New laptop - suggestions

[Imager]

Hello all!

My son (12) is looking to spend his own money on a laptop. He is starting to learn coding, and will be using it for that, web surfing, light online gaming (minecraft) and would also like the option to play skyrim (if possible).
I'm thinking the last game option will put his cost up pretty high. Can y'all provide some options and recommendations for him? I was checking out Xoticpc.com - years ago I was told they were very good.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Torn Mind]

What sort of budget does he have?

 

[Essence_of_War]

And what settings does he want for Skyrim? Does he just want it to run, or does he want it run with eye candy?

 

[ringtail]

I think you should match his dollars 1:1 or 2:1 and let him get a really excellent gaming computer. Let him get one he's PROUD OF.

His "engine is running" ..... FUEL THAT!!!! You want to nourish his wholesome interest.

Also make sure you have a good router and fast internet service at home for your son. Makes a LOT of difference!

Definitely shop here. I've bought several computers here, EXCELLENT place for an upscale gaming computer. LINK

Another link

 

[Imager]

his budget is between 600-800US. He would like it to run smoothly, but not all settings high is necessary.

Great suggestion Ringtail, but I'm a single Dad of 4 boys. He's been saving his own money for it. If I matched him, I'd have to match all the kids :-/ that's not gonna happen even though I wish I could.

 

[alangrift]

I recommend getting a gaming laptop so he can also do his school work on it and take around with him. I would look at the acer aspire series with nvidiia graphics card.

 

[Imager]

I think you should match his dollars 1:1 or 2:1 and let him get a really excellent gaming computer. Let him get one he's PROUD OF.

His "engine is running" ..... FUEL THAT!!!! You want to nourish his wholesome interest.

Also make sure you have a good router and fast internet service at home for your son. Makes a LOT of difference!

Definitely shop here. I've bought several computers here, EXCELLENT place for an upscale gaming computer. LINK

Another link

The 2nd link takes me to a pic haha

the sager laptops good?

 

[Imager]

I recommend getting a gaming laptop so he can also do his school work on it and take around with him. I would look at the acer aspire series with nvidiia graphics card.

He actually has a school laptop (from school) lt's a lenovo thinkpad. Not suitable for any gaming, but for school work yes. He obviously will only have it until June then not again until Sept. The acer laptops that I saw had terrible reviews, maybe it's just the ones I saw.

I know his budget kills him a bit, but the kid is saving his own money so I give him mad kudos on that.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Do you get a discount from work or something along those lines? Some companies offer discounts (10-15%) on Lenovo products.

The Y series is a good line, it comes with a neat backlit keyboard.

 

[Imager]

Do you get a discount from work or something along those lines? Some companies offer discounts (10-15%) on Lenovo products.

The Y series is a good line, it comes with a neat backlit keyboard.

I get a 10% discount on Dell products only

 

[s44]

his budget is between 600-800US. He would like it to run smoothly, but not all settings high is necessary.

XoticPC and Sager are fine, but you aren't going to find anything with the discrete (Nvidia, not Intel) GPU you need for any real gaming at that price point. Remember, their base prices don't include Windows.

As T_Yamamoto said, I would look at the Lenovo Y series. The Y410p is on deep sale at their website -- the 1600*900 version is a nice setup.

 

[ncage]

I will beg to differ from a lot of the opinions on here. What do you want your son doing most of his time with this notebook....playing games or leaning to program?

I think you should avoid a gaming type of laptop for a couple reasons i'll that i'll mention later. Are you stuck on him using windows? If not the Mac would be an EXCELLENT machine to learn on (its got a true unix type shell). A fine machine would be a macbook air (maybe a 2012 version). Any machine even with intel graphics in the last few years can do light gaming just fine. Intel graphics have actually become quite good for what they are.

The problem with gaming machines are your trading one thing for another. Generally they are heavy (less portable), more fan noise. Also like i said what do you want him doing wasting his time play games or learning to program? If he gets a notebook that can plan a lot of games guess what he might do with most of his time

If you still want windows there are still options (though i think the mac is the best). You could install virtual box with a linux distro and would give him the same flexibility as a mac. There are so many fine languages to learn on when you have a Unix Type Shell:
Python (& django framework if he would want to try his hand at web development)
Go
Rust
Ruby (& Rails framework if he would want to try his hand at web development)
C/C++ (Very good language but might be rough for a newbie)

You can still learn to program in windows but a lot of people get intimidated with the visual studio ide. Visual Studio express editions are free. He just wants to start out creating console apps though in the UI Design.

So if i were to recommend a windows machine it would be something thin & light with 8GB or ram if you can get it (so you can run a vm with linux if needed). Maybe a used lenovo X1 carbon on ebay.

Oh yes and i am a programmer .

 

[s44]

The kid is 12, spending his own money, and has a budget way too low for Apple. Be serious.

 

[ncage]

The kid is 12, spending his own money, and has a budget way too low for Apple. Be serious.

Did you happen to see his budget (600-800)? If you look for a 2011-2012 mba (used on ebay) he should be within or at least close to the his budget (especially if dad helps a little).

 

[s44]

So you want him to spend money he doesn't have to buy a machine he doesn't want, that's dated, used, and comes with a crap screen.

As I said, let's be serious. The C720P would be a better non-gaming machine... But that's not what he wants. And it's his money.

 

[ncage]

So you want him to spend money he doesn't have to buy a machine he doesn't want, that's dated, used, and comes with a crap screen.

As I said, let's be serious. The C720P would be a better non-gaming machine... But that's not what he wants. And it's his money.

Geesh there is one in every crowd isn't there? Dated? Hardly. I have a 2012 mba and its far from dated. In fact the 2013 mba while having better battery life is generally worse in performance. I don't want him to do anything. It doesn't bother me whatever decision he makes. He asked for advice and i'm giving my opinion . It depends on his priorities. He listed some things he wanted to do but he didn't discuss which was the most important to him. If its for his son to get a foot in the door by learning programming then i stand by my recommendation. It also depends on how really motivated his son is to learn programming.

I'm not sure of the c720p. Its a chromebook right? Just as long as you can run a linux shell and install things which since i've never used a chromebook i can't comment on but if you can it would be a fine choice i'm sure.

But i guess we just agree to disagree and its up to dad to make the decision on whats important not you or me.