Best laptop for high school?

[ihmysrn]

DS2 goes up to secondary this year, his eldest sibling has a gaming PC so we didn’t really need to think about it. Just wondering if there is something that’s particularly good for a high school student to hopefully last the next 5 years or so? I’m apprehensive as the last HP laptop we bought for lockdown was rubbish, it was so slow from the day we bought it (I probably should have returned it!) are Surfaces still a thing? Homework is mostly web based.

Our IT company recommended this as a good sale buy this week www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/samsung-galaxy-book2-intel-core-i7-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-14inch-windows-11-pro-np641bed-ka2uk/version.asp

a Chromebook will almost certainly do.

if on a budget maybe wait till July, on Amazon prime day should be able to get a goodish one for £150.

iPads are far better in my opinion - lots of schools and universities these days actually provide them for students instead of laptops! We got DD a MacBook pre-GCSEs and to be honest she rarely used it. Her iPad has been much more useful

iPad with keyboard case and e-pen.

Light weight, smaller, holds a charge really well (keyboard needs charging every couple of weeks), camera function so you can take photos of the board, diagrams etc.

DD has used a laptop for everything since Y6 - now in Y11 and the iPad has definitely been the best option.

You can install things like Office 365, Grammarly etc and various apps for art and design as well.

Our secondary school provides pupils with their own iPads so everyone has tech with the same spec and compatibility. Perhaps ask the school what they recommend?

Thanks all, he already has an iPad but it’s a little worse for wear, I’m wondering whether to buy him a ‘school iPad’ with keypad that we keep tucked away and only for school work, then he can continue to clumsily lose and stand on his other one! (Which is just a passed down one)

That's what we have.

Home iPad that she can do whatever she wants on, and School iPad that doesn't have games installed and is just for school work.

Sounds like a plan, shocked at the cost of the Apple keypad though 🙈

You don't need the Apple one - same with the e-pens, the generics work fine.

We have this which is £47:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/10-2-inch-Keyboard-Arteck-Bluetooth-Protection/dp/B08PNY6Y1L/ref=sr_1_4?

iPad has been great for general studies and online reference. Look at eBay for Logitech keyboards they are very good. The only issue is if your dc needs to work on complex coding projects for computer science then it's not the best option and a desktop works better.

DS is about to take his GCSEs. He's done all of high school with an iPad, to no detriment to him at all.

We'll think again for sixth form.

DC2 is in Y11 and has a Surface Pro with separate compact keyboard and an ergonomic mouse. It's been ideal for all subjects including music composition and will see them through sixth form. Being able to use it as a touch-screen tablet or as a more traditional laptop has worked well.

For a reliable school laptop that should last a few years, I’d go for the HP ProBook 440 G11 – Core Ultra 7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD (DOS). It’s much better quality than the cheaper HP consumer models that went slow during lockdown. Fast SSD, strong processor, solid battery life, and durable build for school use.
Just note: DOS means you’ll need to install Windows separately.