Whether your child is doing school virtually or just needs something to complete their assignments, more and more students are starting require a laptop for some aspect of their schooling.
Buying a laptop for your child is a very expensive and important decision, and there are many factors to account for when doing so.
Here are some things you should consider when buying your child’s first laptop.
1. What They Need It For
It’s important to consider why your child needs the laptop. For example, if your child is taking online high school courses in Ontario, their needs will likely be different from those just using a laptop to complete their assignments.
Laptops will run on one of three operating systems— Apple, Chrome, or Windows. Each of these operating systems has different features and can run different programs and applications. Each device will also have a different amount of internal storage (SSD), Random-Access Memory (RAM), and screen resolution.
Talk to their teachers to see what the laptop will be used for so you can determine which will be best.
2. Your Child’s Interests
You may also want to consider what your child will be using the laptop for outside the classroom. Laptops can be great tools for kids to develop their interests such as gaming, graphic design, coding, and music production.
Different laptops will work better for each specific hobby due to the programs needed for each.
3. How Much You Can Spend
While you could drop thousands of dollars on a laptop, you definitely do not need to. The best quality laptops for the price will fall between $800-$1000.
It may make more sense to spend a bit of extra money on a computer for your child if they are in virtual school, as you’ll want to ensure their computer can run programs like Google Meets or Zoom with ease.
Additionally, if you think your child may consider pursuing higher education, investing in a high-quality device that will stick with them throughout their university or college career will make for a better investment in the long run.
For kids who only need their laptops to write their assignments, you can get away with spending a bit less. You can also buy a used or refurbished laptop to help cut some of the cost.
4. Other Features
Laptops continue to get fancier and have more added features such as touch screens, high-resolution cameras, and touch ID access. These added tools can be fun to use but aren’t necessary for the average user.
Again, it’s important to consider what your child will be using the laptop for before you decide to spend extra money on bonus features. Additionally, some features, like an external disk drive, can be purchased separately and added on later if your child finds themselves needing them.
The most important features to make sure your child’s laptop has are:
- A good camera and microphone if they are doing school virtually.
- A full keyboard that they find easy to use.
- A durable exterior.
- An easy-to-use trackpad or option for an external mouse.
- Enough USB ports or the ability to add external ports.