Chromebook or laptop? School homework dilemma

[Zofloramummy]

My dd is 9, on return to school all homework seems to be online submission. We have an iPad and an old HP laptop that is slow and clunky.

I’m thinking of buying her either a laptop or Chromebook for Christmas, I know that a Chromebook has limitations (doesn’t support gaming etc) but it is cheaper! I can only see the need for a computer increasing over the years so would love some recommendations on which is better and specific brands/models.

Budget is less than £300.

We've been looking too so I'm interested in what people recommend. We've been warned off Chromebooks, they're hard to connect to printers?
Also when we looked last weekend, we didn't realise you have to pay extra for Office, they don't have it on there, which is a bit of a con! So can't type up homework/assignments. Also we were advised the ones under £300 would be very slow once it was downloaded. So basically it would be towards the £500 mark! It's tricky, but with schools pushing for on line lessons we'll have to get one.

My two both had Chromebooks for years 10-13, they lasted and we've passed them on!

They used the web version of Office.

Printing was no problem, if anything goes wrong you can just reset.

I found them workhorses and value for money.

My DDs (Y11 and Y7) have laptops. They've had no trouble accessing online learning and school networks on them unlike a neighbour whose child’s chromebook wouldn't work with his school's systems. Not even after the school's IT person and network manager had tried to configure it.

@OlegBurov which brand of Chromebook did your dc have? Most computers require annual purchase of Microsoft Office and software to protect from viruses so I’m prepared for that cost. I have a wireless HP printer which will print stuff from my phone and iPad so hoping that will be fine with a Chromebook/laptop.

@SE13Mummy which laptop did you have? My HP is very old and needs replacing hence why I’m asking. When I purchased it Chromebooks hadn’t been invented!

We’ve bought a Chromebook partly on the basis the school are using google classroom, partly due to cost.

I'd get a laptop as Chromebooks are a bit limited.

@Fleamaker123 over lockdown we did use my old laptop for home schooling and I couldn’t afford a new office licence. So I downloaded a software package called Libre. It was brilliant, had the functionality of office and didn’t mess up the formatting when you uploaded it. I still have it in my old laptop and it has similar versions of word, power point, and excel.

An HP Stream 14" for DD2 - its operating system is Windows 10S but the upgrade to the Home version is now free. DD1 has a reconditioned HP Pavilion which is still going strong 4 years later.

@SE13Mummy thank you, all recommendations gratefully received. What sort of price point did you pay?

My year 8 has a Chromebook. Web version of office and no problem with printing. We'll be getting another one for dc2 soon.

@doctorhamster which brand of Chromebook did you buy? The price seems to vary from under £200 to over £500!!

I was going to get Dd year 11 one for Christmas for school work too, she's using my old apple mini desktop computer (from 2006), she could run to school and sumbit stuff faster.
I was looking at HP pavilion 14 and Acer something or other.
Not sure which. I'm waiting for Ds and his partner to visit and help me choose.

For that budget I would go with a chrome book, A new laptop at that price point the very basic. We bought one during lockdown for homeschooling and I was impressed by its speed and battery life. It takes a bit of getting used to if you are you’ve normally used windows but it’s worth the effort

@UpperLowercaseSymbolNumber which brand and model did you buy? I’m aware my budget is limited but don’t want to spend it on something that isn’t particularly functional, hence thinking about the Chromebook.

They were Acer.

They are limited but that's part of the appeal, less to go wrong.

@OlegBurov thank you!! Off to google Acer 😊

I think it is an Acer but TBH there wasn’t much choice when I was buying as many parents were doing the same.

Ours is a Dell @Zofloramummy

£200? Maybe £230?

Op I'll give you another option. A friend managed to get an old laptop into a Chromebook for their kid.

Not sure how easy it is to do but I know it can be done.

My dd's school recommends the Asus C204MA. They use Google classrooms and Gsuite for all spreadsheets, documents etc.

Not had a problem printing to our HP wireless printer

This is really helpful, I think for the price I’ll be better getting a Chromebook with decent memory than a cheap laptop. Argos has a good deal on an ACER 14in 64GB case and mouse for £230.