Spec me a 2in1!

[skaif]

So my kids starting school next year and they require a windows device with 2in1 operation and a stylus. Been out the laptop game for a while and want to know what's the best bang for buck laptop out there? Budget can be up to 1k.

Priority will be battery life and durability, if I can get a case which houses stylus etc that would be even better! Current front runner is the surface pro 9 which is on offer at the moment with the keyboard and stylus for 1k. Can anything beat it?

 

[Mujja]

So my kids starting school

Aren't you an English teacher?

How old is your child? A surface device is a little fiddly and the kayboard isn't great, plus no place to store the stylus.

I bought my kids used Thinkpad Yogas (Gen2), still going strong years later. There's a silo for a small stylus and a large stylus doesn't cost much, I think I paid £40.

 

[skaif]

Aren't you an English teacher?

How old is your child? A surface device is a little fiddly and the kayboard isn't great, plus no place to store the stylus.

I bought my kids used Thinkpad Yogas (Gen2), still going strong years later. There's a silo for a small stylus and a large stylus doesn't cost much, I think I paid £40.

Haha I teach CS, should have got chatgpt to proof

She is 6, and the Surface is what the school is recommending. I did see the Yogas and they're on the list too, as are the Samsung equivalent.

Will look into them and see if any offers are on. What cpu gen are we on for Intel laptops? Is it 12th or 13th gen? And amd? Ryzen 6000 series?

 

[Snapshot]

Intel gen 13 is now available which means there are some good deal on gen 12. Yes, AMD is Ryzen 6000.

 

[Mujja]

Haha I teach CS, should have got chatgpt to proof

She is 6, and the Surface is what the school is recommending. I did see the Yogas and they're on the list too, as are the Samsung equivalent.

Will look into them and see if any offers are on. What cpu gen are we on for Intel laptops? Is it 12th or 13th gen? And amd? Ryzen 6000 series?

A full size laptop might be too large for a 6 year old. If the surface pro is recommended by the school then they will have experience of the device and should be able to assist your daughter with how to use it in class.

I think the current models use USB-C now, which will mean one less charger to worry about.

 

[skaif]

Awesome thanks gents, I have until the summer so may wait until back in the UK to buy the damn thing.

 

[lsg1r]

Haha I teach CS, should have got chatgpt to proof

She is 6, and the Surface is what the school is recommending. I did see the Yogas and they're on the list too, as are the Samsung equivalent.

Will look into them and see if any offers are on. What cpu gen are we on for Intel laptops? Is it 12th or 13th gen? And amd? Ryzen 6000 series?

Maybe it's just me but the first thing I thought when I read this was is the school on something.... why on earth is a school recommending a premium priced (are you sure the school doesn't mean the non pro?) and arguably quite fragile 2in1 for a 6 year old, that sure wouldn't be the direction I'd be going. Is this for work at home, use at school or both? If it's for use at school, why aren't they supplying the laptop, not everyone will be able to afford '£1000' per child on a laptop (unless it's some well off boarding school type affair). In all honesty the school could likely get a bulk deal from someone like dell/asus and rent/sell them to student/parents.

Personally I'd be looking at something like this Asus which has just announced/released the below if it's to be used at school, it's a tad more rugged.

ASUS BR1402F｜Laptops For Students｜ASUS Global

ASUS BR series is an all-new, education-focused Windows laptop series that built to handle daily classroom rigors with reliable technology designed for schools to simplify IT management.

www.asus.com

Little side note... if you want to extend the life of the device, rumours seem to point to windows 12 (or whatever it's called) needing 8GB ram minimum, most 2in1's can't be upgraded

 

[Steven Rimmington]

I picked up a Lenovo Duet 7i and I can say this gets used 99% of the time. Removing the keyboard and using it as a tablet is impressive and light. Wasn't keen on the folding 2in1s they felt a little bulky. These are only £499. I'd be worried it will be dropped or spillages on the keyboard or something. I know my 8 year old is very heavy handed with devices so make sure you have good content insurance

 

[skaif]

Maybe it's just me but the first thing I thought when I read this was is the school on something.... why on earth is a school recommending a premium priced (are you sure the school doesn't mean the non pro?) and arguably quite fragile 2in1 for a 6 year old, that sure wouldn't be the direction I'd be going. Is this for work at home, use at school or both? If it's for use at school, why aren't they supplying the laptop, not everyone will be able to afford '£1000' per child on a laptop (unless it's some well off boarding school type affair). In all honesty the school could likely get a bulk deal from someone like dell/asus and rent/sell them to student/parents.

