Laptop life? What to get for A-levels and Uni?

EveryWhere

FifiAnne wrote: »

It has a better processor a larger capacity SSD and dedicated graphics.

But does she need such a laptop?

Oh, I forgot the VAT !!!128533; Perhaps a smaller one wouldbe OK, I have no clue how much of what sort of files you can store in that sort of space to be honest. She's doing science and maths not graphics or media. I guess she'll probably play sone games and store photos on it but she's not a big gamer. We don't currently use cloud storage due to me being a tecno-thickie and it's yet another expense.[/QUOTE]

If she plays some games then the dedicated graphics card of the Dell Outlet machine could be useful.
On the other hand, I wouldn't trust these plasticky machines to last the course. So wouldn't be keen to spend too much.
No one needs to pay out for cloud storage. Mega.nz gives 50 GB for free and anyway, one should also have an external storage back-up solution.

EveryWhere

https://mcscom.co.uk/product/dell-inspiron-15-5570-silver-i3-7130u-2-70ghz-8gb-128gb-ssd-15-6-fhd-win-10-1yr-rtb-wty-mln509/ is also an option, with a slightly better processor than the Pentium machine.

What kind of games does she like to play?

FifiAnne

What kind of games does she like to play?[/QUOTE]
I'm sure either of those would be fine, she just plays basic games on a tablet at present but I'm guessing when she has her own laptop she'll move on! I'll have a look at that cloud storage too, thanks,

EveryWhere

Just don't spend too much. That way, if she needs something better/different for Uni, it won't be as much of an imposition.
It is more difficult for those who are afraid to customise their devices, as often you have to pay over the odds.
I found the perfect laptop for girlfriend; 17.3" FHD Touchscreen, dedicated graphics, backlit keyboard etc but it came with a mechanical hard drive. Just took a few minutes and £60 for a 240 GB SSD to put that right. Around £420 for a top of the range device.

But because you won't fit your own SSD, you are limited to finding devices with them already fitted.
So you need to think about what is essential to her and go from there.

Personally I would also prefer Windows 10 Pro to Home. There are all kinds of compromises to be made when you are buying off the shelf on a budget.

macman

I've never found printing an issue with a Chromebook. Google Cloud Print generally works well.

EveryWhere

macman wrote: »

I've never found printing an issue with a Chromebook. Google Cloud Print generally works well.

I'm sure Chromebooks are great, as long as they are not your only refuge.
Just like the Netbook I'm using now. It's great that it's still serving me ten years later, with the aid of a solid state drive.
No slowdowns or virus issues.
But it's still limiting, even though it can likely do everything that a Chromebook can do and more.
The fact is that you can get many of the benefits of a Chromebook by simply using Chrome as a Browser, or one of the many Browsers based on Chrome/Chromium.

I wouldn't be expecting to multi-task with a Chromebook. Especially after reading reports of the things stuttering with a few Browser tabs open; https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/chromebook-buying-advice

Currently, even on my Atom powered Netbook, I have twenty to thirty tabs and two to three Browsers open at any one time, whilst playing music.

So a Chromebook stuttering with more than eight tabs being open is a worry.
Not convinced about these cut down machines. They were supposed to undercut Windows machines on price, but that hasn't really worked. A bit pointless methinks.