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Original poster

new yr 7s - laptop or tablets necessary? Which?

55 replies

whickles · 13/06/2013 11:27

Our 1st is off to yr 7 in sept. What do secondary children "need" these days in terms of access to laptop/pc/tablets?

Does handwritten vs typed homework vary by school? Or is it all typed these days?

Do homeworks never/sometimes/always require internet research? At what stage do these things become genuinely necessary? Do they take them into school?

What would you say is the best option:
-sporadic access to the main pc and laptop, both of which get used a lot by us as we work from home / and laptop gets taken away a lot.
-cheapish tablet and get a plug in keyboard ( a diy MS Surface!!), but the screen would be quite small

  • save up for cheap laptop? maybe a 2nd hand one?
  • an extra desktop style pc, but not sure where it would go?
What have you found is actually more useful and less useful? And money is tight, so looking for a cost effective solution!
OP posts:
Original poster
whickles · 13/06/2013 11:42

Ouryve -yes, I can imagine me stressing about this, and it ending up getting used for iplayer and youtube!!

OP posts:
Original poster
whickles · 13/06/2013 11:40

Thanks!

And if a laptop is the way to go, are cheap ones (like netbooks) rubbish? What would you say is a realistic minimum budget?

OP posts:
ouryve · 13/06/2013 11:39

All you child needs is occasional access to a computer and no more. My niece convinced my SIL that she needed a laptop for school back in Y5. This was, quite frankly, bollocks and she used it for no more than facebook and online stuff.

JRY44 · 13/06/2013 11:36

Some of the software used by schools for homework (mymaths, SAMlesrning etc) do not run on tablets as they require flash. A laptop is the better option.

PandaG · 13/06/2013 11:33

DS is Y8, in a comp. Yes, internet access is needed for some homeworks, but there is availability at school for those without access at home. Don't think any homework has had to be printed rather than handwritten, but DS usually choses to type.

We bought him a laptop fopr Christmas this year, partially for homework, but tbh for leisure use too.

Laptops and netbooks etc are not taken into school, though DS borrowed a netbook from school to use when he broke his wrist and could not write - he did bring this home.

I think rather than having his own computer, access to one (and a printer) is fine.