iPad or laptop

[superstar84]

Which would you suggest for secondary school?

Ds is in year 5 and we could do with getting him a laptop or iPad as a lot of his homework is online now and ours doesn't support the recent updates

Hoping to buy something that will last a good few years so thought I'd ask which is used more i secondary schools

[Betty94]

Laptop definitely

[satnighttakeaway]

Laptop all the way for me too

[Squiffany]

Laptop. I got an iPad Pro for my uni course. I absolutely love it. However, I tend to use my MacBook Air for my uni work.

[AveEldon]

laptop

[reefedsail]

Microsoft Surface. I'd say he needs something that is pen enabled, but that can also run office properly.

[chickydoo]

Laptop 100%

[Cornishmumofone]

Laptop. He needs to be able to type on a reasonable keyboard.

[Landlubber2019]

Neither ; although you can to get a laptop cheap enough the spec and storage will be reflected in the cost. Get a good desktop and get a better spec and it's likely to be cheaper than a laptop

[superstar84]

We don't really have the space anywhere for a desktop

It have to be a laptop or iPad/tablet

For primary he needs one note and teams at the moment and our iPad is too old for one note so thinking it's better to get something sorted now but keeping secondary in mind

[SoupDragon]

Laptop.

DD's school* introduced a "bring your own device to school" policy due to COVID and online learning/not borrowing school devices. An iPad needs a separate keyboard to be used for this and a desktop is not portable.

• Independent and they sent a tech questionnaire round first to check availability.

[superstar84]

Is there anything specific I should make sure the laptop has?

Thanks for everyone's help, really appreciate it

[wwud12]

Laptop. My DD12 started secondary this year and is struggling to do her homework on an iPad. She sometimes can't see the whole screen and finds it difficult to toggle between tabs. We have another monitor which she will be able to connect to for bigger pieces.

[RuthW]

Laptop. You need office for school work.

[satnighttakeaway]

@RuthW

Laptop. You need office for school work.

Do you?

I'm pretty sure my DC school doesn't need that, you have to pay for office don't you, they do everything via google as far as I know and I haven't had to pay for office. I thought it was quite expensive

[Zodlebud]

I have just been through the same thing with my Y7 whose school said no tech was needed to all of a sudden everyone must have something. The iPad has worked for pretty much everything as they use Google classroom / meet etc. But there are some limitations she just can’t get round.

Having spent literally hours researching we have gone for an Honor magicbook laptop. The Microsoft surface was just way too expensive to take into school.

We were also recommended a Chromebook due to price and battery life but decent ones are still £300+.

The one we went for was £450 online, has up to 10 hours battery life and has a similar look and feel to a MacBook (thin and light). It feels like a happy medium between a chromebook and surface. Camera is hidden away and you only get it out when you need it which is reassuring. It is made by Huiwei (sp?) though which might put people off. I didn’t think her school work was going to be that sensitive to worry about that though......

Have a look and checkout the reviews.

[reefedsail]

My DS has to have a Surface because that is what his school have said they want. Recommended for Y6, required for 7&8 and the senior school. It is Independent though, so they are in more of a position to do that. A friend's Independent school have done the same. I can see why, it is the most suited device for school.

If you know which secondary school you will be using, it might be worth checking whether they have BYOD policy and what is on it.

[Chocolatecakeandcoffee]

I think the surface go is great...

[Malbecfan]

My school uses Office 365 and everything is accessed remotely that way including One Note & Teams. The school pays but it's free for staff & students to use.

In your position, get the best spec you can afford to ensure that it won't need replacing soon. We bought a laptop for DD1 when she started secondary school and it lasted her until she went to uni when there were issues with the power supply & battery.

[tommika]

**satnighttakeaway

RuthW
Laptop. You need office for school work.
Do you?

I'm pretty sure my DC school doesn't need that, you have to pay for office don't you, they do everything via google as far as I know and I haven't had to pay for office. I thought it was quite expensive


To purchase office is expensive, but there are free options and a selection of different packages. You can also have office on a smartphone or tablet.

Free options are:
Create a Microsoft account and use the online editions
Use phone/tablet office apps
Educational home licences - if the school/college/university participates then you may be able to get the full office software for free


Alternative software compatible with Office is free, but for someone who is learning it is useful to know Office as the industry ‘standard’

‘Cheaper’ options are a student licence etc
Some employers participate in the HUP (Home use programme allowing staff to buy a cheaper copy)
You can buy office up front or subscribe

I am eligible for a HUP licence and I took up the option on the older scheme - £9.99 for Office
But now we have gone to Office 365 the HUP cost went up and is a 30% discount, it would be worthwhile if I wanted multiple copies with the family subscription, but I stuck to my original £9.99 HUP plus free online editions which gave me something like O365
I have since bought a standard O365 subscription on my Mac which works out as reasonable taking account the online storage (it’s as if I am paying for an online storage subscription and getting the software for free)


For educational free office you would have a school/college/university email address and find out if it is eligible below:
www.microsoft.com/en-gb/education/products/office

For HUP ask your IT department or you can try here

www.microsoft.com/en-gb/home-use-program?


For more about the free & subscription versions of Office see here

www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products?tab=1&rtc=1

[ScrapThatThen]

Yes our school gives access to office via 365 too. Laptop I would say for secondary. I have a Lenovo thinkpad for work which is good, dd has a gorgeous HP Envy. They started off with HP Stream which were recommended as having good audio for students playing music.
However dd keeps nicking our ipad for sixth form because it's more transportable and good for accessing the online text books.

[satnighttakeaway]

[quote tommika]**satnighttakeaway

RuthW
Laptop. You need office for school work.
Do you?

I'm pretty sure my DC school doesn't need that, you have to pay for office don't you, they do everything via google as far as I know and I haven't had to pay for office. I thought it was quite expensive

To purchase office is expensive, but there are free options and a selection of different packages. You can also have office on a smartphone or tablet.

Free options are:
Create a Microsoft account and use the online editions
Use phone/tablet office apps
Educational home licences - if the school/college/university participates then you may be able to get the full office software for free

Alternative software compatible with Office is free, but for someone who is learning it is useful to know Office as the industry ‘standard’

‘Cheaper’ options are a student licence etc
Some employers participate in the HUP (Home use programme allowing staff to buy a cheaper copy)
You can buy office up front or subscribe

I am eligible for a HUP licence and I took up the option on the older scheme - £9.99 for Office
But now we have gone to Office 365 the HUP cost went up and is a 30% discount, it would be worthwhile if I wanted multiple copies with the family subscription, but I stuck to my original £9.99 HUP plus free online editions which gave me something like O365
I have since bought a standard O365 subscription on my Mac which works out as reasonable taking account the online storage (it’s as if I am paying for an online storage subscription and getting the software for free)

For educational free office you would have a school/college/university email address and find out if it is eligible below:
www.microsoft.com/en-gb/education/products/office

For HUP ask your IT department or you can try here

www.microsoft.com/en-gb/home-use-program?

For more about the free & subscription versions of Office see here

www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products?tab=1&rtc=1[/quote]
Thank you for all the info, that's all good to know

I've now checked with my DC and apparently the school work is all Google so I guess different schools do thing differently.

[superstar84]

Thanks everyone

Had a chat last night and we've been able to borrow an iPad from their grandad to get past the issue with home learning in lockdown etc

Have emailed the likely 2 secondary schools that we'd get a place at to ask what they'd recommend

I love the iPad as it's so easy to use around the house and they FaceTime/iMessage grandparents but can see how a laptop/surface would be much easier to type on