Student Laptops
Laptops for students is a tricky area, different schools make different recommendations so you have to start with the recommendations from your student's school. Some schools will send parents to their school portal which links through to a company called Learning With Technologies
Your school may geta kickback from LWT and that kickback may or may not be public knowledge. LWT is a major laptop supplier through schools across Australia and they have brand/models which may not be readily available through the normal retail supply chain.
Some schools will insist that you purchase a laptop for your student when they enter Year 7 and then again at Year 10. Which is OK if you can get the price point down to accommodate that. Lincoln Computer Centre recommends computers including laptops which have the performance and capacity to be useful for 6 to 8 years.
Whatever path you choose, you need to make sure you have accidental damage insurance cover on your student's laptop as it will make 2,400 trips back and forth to school over a 6 year period. So the likelihood of damage is quite high and you should confirm in writing that the insurance company knows you student is travelling to and from school with the laptop. From our experience, damage to student laptops while at school is generally at the hands of other students, ie your student is less likely to break it. Typical damage can involve dropping the school bag, sitting on the school bag or treading on the school bag. Each of these events is likely to do irreparale damage to the laptop.
So, we offer a student laptop range where the device will be useful for over 6 years, but there is nothing wrong with buying a lower cost computer to get through Years 7 to 9 and then go around again in year 10 if needed.