Windows laptop for 15 year old daughter - recommendations please

[SueEllen]

^^ This..

I presume she will be going to Uni so will need a new one for that anyway. Get one to last two years and save for a good one to send her to uni with IMO.

WHS

Teenagers up to the age of 17 seem to like breaking laptops especially if they want a shiny new one.

I've wasted time sourcing laptops for some relations' teenage children and apart from those 17+ they break them within 2 years. That includes the ones who you try and get them to tell you what they want.

[Platypus]

I just recommended a Dell Inspiron 15R at £499 for a friend. They were constrained by budget.

Judging by the way my daughter gets through laptops, cheaper might be better.

OTOH no viruses and malware with an Apple

[TheFaQQer]

OTOH no viruses and malware with an Apple

Apple drops virus immunity claim for Macs - Telegraph

[Platypus]

Apple drops virus immunity claim for Macs - Telegraph

Yeah but no but.

Give the "man in the street" a PC and ask him to find and install Skype, Adobe Reader and a free anti virus, see how much tulipe he ends up with. Oh and then get him to do a Java update.

Before long he'll have pop-ups, a changed home page, some iffy search engine that takes him all over the place and nag-ware telling him to spend £40 before his PC explodes.

Every now and again I feel sorry for friends and family and offer to remove all this crap, usually when they say their PC "is running slow". Not all my friends and family are numpties, some are quite bright, and still they get all this crap.

At least with an Apple, there isn't so much tulipe around that this happens in less than a month.



EDIT: anyway I think you know that, so why I bothered typing it I have no idea. Also, I don't own a Mac.

[vetran]

Yeah but no but.

Give the "man in the street" a PC and ask him to find and install Skype, Adobe Reader and a free anti virus, see how much tulipe he ends up with. Oh and then get him to do a Java update.

Before long he'll have pop-ups, a changed home page, some iffy search engine that takes him all over the place and nag-ware telling him to spend £40 before his PC explodes.

Every now and again I feel sorry for friends and family and offer to remove all this crap, usually when they say their PC "is running slow". Not all my friends and family are numpties, some are quite bright, and still they get all this crap.

At least with an Apple, there isn't so much tulipe around that this happens in less than a month.



EDIT: anyway I think you know that, so why I bothered typing it I have no idea. Also, I don't own a Mac.

MSE, CCcleaner, spybot & porn site recommendations (where appropriate) seem to stop the worst of it in my experience. There are a determined few, those you invoice!

[scooterscot]

Get her a Mac if you want her to look up to her Daddy.

[oscarose]

Look at a Chromebook. £200, no viruses, boots in seconds, good apps, goes on battery for 8 hours, very quick (and get faster with time - (browser upgrades)) and with Google Docs no requirement for MS Office.

[Flashman]

Downgrade the OS from Windows 8 to Windows 7 if you can.

[d000hg]

Yeah but no but.

Give the "man in the street" a PC and ask him to find and install Skype, Adobe Reader and a free anti virus, see how much tulipe he ends up with. Oh and then get him to do a Java update.

I googled those 3 things. Skype offered a download link on the Google results page, Adobe reader was very obvious and avast/avg were top for the 3rd. Aren't they all "safe" downloads? Or do any of them try to trick you into installing toolbars?

Damn, only opened this thread because I thought it was a swap proposal

Which were you offering?

Look at a Chromebook. £200, no viruses, boots in seconds, good apps, goes on battery for 8 hours, very quick (and get faster with time - (browser upgrades)) and with Google Docs no requirement for MS Office.

My PC has Google Docs and still requires MSOffice. ChromeBooks have Google Docs and lack the capability for Office.

[oscarose]

I googled those 3 things. Skype offered a download link on the Google results page, Adobe reader was very obvious and avast/avg were top for the 3rd. Aren't they all "safe" downloads? Or do any of them try to trick you into installing toolbars?

Which were you offering?

My PC has Google Docs and still requires MSOffice. ChromeBooks have Google Docs and lack the capability for Office.

Depends on the requirement - obviously it can't do everything. I can write something on the ChromeBook in Google Docs and email the attachment as a Word document (and other options available e.g. PDF) and it's a clean conversion.

Probably, I would say the ChromeBook has been one of my best buys; had enough of Windows security attacks and the like and its lag etc.

Not having to scramble for a charger all the time does make a difference. Ideal for a student I'd say!