How good is this laptop for a school? (And recommendations for anything better)

[baker72]

My mom, who works at a small private school, has asked me for my input on some laptop's that the school is planning on purchasing. They plan on getting 3-5 of them to update from their last computers which have ceased to function (They were terribly old anyways, as in early XP model old).

The laptop specs:
Dell Latitude E6400
Windows 7 Home Prem. 64-bit
Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz (Or higher)
4GB Ram
160GB HDD
14.1"
Refurb.
$299

Are these laptops worth it? They will be used for general web searching, videos, Open Office, and other school-related tasks. The school seems to be set on a 300$ budget for them. I'm just wondering these will be good for the next 5 years or whether they should consider upping their budget some.
It would also be best if the laptop OS was Windows 7.

 

[Vynavill]

For simple office-based operation, it'll be more than enough IMO. It might not be lightning fast at booting, but it's definitely a good budget purchase for a school.

Also, after trying w8 myself, both at home and workplace, w7 is still better and more user friendly, as in you don't have to juggle with popout menus, corners and colorful childish panels to actually do something.

I'm not much into laptops however, so I'd wait for someone with more knowledge than me, but for that budget I doubt you can get anything better...

 

[Recycled]

That's a horrible price on that laptop.

It will work for now, but not in 3 years, and definitely not in 5 years.

Dell Latitudes will not survive students. Lenovo ThinkPads and Fujitsu LifeBooks usually will.

I would look for ThinkPads or LifeBooks that are recently off-lease, and can be configured to spec.

You should be able to get a Fujistu LifeBook T900 with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a small HDD, and the T900's active digitizer (pen-based touch screen) for that price.

Question: Has Your thinking extended to how to keep them charged?

 

[iceblitzed]

thinkpads are a good choice.
if you don't mind bidding on ebay id go for bidding on some thinkpad t420.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=lenovo+thinkpad+t420&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC1.A0.H0.Xlenovo+thinkpad+t420&_nkw=lenovo+thinkpad+t420&_sacat=0

By the way I would only bid on items that are being sold by shop-arrow-direct or arrow-direct-store (same company). they are a reputable ebay seller which offers good customer service (from my experience) and a 90 day warranty on their products.

you can prob get them for less than $300 ea.

btw arrow direct use similar image previews for the thinkpad t420. should look like this

 

[baker72]

I haven't thought about Thinkpads, I'll give some of them and the other laptops a look and see what I can find to show them. I will also have to see how she feels about bidding on them (This seems unlikely, however).
@Recycled. If I understood you right, then yeah, the laptop comes with a power adapter to keep it charged.

 

[Recycled]

@iceblitzed, do You get money from that seller? I have had success from several. There is more than one credible seller on eBay. eBay's feedback system makes it obvious who is and is not credible.

@Baker72, are You planning on leaving these laptops plugged in 24/7? If not, what is the longest they will be off the chargers?

I keep the main battery for my LifeBook T5010, plus a second battery that fits in the DVD drive. Then I have another pair of batteries in a dual-desktop-charger. It was not cheap ($140 for the 2 batteries + charger) but it lets me run indefinitely without plugging in. Students may not always be close to wall outlets, and even when they are, there is a reason that DC plugs are commonly broken on laptops.

 

[baker72]

@ Recycled
The laptops will primarily be used 4 days out of the week, but the teachers may be assigned one and be able to use them at home. As far as being used 24/7, I doubt they will be used that much. However, it's a possibility they'll be left in sleep mode for about that long.
The students in this school will almost always have an outlet available to use(It is a rather small school).