Best laptop for a 7yo?

cambsno

cambsno

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Looking at (obviously) a low end one for my son.

Seen refurb ones online such as this for £120 - Thinkpad T400-3gb-uk - Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4GHz, 3GB RAM, 14.1" Widescreen, 160GB HDD, DVD/CDRW, WIFI - Internet Ready, Windows 7, 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet, 1 x VGA Port, 3 x USB, 1 Year RTB Warranty. Or, go for a Chromebook like an Acer with 2gb RAM, 32GB memory and 2.16 processor. for £160/£180. Or going to max budget, Lenovo G50-30 Laptop, Intel Celeron, 4GB RAM, 500GB, 15.6", Black for £199.

Will be for him to email, use web and get to understand computers (essential now IMO from a young age), and will probably play simple games like Minecraft etc... May even want to put his pics on there as he now takes my old D300 from time to time.

Chromebook is obviously web storage, but fingers crossed, am having 80mb fibre from 23rd June so not an issue.
 
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personally i don't like the t400's had a few of them for work and never been impressed with the build quality (always had bits crack on them on the corners)

As for OS it would prob make sense to start with a windows OS as that is still by far the most common, so anything learned will be more likely to be transferrable.

I'd also recommend getting a raspberry pi if you're serious about showing him how computers work as they are cheap as chips and a decent learning tool in my experience.
 
I am a Mac fan but a) too pricey and b) need him to understand Windows as thats what they will use in the future at school/work. Its more about just using computers at the mo rather than how they actually work, just not sure about a proper one or chromebook.
 
cambsno said:
I am a Mac fan but a) too pricey and b) need him to understand Windows as thats what they will use in the future at school/work. Its more about just using computers at the mo rather than how they actually work, just not sure about a proper one or chromebook.
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I'd get a proper one otherwise you're getting in Chrome OS linux territory and although that's great if it's what you need as you say school are far more likely to have windows as an entry point into computing
 
Does it need to be a laptop? My son uses tablets quite a lot at his school and he has recently got a Hudl2 for £99 which has been great, we also have a PC at home that he uses sometimes but doesn't really do anything different on that to what he does on the tablet.
 
SteveSc said:
Does it need to be a laptop? My son uses tablets quite a lot at his school and he has recently got a Hudl2 for £99 which has been great, we also have a PC at home that he uses sometimes but doesn't really do anything different on that to what he does on the tablet.
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This was going to be my suggestion also, plenty of decent tablets around for £100 ish.

If it absolutely has to be a laptop or pc, then I would go for a Windows based one as others have said this is what they will most likely use in school and in the work place.
 
We have the family iPad which he uses, but just feel that these days getting to know computers is as essential as reading a book. Seen a few for £199 but in no rush.
 
My T400 that Microsoft gave me in 2007 is still going strong, it has survived screen-poking, spills and drops from my son (now 9). Aside from weak plastic on the USB inserts it has been a proper warhorse!!
 
If you want him to learn about computers and the extent they are involved in our lives then Arduino and RPi are the way to go. If you want him to be able to use a computer as a tool for e-mail/web etc then a cheap tablet will be fine - go for a decent sized screen though - the OS is far less significant. If he can use an e-mail client on one device he'll be able to use an e-mail client on any other...same for web, office or whatever application software you want him to use. The kids I teach use Android tablets, and windows PCs (laptop and desktop) and swap between them effortlessly. The adults I teach have far more problems but that is due to their pre-conceptions and belief that the operating system is more important than the applications that they actually want to use.
 
Have you though about a laptop with Ubuntu ( or some other Linux distributions)? This will maximise your money on the hardware, will future proof since Linux always runs faster than windows on equivalent hardware, and you will save him money going forward since he is not tied to an paid for OS like (some of) us luddites. Eg http://m.ebuyer.com/705953
 
Am not looking at RPi/Unix etc... just a laptop to do a mix of stuff on. appreciate he can do loads on an iPad but just to get used to using an actual laptop, saving stuff in word etc... planned to get him a dummies guide so tat he can work it out for himself! still torn between a cheap laptop and a chromebook one (no fibre yet so that is putting me off!)
 
I'm sure you know, but a chromebook runs Chrome OS, which is one of the many variants of linux (don't let that put you off). (fFr your info Ubuntu does everything Windows, etc does, it's fast with loads of software installable with a simple click of a button, similar to the app store, google play etc.).
 
The Weaver said:
Have you though about a laptop with Ubuntu ( or some other Linux distributions)? This will maximise your money on the hardware, will future proof since Linux always runs faster than windows on equivalent hardware, and you will save him money going forward since he is not tied to an paid for OS like (some of) us luddites. Eg http://m.ebuyer.com/705953
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Nothing against linux if that is what you want but for a youngster it's more important for them to become familiar with how the thing works. If you present a 7 year old with something different to what they use at school then they may become confused and frustrated. For us that will mean OSX as both of our kids' schools have wall to wall Macs. For the OP I'd say look at what the school uses (if you have a fair idea about the next school maybe look there too) and how with that.

Plenty of time a little later once they have the grounding and confidence for them to learn all of the different options out there.
 
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