BYOD for intermediate?

**taxboy4** · 02-11-2021, 07:21 PM

Hello there - my 11 year old is off to intermediate next year and we are looking at BYO Devices now.

He has a Chromebook now but it is clunky , slow and painful to use.

He prefers using my wife's 3 year old Surface and i am thinking maybe I get him a surface for next year.

Any advice on what Surface version or alternative I could look at / source please?

He has a good gaming PC so does not need that functionality on the device - it would be good to use Zoom etc for his remote tutor as well.

All advice gratefully received.

Thanks

**Jen** · 02-11-2021, 07:31 PM

Have you looked at the schools recommended BYOD list? Sometimes it is best to go with the flow on what range the school is happy to support. I would also consider how robust the device is for being sat upon, dropped, and smooshed into a bag.

If you plan to keep the device for more than 2 years, also check out what the high school is suggesting to make sure it will work for them too.

**taxboy4** · 02-11-2021, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by Jen

Have you looked at the schools recommended BYOD list? Sometimes it is best to go with the flow on what range the school is happy to support. I would also consider how robust the device is for being sat upon, dropped, and smooshed into a bag.

If you plan to keep the device for more than 2 years, also check out what the high school is suggesting to make sure it will work for them too.

Cheers for that - they do have a "deal" but the laptops are very low end and not that cheap... it sounds like msot fo the school stuff is browser based so anything decent prob ok for that - but being robust is a good point.....(he would forget his head if it was not sellotaped on..)

**Bryan** · 03-11-2021, 05:04 AM

If you intend to keep it for a while, make sure if you buy new it will support Win11.

**fred_fish** · 03-11-2021, 07:22 AM

Ex-lease 'buisness class' laptops can be quite good for these duties.
HP elitebooks, Lenovo ThinkPad etc.
Generally around 3 years old and pretty bulletproof and not too big to be chucked in a bag etc.

**beama** · 03-11-2021, 07:45 AM

when you buy watch out for those specials, make sure the Hard drive is big enough, some don't have enough spare space to even do updates CHECK THE SPECS of want you are buying.

**1101** · 03-11-2021, 07:50 AM

just get any i3 or i5 with a 500Gb SSD & 8Gb RAM
Make sure you uninstall any Norton AV or McAffee AV that comes preinstalled (it will be a trial AV that stops working after 30days)

what size does he want
standard 15" has better size kb & screen
12" , 13 " are much lighter & easier to carry araound being much smaller

Is weight an issue ? Ultra lightweight wont be as robust .

So , it come down down weight, size & how much you want to spend. And whats actually available.
Assuming its a known Brand Name: Brand isnt so much an issue . All brands have cheap & nasty, all brands have quality & expensive

Asus are quite good. HP Probooks are excellent . Lenovo, Toshiba also good.