Should my daughter buy this laptop?

[swee'pea99]

Honor MagicBook 15 AMD Ryzen 5 8GB 256GB SSD 15.6 Full HD Inch Laptop

From what little I know it looks like a good deal, with a spec along similar lines to an HP which came up on a recent CC thread along these lines, at around £200 more.

But I don't really know anything about Honor laptops, and reviews are thin on the ground (though from what I can see they tend to be positive rather than negative). Anyone have one, or anything else 'Honor'?

Oh, and it has to be a laptop, not a Chromebook, for reasons that make sense.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Drago]

Google shows that the brand has decent reviews on Techradar.

 

[bikingdad90]

It looks to have no disc drive, a headphone jack a single USB socket, a HDMI port and a USB C port for a docking station. Will this be sufficient for her needs?

Also, no number pad. If her course involves lots of number it will be a right pain in the backside. I am an accountant by trade and have a laptop similar and had to invest in a wireless keyboard with a number pad to get me round the issue.

 

[bikingdad90]

If she is a student could she on unidays\Totum/NUS get 10-20% off a Microsoft surface pro laptop or a Dell laptop with touchscreen?

 

[fossyant]

Most laptops don't have number pads unless its a 17 inch monster, like one we have, and its BIG.

 

[Cycleops]

What will she be using it for?
Don't know if there's any problems with Huawei Windows devices like there are with Android and their phones.

 

[AndyRM]

What's she going to be using it for?

 

[Tenkaykev]

Yes, this is the "Pro"
Go to Honor direct as they are offering some extras.
https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/07/honor_magicbook_pro/
Buy it directly from honor, its

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Seems expensive for a laptop. What’s the use case?

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks all. It'll be used mostly for everyday browsing and the like, but she wants to keep her options open which may involve running windows-based software - apparently one job she's applying to requires her to download and install a tailored program to run certain tests, eg.

Good to hear Honor seems respected. That The Register review sounds very positive - tho' it's for a different, more upmarket model, the general good vibes are reassuring. 'Seems expensive' - have to say, my initial reaction was the opposite - looked like a lot of spec for the cash.

Thanks again. Any more thoughts very much welcome.

 

[AndyRM]

Might be overkill if it's for the internet and relatively basic sounding programmes.

Honor are excellent IME (though I only have one of their phones, personally, but have tested quite a lot of their kit), as you've noticed you get a lot of bang for your buck.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Thanks all. It'll be used mostly for everyday browsing and the like, but she wants to keep her options open which may involve running windows-based software - apparently one job she's applying to requires her to download and install a tailored program to run certain tests, eg.

Good to hear Honor seems respected. That The Register review sounds very positive - tho' it's for a different, more upmarket model, the general good vibes are reassuring. 'Seems expensive' - have to say, my initial reaction was the opposite - looked like a lot of spec for the cash.

Thanks again. Any more thoughts very much welcome.

After reading the original Reg review that I posted I went to the Honor Web store and that's where I saw the machine (and other models) referred to in your original post.
I went from a Samsung phone to a Honor View 20 last year, mainly because of the camera reviews. It's been a revelation, outstanding battery life great camera and regular updates.
I believe "Honor" is a sub brand of Huawei aimed at the budget and "younger" section of the market.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Honor make splendid phones at a fraction of the price so I would not have any worries about the laptop. I think they would be more popular if it wasn't for the "Chinese spying" allegations. Battery life seems a bit poorer but never an issue for me becasue i'd always keep a laptop plugged in, or at least if it gets down to 40%

 

[si_c]

Honor is Huawei's youth brand. I've not seen anything negative about the brand really, some criticisms of phones but no more so than any other brands.

Looks like a good spec for the price, my biggest gripe would be it's a 15" laptop - for a student I'd seriously consider a 13" laptop - it moves into desktop replacement size at 15" and just the size of it means it is less portable.

 

[stephec]

I must be down with the kids, I'm 51 and I've got an Honor phone. 😄