Is this laptop OK?

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Blofeld72

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Thinking of getting the wife/kids (6 & 10) a laptop. It will primarily be used to browse the web, for word and I guess the odd PowerPoint presentation as the kids get older and need to do school projects. At the moment the kids just need to log in to various maths/english websites for online tests etc. Ultimately I daresay they will end up with their own ones. I don't know much about the inner workings of laptops nor do I want to so I'm after a little guidance as to my choice to make sure I don't get it too wrong. I have also owned Dell laptops before and they seem quite robust/well built so quite keen to stick to Dell.

After a little googling I have ended up at Amazon for a Dell Inspiron 3581 15.6-Inch FHD Anti-Glare 2019 Laptop (Black) Intel Core i3-7020U, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Windows 10 S Home https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-Inspiron-15-6-Inch-Anti-Glare-i3-7020U/dp/B07Z6MZSZN

I was then going to add this which I believe gives me word and PowerPoint on a non subscription basis
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Student-one-time-purchase-Windows/dp/B07FYRSS4Q

Am I in the right ballpark here?
Thank you for any insights.
 
I do like the Dell laptops having owned one for over 10 years which is still running strong by the way. There are cheaper similar spec ones you could of gone for ACER for instance, but if you are happy with that cost I don’t think you will be disappointed with that laptop. Not a fan of windows 10 but that’s just a me thing much prefer windows 7, however the latest will have better updates and security patches etc.
 
Thanks, yes those sentiments are where I was coming from, I wanted something that was well built and will last a while.
 
The main problem I found with kids and laptops, was damage to the hard disks. Bouncing them about whilst the hard disk is running. I began my computer life with 1Mb full height hard disk, which had to be treated with extreme care. It taught me to be very careful to wait until a disk has stopped spinning before even thinking of moving the equipment. Though I appreciate they are much more robust these days, I would suggest there is a regime of only using the laptop on a firm surface.
 
Haha oh yes, my kids are a nightmare (wife's not much better) leaving a trail of abandoned trashed tablets, phones and kindles in their wake, I've been nagged to get a family laptop for years and have avoided it for this very reason but the eldest is at the point now where it's going to hold him back. Any thoughts on my proposed purchases? I don't mind paying a bit extra for Dell, in five years time or whatever I won't even remember what I paid for it.
 
Having an SSD will certainly help when the kids are using it on the sofa on their lap and suddenly push it aside to do something - but 128gb is IMO very constricting, especially when they will want to install games etc.
modern games can take up quite a lot of space, so consider what games they will want to play as you may have to simply tell them "no - not that one" as you will neither have the space or specs to run it.

If they want to play minecraft then it ought to run that fine.
 
Couple of thoughts; Not much 'on-board' storage, by the time windoze and the office package loaded I guess their will be about 60-80 GB left for your purposes. The lack of space for games may be a bonus as it will stop them playing all the time.
The SSD will not suffer movement issues and damage as described by Harry above.
Do get the Anti-Virus loaded before delivery.
Looks like this windows 'package' is Win10 'S-Mode' which for an adult user is infuriating as you are stuck with using MS software (so NO alternative browsers (Firefox, Chrome, etc), NO Open source Software (eg. Libre Office) and Mail clients (Thunderbird), NO alternative Anti-Virus packages other than what it comes with). In fact I doubt there is a Mail Client installed - so it's 'WebMail' for eMail purposes.

Whilst personally I don't like Win10 S-Mode having spent a weekend trying to sort out a friends PC I believe in your case it will have advantages - it will stop the kids from Loading lots of dodgy programs and games provided you a: set up the Adminstrator account with a strong Password which you keep hidden away from them; b set you accounts for all of them or just a 'Family' account with NO 'Adminstrator Permissions' which everyone uses.
 
wgt52 said:
Couple of thoughts; Not much 'on-board' storage, by the time windoze and the office package loaded I guess their will be about 60-80 GB left for your purposes. The lack of space for games may be a bonus as it will stop them playing all the time.
The SSD will not suffer movement issues and damage as described by Harry above.
Do get the Anti-Virus loaded before delivery.
Looks like this windows 'package' is Win10 'S-Mode' which for an adult user is infuriating as you are stuck with using MS software (so NO alternative browsers (Firefox, Chrome, etc), NO Open source Software (eg. Libre Office) and Mail clients (Thunderbird), NO alternative Anti-Virus packages other than what it comes with). In fact I doubt there is a Mail Client installed - so it's 'WebMail' for eMail purposes.

Whilst personally I don't like Win10 S-Mode having spent a weekend trying to sort out a friends PC I believe in your case it will have advantages - it will stop the kids from Loading lots of dodgy programs and games provided you a: set up the Adminstrator account with a strong Password which you keep hidden away from them; b set you accounts for all of them or just a 'Family' account with NO 'Adminstrator Permissions' which everyone uses.
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Ahh now this windows S thing you mention is just the kind of thing that I want to avoid, I also take on board the storage, continuing on my quest for a Dell I arrived here Dell Inspiron 15 3000 FHD 15.6 Inch Laptop - (Black) Intel Core i3-7020U, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, Windows 10 Home https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G4YQTHT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Zk74DbDHW40PK which appears to be a non S version of windows and twice the storage but for a cool £100 more. Not being able to install Firefox and being restricted on the software front will drive me insane.
 
The Win10 'S-Mode' is defeatable but you have to sign up for a MS account to do it. Search Win10 S-Mode on the web, the explanation and how it's defeated is explained. Think you'll find every new 'domestic' PC will be loaded with it.
 
wgt52 said:
The Win10 'S-Mode' is defeatable but you have to sign up for a MS account to do it. Search Win10 S-Mode on the web, the explanation and how it's defeated is explained. Think you'll find every new 'domestic' PC will be loaded with it.
Click to expand...
Ahh so is the one I linked to an S-Mode too?
 
FAQ about S mode in Windows 10 -
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4020089/windows-10-in-s-mode-faq

NB! This may need consideration if one decides to switch out of 'S' mode...
"How do I switch back to S mode?
Switching out of S mode is one-way. If you switch out of S mode, you'll need to keep using the standard version of Windows 10." I think MS means the non S version of your particular flavour of win 10, not for example win10 pro 'S' becomes Win10 home.

I believe, if possible, buy more power or 'speed' than you think will be necessary.

-0-

 
ahhh, S mode - I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole unless planning on reinstalling proper widows on it. :(
I declined a new laptop for myself last weekend because it had that on - If I own a lapto then I want to be able to put the programs on it I decide not Microshaft.
 
mattylad said:
ahhh, S mode - I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole unless planning on reinstalling proper widows on it. :(
I declined a new laptop for myself last weekend because it had that on - If I own a lapto then I want to be able to put the programs on it I decide not Microshaft.
Click to expand...
Hmm OK but if we're saying any domestic laptop I buy is going to be S mode I'm not sure where that leaves the likes of me, my specialty is not IT so not sure where to go now, which kind of brings me back full circle and I'll end up putting the notion on ice and procrastinating about which laptop, go round and round in circles and avoid the issue, yet again ....
 
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