Laptop guides

Parent’s Guide to Choosing a Student laptop

If you have a child who needs a laptop for school or an older teenager who needs one for Uni, it’s important to get the right tech to help them with their studies. A new laptop should last for around four years – and so will help your child through all of their University studies. Don’t just go for the cheapest model, go for the one which will provide your child with all the power and speed they need to make their life easier.

Firstly, let’s look at the major considerations you’ll need to take into account when choosing a student laptop.

Battery Life:

When out at lectures or seminars, it’s important that the laptop has a decent battery life – so we’d recommend you buy one which can last around eight hours as there might not always be a plug socket nearby. Of course, you could always get an additional emergency power pack – but a longer battery life is much more convenient.

Weight:

If students have got lots of walking to do then the weight of the laptop will have an impact. Ideally, it’s preferable to get one which weighs less than 1.5kg or it may start weighing them down later in the day.

Screen size:

The bigger the screen size the better a 15.6” to 17.3” screen would be perfect. A smaller screen size is much more convenient from a portability aspect, but it wouldn’t be as comfortable to work with for long periods of time.

Fast Wi-Fi:

Slow connectivity could affect the work of your child, so you need to look out for laptops which operate well with wireless Wi-Fi.

Performance:

Don’t overspend on a laptop which is much too powerful for what’s needed. That’d be a waste of money. If your son or daughter is going to be working on essays and needs to research online there’s little need to spend £1000 on a high-performance laptop when a mid-range device is perfectly adequate for everyday computing.

Durability:

Most parents will agree that young people are brilliant at dropping things and banging things against tables and chairs. So it’s important to get a laptop which can withstand being dropped or can take all of those bumps and knocks.

School age students:

Before you think about buying a laptop for your school-age child, or children, it’d be wise to speak to their school and see if there are any particular guidelines you need to stick to. There may be compatibility issues to consider. Many schools have certain requirements when it comes to computers, so always ask your child’s teacher before you proceed.

Security for under-age laptop users:

Make sure that you have good parental safeguards / security in place on the laptop for school age children. This will protect them from inappropriate content from the internet, and it will give you peace of mind. You can install parental controls on the laptop, which will block or filter content, and control purchases within apps. University students though may not appreciate you doing this…

Best laptops for essay writing and online research:

If this is what your son or daughter need a device for then you don’t need to go over the top. Chromebooks are excellent for use as writing devices. There are also some brilliant laptops which aren’t expensive but are perfect for writing, research, spreadsheets and emails.

Best choices for media and creatives:

High resolution screens and Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processors are the must-haves for those who’ll be working with high resolution images and editing multimedia or 3D work. They’ll need power and storage. The additional benefit of these computers is that they can also be used for gaming when relaxing – after  deadlines have been met!

Under £300

Big brands such as Lenovo, Dell and Acer produce some excellent budget laptops which do a great job. It’s always best to look at reviews of products before buying – but with the major brands you are pretty much assured of excellent build quality. Just follow the major considerations we talked through at the beginning and you can’t go wrong!

Under £500

If your budget can stretch to the region of £500 you’ll get a lot more for your money. Models often have faster Intel Core i3 and possibly even i5 as well as solid-state drives (SSDs) to provide extra speed, along with vibrant HD screens. Perfect for the busy Uni student with a heavy workload who wants it quick and needs it powerful!

£500 – £1000

If you have flexibility with your budget, then you will be completely spoilt for choice. The more you want from your laptop, the more it will cost you… normally. There are always exceptions to the rule when you know where to look, and you can actually grab some great deals on mid-range or high-end laptops which will give you impressive stats and performance for a cut-price cost. You’ll get 8GB or 16GB of RAM (memory) and meaty processors which will enable task to be performed with ease.

Remember to go through the five key points when looking for the perfect student laptop. Also, it’s always wise to take out insurance against loss/theft or damage in the unlikely event of something happening! We also stock a range of sturdy computer cases which are ideal for students. Click here to view.

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