I plan on getting my kids a laptop for Christmas, but I'm not familiar with current trends. Haven't purchased a computer (with the exception of my wife's SP4) in almost 10 years. Need advice on what specs to focus on. What processors to stay away from, which are over kill, etc.

Laptop will stay (for the most part) in my office on an extra desk for the kids to use. This will be used for school work, approved websites, and programs; so nothing resource intensive. I would like to have some space for them to save pictures and maybe a couple movies for offline road trips.

Any ideas on what specs to start with?

Oh and price will hopefully be under $400. I don't want anything that can't be replaced easily if it gets broken.

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Posted by philabuck

NE Ohio

Member since Sep 2008

10378 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 5:13 pm to Tiger_n_Texas

I would get a $200 Chromebook. High probability of what they will be using in school. You could then use Securly or one of the other handful of free content filtering apps to monitor activity.

The Lenovo 100e is an entry level model.

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Posted by pioneerbasketball

Team Bunchie

Member since Oct 2005

132221 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 6:32 pm to philabuck

The schools here use a Chromebook

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Posted by Tiger_n_Texas

Member since Aug 2014

973 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 7:10 pm to philabuck

I ran across those earlier. The 32GB storage put me off. How does the Chrome OS differ from Windows? Can we still load office on that OS?

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Posted by cassopher

Lake Charles

Member since Jan 2010

701 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 7:12 pm to Tiger_n_Texas

I plan on getting our daughter a Chromebook for Christmas also, maybe something sleek looking such as the HP 14 in Chromebook since it looks a little like a MacBook Air.

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Posted by NYCAuburn

TD Platinum Membership/SECr Sheriff

Member since Feb 2011

57002 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 7:13 pm to Tiger_n_Texas

I believe you must use google docs which is what a lot of the schools use because they kids and work together at home on the same doc. Around here they either have chromebooks or iPads depending on the district

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Posted by junkfunky

Member since Jan 2011

33856 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 7:17 pm to Tiger_n_Texas

Mine wanted laptops 2 years ago and I knew they wouldn't be able to share so I got them Chromebooks. The younger two still use them almost daily (and you can tell; missing keys, replaced a couple of cracked screens, etc.) but the older one rarely uses his anymore. Definitely worth it as far as I'm concerned despite them still not being able to install Google play.

One of the kids is asking for a new laptop so I'm thinking about getting him another Chromebook.

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Posted by philabuck

NE Ohio

Member since Sep 2008

10378 posts

Posted on 11/7/18 at 9:11 pm to Tiger_n_Texas

I wouldn't get too hung up on the storage. Everything will be stored to a gmail account. If you are going to be offline for awhile you could get a cheap USB flash drive and load it up with movies.

quote:
How does the Chrome OS differ from Windows?

Chrome OS is limited to the apps available in the Google Play Store. This allows you to hop from one device to another and have the same user experience.