Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

Which laptop for a Y10?

17 replies

FiveHoursSleep · 04/11/2016 10:27

DD is adamant that she needs her own laptop now she's in Y10. Atm she does have to share the computer with her three younger siblings, so I do understand and the school says it's advantageous for them to have enough computer time to do homework etc.
I can afford something around £300, and it's mainly for her to do school work on and go online.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

OP posts:

Report

TeenAndTween · 04/11/2016 11:00

We all have Lenovo laptops here which have been very reliable. (Plus they come in nice colours)

DH has picked up pre-owned ones for under your budget. She presumably needs Word and possibly Powerpoint and Excel also.

If you do get one use parental controls to limit login-in / internet access times.

Cafeconleche · 04/11/2016 12:43

I bought my DS a Chromebook laptop for school - Asus and HP both do them and they're all between £200-£300. The ones sold at John Lewis come with an automatic 2 year guarantee. Hope this helps

FiveHoursSleep · 04/11/2016 12:54

Yeah, I was thinking of using parental controls although she's been good with her phone so far. I think having a laptop in the bedroom overnight might prove too tempting.

OP posts:

OzzieFem · 04/11/2016 15:35

No child should have a laptop in their bedroom overnight. It's too tempting to use it and not get enough sleep, they can end up becoming moody and aggressive.

If she needs to use laptop in her bedroom to get away from younger siblings to do homework then arrange a time at least an hour before she should be asleep, when laptop use is stopped and make sure you remove it from her bedroom.

tumpymummy · 04/11/2016 16:21

Now both my kids are at secondary school they both got their laptops for Christmas last year. I managed to get Toshiba Satellite laptops from Staples on Black Friday in a very good deal that also included substantial discounts for Word and Excel. So might be worth doing your research then buying on Black Friday? I looked at Staples and PC World and John Lewis. They both use them all the time for homework, and also playing music on. To be honest I haven't had a problem with them having them in their bedrooms (that is where they do their homework), mobile phones are more of an issue at bedtime.
I use a HP Pavilion which I am also happy with, but that was more expensive as work paid for it.

FiveHoursSleep · 05/11/2016 11:40

Thanks for your recommendations.
Does anyone know whether it's worth looking at refurbished laptops? DD is banging on about wanting a MacBook but we could only get a refurbished one.

OP posts:

Casbotsproudmum · 05/11/2016 14:21

We got dd a Google Chrome laptop: around £180 but have since seen it for £150. Works like a dream.

CallarMorvern · 07/11/2016 08:16

DD has a refurbished Macbook, she's had it 2yrs now and it's been fault less. We bought it from an authorised Apple reseller in Harrogate.

Sadik · 07/11/2016 08:56

I would have thought a macbook would be more than £300 even refurbished? Interested to know if not, as for work reasons it's easiest to stick with macs, and I currently have a 10 yr old MacBook Pro and finding more & things that won't run. Had assumed a replacement would be £££s.

Sadik · 07/11/2016 08:59

However, I would say that dd (also yr 10) has had the offer of a new PC laptop of her own, and prefers to stick with the reject macbook with a faulty graphics chip that no-one else can bear to use because it is so unreliable. Macs are very nice if you can stand the cost . . .

CallarMorvern · 08/11/2016 08:56

Sadik - it was £329 at the time. It's a 7yr old Macbook Pro, slightly cheaper as it had a dent on the lid, but otherwise immaculate. No issues with things running on it, only a minor issue with Flash which was resolved in 10mins.

CallarMorvern · 08/11/2016 09:00

Sadik We bought from this seller ( who also has a genuine bricks and mortar store).
stores.ebay.co.uk/Howard-Conrad-LTD

Sadik · 08/11/2016 11:50

Thanks, Callar

FiveHoursSleep · 09/11/2016 19:35

We ended up buying our DD 1 one of these.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HU6EBPG?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
It seems to do everything she needs it to.

OP posts:

tumpymummy · 11/11/2016 09:25

I'm going to go against the trend here and actually say that I prefer my HP Pavilion over hubby's Macbook. We have always been an Apple house but because work bought me a laptop I got the HP Pavilion, and I find it much easier to use and navigate now. With Black Friday and Christmas coming up there are lots of good deals out there. I would suggest a trip to PC World to start you off.

thisagain · 16/11/2016 06:51

I would buy HP every time personally.

Verbena37 · 17/11/2016 18:14

We are getting DD yr 10 a laptop for Xmas/birthday and we've found a nice Lenovo.

Flip

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.