Looking for guidance on purchasing items for your child?
Looking for guidance on purchasing items for your child?
Hello all, looking to get a laptop for my daughter who is going to be a senior in high school and then will use it in college. I'll post the questionnaire below. I know about desktop PCs, but not about laptop processors, etc. It looks like most can't be upgraded, but if there are some that I can add extra RAM or another SSD, I'm happy to do so.
Not sure which way to go, either trying to spend a little more now in hopes that it will last through college, or get something more budget based and plan to upgrade in 2-3 years. Here is what some of my searching has found:
On the cheaper end ($400), this Acer Aspire 5 with an i5 13th gen, 16gb ram, and a 1tb ssd, which I would expect to replace in a few years:
Acer i5
They also have one for $600 with an i7
Acer i7
There are a few ASUS ones I've seen around the same price
Vivobook
I see Lenovos recommended for durability. I would either get a
refurb ThinkPad
or maybe a
new ThinkBook
. I don't know enough to tell the different lines apart
Last option is a
MacBook Air
. Somewhere around $900 for a 13" with 16GB of RAM. Maybe this would last longer than some other options? I know opinions are divided on Macs, but I had a hand me down Macbook in the past that seemed to last a long time.
1. What is your budget?
I'm a bit flexible. Max of about $800, unless there is something really good
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I think we need to go look at screens. I first thought as big as I can afford, but she might like something smaller and lighter
3. What screen resolution do you want?
Not really an issue
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable? Normal school stuff
5. How much battery life do you need?
Whatever is standard, I'm sure she will be around outlets most of the time
6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
No
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Maybe light photo touch up, but she is not planning on doing any kind of visual arts, engineering, etc.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I also have like 8 TB of storage on this PC, but maybe she doesn't need as much since she does so much online! What's the minimum I should go for?
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Anywhere reputable.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
See above. If it makes it 5 years or more that would be great
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
None
12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Any good brand
13. What country do you live in?
USA
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Nothing
Some thoughts
When the time arrives for college, the college might have asked for a laptop with specific specs. Consider the current purchase as a short-term solution. If you buy something assumed to be a 5-year model, it may not last. Requirements evolve and performance improvements will happen over time.
Laptop displays offer varying brightness levels, ranging from 250 nits to 500. If you plan to use the laptop outside, brightness becomes important. A 1tb M.2 SSD is likely a suitable capacity. You can usually upgrade the device later if necessary. Integrated graphics are adequate for watching HD videos and basic gaming. Discrete graphics come with a higher cost and may strain the laptop’s cooling system.
I prefer Lenovo products. They offer great keyboards. Contact Lenovo directly to speak with a sales representative. They know their products well and might provide deals not easily found online.
RAM size is becoming more standardized, partly to reduce component weight. A 32gb unit would be ideal; it’s affordable. It’s better to buy what you think you’ll need now rather than adding more later. RAM should be compatible with the system.
A 14-inch screen provides a good balance for portability.
It varies based on their academic pursuits. A MacBook isn't the standard choice mainly because it offers strong protection and outperforms most alternatives in terms of value, battery life, efficiency, and durability. The main drawback is that for certain applications like CAD, they lack support for programs such as SolidWorks.