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Laptop for High School Student

O

owensdj

Golden Member
I need to find a good laptop for a 15 year-old High School student. They'll be using Microsoft Office on it for homework. They'll also want wireless networking to get Internet access from the home wireless broadband router. Any ideas what to get or what not to get? Thanks.
 
DarkAmeba, it's not for me. It's for someone I know's daughter, so I don't know about the price range. From what they told me, I assume whatever laptop I recommend will be OK regardless of price.
 
i honestly don't see why any high school student would need a laptop unless they go to a prep school that requires a laptop to attend high school.

i would just go with a dell laptop. something small and decent priced like the 700m or so
 
For something portable, check out the HP dv1000. 14" widescreen, 6-7 hours batt life w/12-cell, Centrino of course. Great laptop
For something with a larger screen and thus less portable, the Dell 6000 has a 15.4" screen IIRC (14.1" maybe?) and has gotten good reviews. eMachines/Gateway & Averatec make cheap, decent quality laptops.
 
Albis, they're going to be using it now in High School and also take it with them to college in 2 years. Giving them a laptop now keeps them off their mom's new desktop machine now, and the can still use it in college. Avoiding the clutter of a desktop computer and monitor is a plus.
 
Some universities have great offers on educational discounts for laptops (and some don't). So if these high school students are thinking ahead about a laptop for college, maybe it would be a better idea to wait until then, and just stick with a cheap desktop (or maybe a refurbed laptop) for now.

HTH.
 
Just jump on one of those Dell deals. I wouldn't do the Dell 600m unless they fix the issue with heat and mobo problems

If weight isn't an issue, then the Dell 6000d or i has a prettty nice screen. HP/Compaq is always running a deal on some kind of budget entry laptop on the Sunday's paper. Also overstock.com has some refurbished IBM T series laptop.

You state this person wants to take this on to college later on, I would suggest the extended warranty with who ever you go with. It might get banged up by then and the person might have to shell out money for another laptop if the laptop takes a dump later.

You could always get a used laptop for under $500 and see later on if an upgrade is necessary, how much are wirless pcmica cards? $30 at the most without some kind of rebate.





 
How would an IBM ThinkPad R Series compare to a Dell Inspiron? I configured a similar computer on both web sites, and the IBM was about $100 less than the Dell plus had a 15" compared to 14.1" screen. I expected the Dell to cheaper.
 
I think normally IBM would get the nod over a dell, their stuff is pretty well put together. I haven't priced any myself, but I was always under the assumption IBM was quite a bit more then a comparable dell. Maybe things have changed.
 
I have an IBM Thinkpad R52 sitting waiting to be reviewed, from the limited interaction I've had with it it seems to have a solid build. Not as good as the T42/43 mind you, but on par with or above like an HP notebook. Unfortunately I've had very limited interaction w/Dell's, otherwise I would give a better comparison
 
owen, with what you are asking any laptop built post 2002 will probably have a internal wifi. However most if not all laptops can satify.
 
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