Huanui College BYOD Recommendations

Please note: Huanui College is a Google Workspace based school - we use Gmail, Google Drive and the Google Docs/Sheets/Slides suite. Microsoft 365 is not a requirement. Students should store their important data on their Google Drive to ensure better data safety.

Chromebooks: 

Most Chromebooks available new will be suitable. HP or Lenovo are recommended brands. The majority of Chromebooks currently come with 4GB of RAM - 8GB or higher is a good sign of a higher-spec model. Most also have a small screen, so expect to pay more for a larger screen model. 

The best advice for choosing a new Chromebook would be to test one out in the shop - does it feel solid/well constructed? Does the keyboard/touchpad feel good to use? If you want one, does it have a touchscreen? It's much easier to check the build quality of a Chromebook if you can test it yourself, and the build quality would be more important than specs in this instance. 

Windows or Apple Systems: 

Some of the information listed below is specific to students that need 3D editing or digital image editing capabilities, but otherwise is for general student use for students Year 10 and above.

If you have an existing Laptop its operating system should be Windows 11 or MacOS 14+

Screen size

14 inch or more is idea and 1920x1080 (full HD) or higher resolution is recommended.

Processors (CPU)

Intel brand i-series processors are recommended, i5 or i7 – the higher the better. i7 is ideal for heavier 3d editing. Avoid i3 if possible, although these are suitable for basic web browsing and document editing.

The AMD branded equivalent is also fine, but it would be worth checking with Ben if you are unsure.

Memory (RAM)

Get the maximum amount of RAM you can buy, as it will give you the most performance bang for your buck – 8GB or more is recommended. If your laptop is upgradeable, increasing the RAM later is fairly cheap.

Hard Drive

A Solid State Drive (SSD) is essential for running modern apps – avoid anything smaller than 256GB SSD, and ideally avoid anything that doesn’t have an SSD – some devices still use the older style Hard Disk Drive or HDD. It’s important to check this before purchasing.

Video Card 

Only required for 3D editing or intensive digital image editing.

Look for a laptop with dedicated NVIDIA or AMD graphics, rather than built-in Intel HD graphics – a dedicated video card makes a huge difference in 3D editing performance. 2GB or more of video ram (VRAM) is ideal.

For Sketch Up 

This is available as a free download. Please ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 2.0 or higher and up to date. SketchUp's performance relies heavily on the graphics card driver and its ability to support OpenGL 2.0 or higher. 

For more information or assistance choosing the appropriate device, feel free to contact our IT Tech Ben Michelsen: ben.michelsen@hc.school.nz