A student/intern review on Windows 8 Notebook devices in education: featuring the HP Pavillion TS 11-e030sa 11.6"

On with the Notebook tour of devices in education and we’re onto HP today! The HP Pavillion TS 11 is a lovely notebook device which packs the full Windows 8 menu into a work-friendly 11" notebook shell at a price of £329.99. Office Home and Student 2013 can be bought additionally to enhance the experience of studying with familiar tools, in the cloud.

PC Format

Some of you may worry that with tablets, they may snap or crack if they are accidentally sat upon or dropped, but the beauty of Notebooks such as the HP Pavillion TS 11 is their protective folding screen/case combo. Many students and educators enjoy the flexibility of hybrid devices where you can click in the screen and use it as both a tablet and laptop, however there certainly is a place for the notebook format: for those of you who are keen to avoid equipment from getting lost, such as sleeves and cases if being shared by students, or for mobility of students being able to work on the go, or on their laps without a kick stand.

Why buy a notebook over a laptop or tablet?

The main difference between the notebook and a laptop is the size and weight, which is more adaptable to travel and work in transit. It has the same working features as a PC, although much less memory space, so is best used for note taking and accessing Office and Windows files when away from the school server or the desktop PC at home.

My tip is to regard the notebook as a device which you use alongside a desktop PC at home and at school. It basically replaces a tablet, serving its purpose as a portable device which students can easily access work and be productive on while in lectures at university or studying in class at school. Once home they can log back into Office with either their Microsoft Account or Office 365 credentials and pick up where they left off. It saves students and educators time from scribbling work and notes on notebooks and then typing up at home and is great for empowering 1:1 learning which you can read more about in our new 1:1 Learning in Education e-book! The main difference with the tablet is that it has the form of a laptop which basically falls down to preferences - do you prefer the detachability of a tablet or the compact PC-style of a notebook?