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Best laptop for high school kid?

A

AMCDeac

Richard Joyce
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Daughter announced today that she needs her own computer for 9th grade, which seems reasonable.

She wants a MacBook. Any preferences among the models for student use?

Any other thoughts on what would be best for a high school kid and/or college student?

Thanks.
 
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office-michael-scott-declare-bankruptcy.gif
 
dude, you're gettin' a dell

but seriously, go buy her a $500 asus laptop that you won't care about her dropping or spilling something on.
 
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If you get her a computer now you're probably going to have to get her another one at some point in college so save the Mac until then. Or better yet, tell her if she wants a Mac now she can pay half
 
Or maybe she goes to Wake and gets a $65,000 laptop.
 
I'd get her a previous generation Macbook Air, along with a student discount hopefully. They're not that expensive and there's a good chance it'll last until college.
 
Knight said:
This is going to be the most important post in this thread so far. Please read it. This is going to be one of the only serious posts I ever make on this board (did you know that my brother is a fighter pilot?)

Whatever you get her, make sure that it doesn't have a built-in webcam.

If you go down the webcam route, you will regret it. End of story. Without a webcam, not only will your daughter have less pressure on her from her peers, she will also be (somewhat) insulated from temporary lapses in judgment.

Lots of folks on here know that I work for the Federal Government. Please don't expose your daughter to the unnecessary risks that a webcam entails.

If you're asking this question, I assume you've already purchased her a cell phone. Don't tell yourself "well, if she's going to do *that,* then her phone is just as much of a risk." That is wrong. There are so many more avenues for attack/persuasion via the Internet than over a phone. That isn't to say that a cell phone in a teen girl's hands isn't one of the worst things ever - because it is. But a fully functional laptop with a webcam on it isn't going to happen for my Daughter before she's 18, a desktop is going to be fine for her.

Worst case scenario, you get a tech guy to lock the shit out of that webcam.
Click to expand...

I don't think they even make laptops without built in webcams anymore (or if they do they're not aimed at normal consumers)...
 
DCDeac said:
I'd get her a previous generation Macbook Air, along with a student discount hopefully. They're not that expensive and there's a good chance it'll last until college.
Click to expand...

TITCR if you're going the Mac route..
 
Knight said:
This is going to be the most important post in this thread so far. Please read it. This is going to be one of the only serious posts I ever make on this board (did you know that my brother is a fighter pilot?)

Whatever you get her, make sure that it doesn't have a built-in webcam.

If you go down the webcam route, you will regret it. End of story. Without a webcam, not only will your daughter have less pressure on her from her peers, she will also be (somewhat) insulated from temporary lapses in judgment.

Lots of folks on here know that I work for the Federal Government, every week, we have at least one predator picked up. Please don't expose your daughter to the unnecessary risks that a webcam entails.

If you're asking this question, I assume you've already purchased her a cell phone. Don't tell yourself "well, if she's going to do *that,* then her phone is just as much of a risk." That is wrong. There are so many more avenues for attack/persuasion via the Internet than over a phone. That isn't to say that a cell phone in a teen girl's hands isn't one of the worst things ever - because it is. But a fully functional laptop with a webcam on it isn't going to happen for my Daughter before she's 18, a desktop is going to be fine for her.

Worst case scenario, you get a tech guy to lock the shit out of that webcam.
Click to expand...

High school girls webcam these days? I'm not buying it. I'd guess that 95% of the nudes/videos sent out from high school girls come from their cell phone cameras, not laptops. Now the 5% on the laptop, yeah, maybe a percentage of them are going to people that are not their current sig. other/hookup. But I'd be way more concerned with what my teenage daughter is doing from her phone that what shes doing with a laptop.
 
Knight said:
I wish you were right.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm wrong then. Are you talking personal chat rooms here or messing around with friends during a junior year sleepover and nexting through chat roulette/omegle?
 
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga. Take a look at it.

Obviously, the Apple vs. non-Apple decision is a kind of long-term ecosystem question. Once you get into the Apple ecosystem it is hard to get out.
 
scooter84 said:
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga. Take a look at it.

Obviously, the Apple vs. non-Apple decision is a kind of long-term ecosystem question. Once you get into the Apple ecosystem it is hard to get out.
Click to expand...

Eh, if you're going to go touch screen I'd just bite the bullet and get a Surface Pro (wait for the newer models in October though) so they actually have a useful screen for taking notes/etc on (think that's the perfect computer for college students). I'm willing to bet his daughter's computer is just going to be used for word processing/school assignments and web browsing though.

I know you're biased though. :plos:
 
scooter84 said:
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga. Take a look at it.

Obviously, the Apple vs. non-Apple decision is a kind of long-term ecosystem question. Once you get into the Apple ecosystem it is hard to get out.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's a good machine to compare against, or a surface maybe. Also depends how tech-friendly her high school is and if they have a preference. My old high school has those new smart boards that sync with Apple products to automatically save notes and stuff. But there are other ones that work better with PC's.

The idea of avoiding a web cam is pretty pointless. Might as well disallow smart phones and internet if you're going to live in paranoia. A web cam is the least of your problems.
 
Just take a black sharpie to the webcam.
 
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