the XPS line of Dell that bicker recommends is probably pretty good and a higher level than what we use in the office.

When shopping for a laptop, take care to pay attention to battery life. You will often see a good price on a laptop yet you'll see that it only has a 2 hour battery. That's not good for a student. To me, students/teens want something that is definitely portable and they don't want to be hooked up to a charger all the time. One of the reasons I picked Toshiba was that many of their models have a very long battery life (makes them a bit heavier too).

 

[Buckalew11]

Bought DD(16) a Mac about 2 years ago (probably starting freshman year) and have never been sorry for one single second. She loves it and it's been great.

 

[bicker]

Another good thing about a Mac, if you can accept that you're paying a higher price for the power and features that you're getting, is that it is less likely that your child will copy (potentially-virus-laden) software from others online, since fewer people have Macs and Mac-compatible software. For a younger child, I would definitely consider going that way, if the price isn't a big barrier.

 

[Geoff_M]

I don't have a specific model to recommend, but I'd keep these points in mind:
- You don't need the fastest thing on the market. If they're mainly going to write papers, create presentations, surf the web, then you don't need the a laptop with a Quad-Core 2.3 tera-hertz processor... pick something in the mid-range.
- Hard-drive space... more is better. You'd be amazed how quickly a HD can fill-up.
- RAM and RAM expandability. The cheapest performance boost a laptop can get is RAM. The more it comes with the better. Also, if you want to add more, does the laptop come with its slots full of lower sized RAM modules that you'd have to throw away and add larger ones to... or is there an empty slot that you can add a new RAM module to at less cost and keep the original module?
- Battery life. Most cheaper laptops only offer 2-3 hours of "average" use on a charge. I'd look for something rated at 4+ hours. Keep in mind that usable time only gets worse with age.
- PC vs. Mac. That's a personal call. But it's still a Windows world out there for the most part. Apple products are well designed for the most part and generally well built (though my first iPod Touch died a day after I bought it), but you do pay a STEEP premium for them. A friend recently asked me "What's the difference between an Apple and a PC?" I quipped back "About a $1,000!" If you shop around a look for deals, you can get some steals on PC laptops. In March I bought a decked out, nicely designed, HP laptop on clearance from Best Buy for $400. The thing has been flawless for me and I love it.

One more thing, the "You don't have to worry about viruses/malware with Macs" myth is pure Apple marketing genius.

 

[SueInBoston]

If this is a first laptop and you don't want to spend too much for a mac, I would suggest Toshiba. We have 3 in our household and all have been great, bought first 2 years ago when dd was a 8th grader. Bought another one last fall for $399 at Best Buy, 3mb RAM, 350 gb HD, more than sufficient for HS work. However if your dd wants to play serious games on the laptop you probably need to go higher than $399.

Had 2 Dells before Toshiba (not xps) would never go back to Dell.