Laptop help

[Jkacz]

All older DS has asked for Christmas is a laptop.  I've been looking into them and I'm lost.  He wants to be able to do his schoolwork on it, but also play minecraft and roblox.  After spending days searching, I'm overwhelmed by the choices.  I'd like to spend about $300 but could go a little higher if needed.  Does anyone have any suggestions or could point me in the right direction?

thanks!

[milovany]

I'm not going to be a huge amount of help (because I won't be able to explain the reasons why), but I work online for a living and need a fast, reliable, and preferably long-lasting system or I'd lose my job.  Three years ago, my computer guy got me to switch away from one of the cheaper Dells (which I'd purchased for years and which would last a couple of years) to a Lenovo ThinkPad.  I just began year four and we're still going strong.  My second recommendation is to purchase through a local person if at all possible.  It's so nice to have "a computer guy" (or gal) to go to if/when the need arises. 

[Lanny]

The more RAM (Memory) a computer has, the better. Or, at least expansion room so one can add more memory.  A larger display is extremely nice to have. Especially a "Non-Glare" screen, such as the Enterprise Grade Dell Latitude machines have. We have 6 of those in the house.  However, an "Enterprise" grade machine would probably have a Graphic Card or Chip optimized for Business Applications and he wants Gaming, possibly better to go with a "Consumer" grade machine. Lower in quality, but might be better for Gaming.     If he plans to use the Keyboard on the Laptop instead of an external USB Keyboard connected by cable, it is imperative that he try the Keyboard BEFORE buying the laptop. The things one uses to interact with the machine (Mouse, Keyboard, Display) are more important than what is actually inside the machine.  

We have one "Consumer" grade Dell Laptop (Inspiron) in the house. My Stepson purchased it used some years back. The only issues I know of are the hard disk drive being replaced once or twice, but that's normal.  The Dell Latitude machine I am using to write this was probably assembled in about 2008 or 2010.  We have one mini Laptop (a low end ACER Windows machine) my wife bought for DIL about 2 or 3 years ago. It seems to work fine.

Although we have never purchased a new LENOVO machine, I have read a lot of good things about their "Enterprise" grade laptops and would suggest that IF gaming wasn't a big priority.

I would try to get a machine with an SSD instead of an HDD if possible at that price point.  

Good luck with your decision. Involve him in the decision.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Lanny
added one word

[Jkacz]

54 minutes ago, texasmom33 said:

Since his primary use beyond school with it is for gaming, I’d get one with the best graphics card you can afford and make that the feature you’re shopping around with the budget you set. 

If that’s too generic for advice let me know and I’ll fill in more but I didn’t know how much push in a direction you were looking for. ? 

 

This is where I'm having a problem. I have no idea how to tell what the best graphics card is.  All the specs give info, but I don't know how to compare them.  I think from my reading that a solid state drive is faster than a hard drive (and laptops with SSDs seem to get better reviews on bestbuy.com) and I know that roblox and minecraft and word processing don't require much memory, but then I heard that not having enough RAM could also make the laptop slow.  I feel completely lost and helpless.

I was looking at the HP 15-bs121nr which has Intel HD Graphics 5500 with a core i3-5005u (2 GHz) processor.  Would that work?  It doesn't look like it has a touch screen.  I would rather spend more money if it's necessary to get him what will work, or not get anything at all rather than get something that won't work.  The problem is, I have no clue about computers.  I use my v3 IPad for almost everything and an old Toshiba (5 years old, I think) for paying bills.  So any help would be greatly appreciated.  

[Jkacz]

11 minutes ago, Lanny said:

The more RAM (Memory) a computer has, the better. Or, at least expansion room so one can add more memory.  A larger display is extremely nice to have. Especially a "Non-Glare" screen, such as the Enterprise Grade Dell Latitude machines have. We have 6 of those in the house.  However, an "Enterprise" grade machine would probably have a Graphic Card or Chip optimized for Business Applications and he wants Gaming, possibly better to go with a "Consumer" grade machine. Lower in quality, but might be better for Gaming.     If he plans to use the Keyboard on the Laptop instead of an external USB Keyboard connected by cable, it is imperative that he try the Keyboard BEFORE buying the laptop. The things one uses to interact with the machine (Mouse, Keyboard, Display) are more important than what is actually inside the machine.  

We have one "Consumer" grade Dell Laptop (Inspiron) in the house. My Stepson purchased it used some years back. The only issues I know of are the hard disk drive being replaced once or twice, but that's normal.  The Dell Latitude machine I am using to write this was probably assembled in about 2008 or 2010.  We have one mini Laptop (a low end ACER Windows machine) my wife bought for DIL about 2 or 3 years ago. It seems to work fine.

Although we have never purchased a new LENOVO machine, I have read a lot of good things about their "Enterprise" grade laptops and would suggest that IF gaming wasn't a big priority.

I would try to get a machine with an SSD instead of an HDD if possible at that price point.  

Good luck with your decision. Involve him in the decision.

Thank-you Lanny.  I didn't see your reply until after I posted but it's great to see you confirm what I thought I was seeing.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

I was going to suggest an Asus Chrimebook Flip. It fits your price range. However, I don’t think you can play Roblox on a chrome book.

 

We bought an Asus Chromebook Flip for traveling. It’s an amazing little computer. My teen used it for his online classes while we were traveling, and several games he likes that were available for Chromebooks. It’s definitely not a gaming computer but we were very impressed with it for web browsing, online classes, watching tv/movies, and the games that were available. I am normally a Mac person, so this was a pleasant by surprise.