Personally I'd be looking at something like this Asus which has just announced/released the below if it's to be used at school, it's a tad more rugged.

ASUS BR1402F｜Laptops For Students｜ASUS Global

ASUS BR series is an all-new, education-focused Windows laptop series that built to handle daily classroom rigors with reliable technology designed for schools to simplify IT management.

www.asus.com

Little side note... if you want to extend the life of the device, rumours seem to point to windows 12 (or whatever it's called) needing 8GB ram minimum, most 2in1's can't be upgraded

Thanks for the response, for context my kids at a private school out here in the middle east - for most parents dropping 1k on a laptop is not an issue so I guess the school will recommend the best there is! It will mainly be for her schoolwork but also used on trips etc. Good shout on the future proofing! That ASUS doesnt seem to have a place for the stylus?

I picked up a Lenovo Duet 7i and I can say this gets used 99% of the time. Removing the keyboard and using it as a tablet is impressive and light. Wasn't keen on the folding 2in1s they felt a little bulky. These are only £499. I'd be worried it will be dropped or spillages on the keyboard or something. I know my 8 year old is very heavy handed with devices so make sure you have good content insurance

Thanks for this, looks a good shout. I think I would prefer a tablet come laptop rather than a 2in1 as it just offers a little bit more versatility and should anything go wrong with the keyboard it can be replaced I guess. Will keep looking and try out some devices

 

[lsg1r]

Thanks for the response, for context my kids at a private school out here in the middle east - for most parents dropping 1k on a laptop is not an issue so I guess the school will recommend the best there is! It will mainly be for her schoolwork but also used on trips etc. Good shout on the future proofing!

ah fair enough, I'd still be looking at something a little more rugged personally. If it's going on trips, weight will be the issue for a 6 year old.... are you 100% sure they meant the surface pro and not the smaller 10inch surface go?

That ASUS doesnt seem to have a place for the stylus?

Nor does a surface technically (it just sticks on the side) unless you're going for the slim stylus and keyboard combo with the 'dock'... can't remember if any of that is actually magnetic though so it might fall out.

I think the new Samsung's might have a stylus slot but it seems to be missing on a lot of 2in1's these days.... I'm guessing they still use pencil cases these days at school, so you could always just stick the stylus in there, maybe in it's own little pouch to limit damage.

New side note, having re-read stuff.... just thought of this, does this school only work in English? If not does any work need specific middle eastern characters where the keyboard might have multiple characters and require combo's to trigger. I remember at uni a Thai flatmate had a keyboard with so many letters/symbols on it was comical.

 

[skaif]

Yeah the school has high standards! They gave a few options and the pro 9 was the only one with a picture next to it!
Yeah the surface with the keyboard thingy has a space for the stylus. She's generally quite good with tech as has used the Mrs ipad for years now and knows how to look after it so maybe the stylus in the pencil case could be a shout.

Good point regarding the other languages. She is in the Arabic B class and u guess the onscreen keyboard could be used for that?

 

[lsg1r]

Yeah the school has high standards! They gave a few options and the pro 9 was the only one with a picture next to it!
Yeah the surface with the keyboard thingy has a space for the stylus. She's generally quite good with tech as has used the Mrs ipad for years now and knows how to look after it so maybe the stylus in the pencil case could be a shout.

It's probably me but high standards don't automatically mean high priced.... but then if you've got other parent's not flinching at 1-2K for a 6 year olds laptop then I suppose to them it isn't high priced lol

I suppose the one good thing with the Surface (some others probably support it too) is aftermarket pen support due to it using Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) so you could get a secondary one for the pencil case just in case the one in the keyboard is lost.

Good point regarding the other languages. She is in the Arabic B class and u guess the onscreen keyboard could be used for that?

Just checked on windows 10 (desktop but I have it available due to graphics tablet) and you can pick a different language to display (top left, keyboard with cog), I don't have any installed to check but I would assume there will be an arabic option to pick from.