What laptop should I buy for students?

[mavhc]

Last year we got Dell Vostro 14" 5468 i3-6006u 42Wh, 3yr basic for £383.20

 

Thin, light, tough, no dvd drive.

 

But they don't make those any more, sigh.

 

There's the Latitude 3380 for Education, toughened screen, spill resistant.

 

Any other recommendations?, 13/14", 1.7 kg or lighter, SSD, matte screen unless it's toughened. TPM 2

[Snuffkins]

I like the look of the 3380 that you mentioned. It's what we're looking at for students here.

[TwistedHelixis]

I normally get my Laptops from VeryPC, normally 14" thinbook I5, 8gb, 250 ssd, schools logo printed on them and 5 years warranty for around £550, obviously you can add or remove items to change the price.

[synaesthesia]

Bought a load of 3380s recently for a primary for that exact reason and very happy with their robustness. Had a few of Very's thinbooks but sorry to say they haven't stood up to the rigours of use over the last couple of years and all but a couple have been written off. With some of the pricing on the 3380s hovering very close to the £330 each mark with solid state drives it's difficult to recommend much else.

[maark]

Main problem we have is keys coming off - what have folk found to be the most rugged keyboard?

Also can you get replacement keyboards at a reasonable price?

[Oaktech]

I've been buying refurb i5 elitebooks for about £180+

 

fairly robust keyboards - about £20 to replace. Very robust cases. Some of them are horrifically bent and are still working!

[HTCPCP]

I leased some VeryPC laptops in one school, and my successor has said that he didn't have any issues with them, while the RM predecessors were a bit battered by the end. the vinyl decals seem to work quite well.

 

Similarly, I didn't have any issues with HP Probooks or Lenovo ThinkPads, apart from ones that were bounced.

[BlueSkies]

Bought a load of 3380s recently for a primary for that exact reason and very happy with their robustness. Had a few of Very's thinbooks but sorry to say they haven't stood up to the rigours of use over the last couple of years and all but a couple have been written off. With some of the pricing on the 3380s hovering very close to the £330 each mark with solid state drives it's difficult to recommend much else.

 

Just out of interest ... what spec did you go for on the 3380s?

Thanks

[elliot-w]

+1 for the VeryPC thinbook's, you can "Pick & Mix" with the spec's to your choosing, only our first lot from them but we will certainly be looking to buy some more in the future. @VeryPC_Colin_M can sort you out