Sixth Form laptop? Tablet?

[Poppyling]

Sorry not really an AIBU but need the traffic as time running out.

DD needs new something for Sixth Form. Currently on an old Lenovo laptop.

She might need said device to last into Uni.

Can I have your recommendations for whether we stick with laptop or go tablet and make/model reccs. We're struggling knowing what to get as not very techie.

Needs to be lightweight if laptop and really need under £500. Refurb considered. Thank you!!

I appreciate times may have changed in the last 10 years but I don't know of a single person In my peer group that used a laptop or tablet at sixth form.

Stick with a laptop. Tablets are way too limiting and would end up spawning a bunch of clunky peripherals. She'll need to be able to type her essays on the computer.

If your budget is £500, I'd say all laptops will be much of a muchness. Just get the best spec you can afford as you'll be replacing it in 3 years or so anyway. For word processing, email, googling, etc, you can't really go wrong even with a low spec machine. You only need to worry about "high spec" models if she's heavily into gaming or video editing, etc. (She won't have tons of time for that during term time; sixth form is intense. The jump from GCSE/equivalent is huge. Poor kiddos.)

And, yes, times sure have changed. Kids aren't formally taught touch-typing these days - are they all supposed to have acquired the skill via osmosis as so many computers exist nowadays? Idk why as it is so much easier when you don't have to look at the keyboard. I've tried to encourage mine to learn - it surely cuts down the time spent writing up essays - but it doesn't seem to bother them. (One can mostly touch type and the other doesn't care how long they take.)

Homework?

Laptops are used right from Y7 now, never mind 6th form.

It needs to have a touchscreen imo

Thanks for the replies so far particularly @ricestardust

Did you find anything? Also looking for 6th form.

Just seen this! I haven't decided yet! Still open to suggestions. Going to combine it as a an 18th birthday present now as I've been dithering so much!

Chromebook? This is what the younger kids at secondary school have and it's what my uni student son is planning to replace his laptop with.

Children have to provide their own iPads at secondary schools around here.