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Best laptop for high school kid?

Knight said:
The most recent one that I can talk about was a predator who was using a popular weight loss forum to prey on girls by standing in as a "personal weight coach." Another case, a month or so ago, it was a guy who started out on facebook, but took things to skype pretty quickly after that.

In both cases, the fact that the girl was using a laptop (and also their phone) allowed the predator to manipulate the girl much more effectively.

SD3, this stuff gets dark as shit really fast. We have to review all/most of the evidence prior to trial. Those are not good times. It's not something I really like to talk about a whole lot when I don't have to.
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I don't think you are going to prevent this kind of stuff by limiting access to technology - that is pretty much impossible these days. The only defense is making sure your kids are educated and appropriately fearful.
 
cookoutdeac said:
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:
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A Surface? Really? Why buy a hardware product from a software company? MS just took ideas from all their hardware customers and had an OEM design/build the Surface for them... Oh, did I say that out loud?

We have a number of models that allow on-screen note-taking. And I am biased, I admit it... ThinkPads are durable and the Yoga version allows the different modes of operation - including tablet and stand modes - which come in handy for media consumption, etc.
 
scooter84 said:
A Surface? Really? Why buy a hardware product from a software company? MS just took ideas from all their hardware customers and had an OEM design/build the Surface for them... Oh, did I say that out loud?

We have a number of models that allow on-screen note-taking. And I am biased, I admit it... ThinkPads are durable and the Yoga version allows the different modes of operation - including tablet and stand modes - which come in handy for media consumption, etc.
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Because those products are generally more in-sync with the goals of the OS and fine-tuned for them? That's the main reason Apple has been so successful w/ their products in the past decade. Not really a compelling argument to stay away from the Surface at all.
 
Do you have any models in the Lenovo lineup with touch screen displays that support digitizers with the kind of palm rejection and pressure sensitivity the SP3 offers?
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
What is she doing in high school that requires her own laptop?
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As someone who's 7th grader needs a laptop for research/schoolwork at least an hour or two every day, I totally understand the need for a high school student to need their own computer. Asking to borrow mine (and subsequently fucking it up) got old in a hurry, so I took an old laptop from about 5 years ago and set it up for my 12 year old. Put some decent parental controls on there and set it up on a docking station in his room.
 
cookoutdeac said:
True. Google docs for assignments, web browsing for everything else.. and about 1/3 of the price.
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I don't know how other school districts do it, but WSFCS gives every student a free office 365 account. We long ago got our 12 year old hooked on Google Docs, so we hardly make use of it, but it's out there for everyone.
 
Knight said:
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.
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You do realize that smart phones have forward facing cameras and access the same internet as laptops, right? By all means, take measures to educate and make sure she's safe, but let's not pretend like a laptop is somehow more dangerous than a phone. If you feel the need to disable the camera, it can be done, but education is more important.
 
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She wants a MacBook because they are trendy and guarantee one of her friends suckered their parents into buying one. You should tell her to put together a presentation explaining why she needs a MacBook over saying pretty much anything else. Also if she does this please post it on the boards because it would be fucking hilarious, "I need it to do my homework which requires lots of research like using google"
 
Odds on MacBook getting stolen a Mega High School ? 1:2.
 
cookoutdeac said:
Because those products are generally more in-sync with the goals of the OS and fine-tuned for them? That's the main reason Apple has been so successful w/ their products in the past decade. Not really a compelling argument to stay away from the Surface at all.
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You are correct wrt to Apple but MS is not the same situation.
 
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