It’s hard to believe that even though it’s still August, we’re already in our third week of school! In fact, Little Miss already had a round of tests and a volleyball game! I’ve been sharing lots of her Back to School Styles, but even more important than the cute clothes, was preparing her academically.
Her middle school recently transitioned from paper homework and assignments, to mostly online. She’s been using our computer to complete her work, but it wasn’t always convenient. Plus, sharing a computer didn’t allow me to put the parental controls in place I needed to feel comfortable.
So with high school just a year away, we decided it was time to invest in her own computer. After hours of research and feeling overwhelmed by the options, I finally just asked our incredibly-techy, college son. His immediate response was, ‘The Microsoft Surface Pro 6!’
He assured us that it had all the memory and power that she’d need for a range of tasks, plus last her well beyond her high school years. It’s also ultra-lightweight and versatile, not to mention, a great price thanks to Microsoft’s incredible back-to-school promotion!
She is ecstatic with the Microsoft Surface Pro 6, and had literally no learning curve when using it for the first time. It’s so completely user-friendly and easy-to-set up, she was accessing her classwork in minutes.
It’s compact, but feels very sturdy, with up to 13.5 hours of battery life. It’s both touchscreen and has a detachable keyboard (ours came bundled with the special…more details at the end of this post!), giving it laptop to tablet versatility. You can read all the techy stuff here, all I know is she loves it, and it’s everything she needs for school and more…and we got it for a great deal! (Details at the end of the post.)
Laptop
The Microsoft Surface Pro 6 comes with a built-in kickstand, allowing you to adjust to the perfect laptop position. The detachable keyboard (it snaps on with a strong magnet) closes flat for easy carrying, or folds completely to the back for a flat surface. The keys are solid and quiet to the touch, too.
She can also write out her homework with the Surface Pen, or even voice dictate using the built-in microphone. There are so many tools perfect for students!
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 in laptop mode | Surface Pen
Portable Studio
Simply remove the keyboard, pop up the kickstand, and your Microsoft Surface Pro 6 is now a portable studio! Little Miss is an avid drawer, and loves the art apps for creating using either her finger or the Surface Pen. The pen easily attaches to the side when not in use.
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 in Studio mode | Surface Pen
Tablet
And of course, what teen doesn’t love a tablet! She can either remove the keyboard, or fold it to the back, and use the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 as a touchscreen tablet…playing games or streaming shows.
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 in Tablet Mode
I’m so happy with the purchase, and can’t recommend it enough for students or adults. Plus, Microsoft offers free shipping and returns, and has incredible savings during this back-to-school season. Here’s the scoop:
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 Promotion Details (8/4 – 9/2):
*Buy a Surface Pro 6 i5/8/256 + Type Cover for $999 (save $330!) HERE
*Buy a Surface Go 8/128 + Type Cover, Now $519 HERE
We built our own bundle, choosing the color of tablet and keyboard, and the amount of memory and RAM she needed, and it was good to go right out of the box! Now I get my computer back, and she can work anywhere in the house. Do your kids have a computer or laptop? What rules or parameters do you have in place for it?
*Photos by the darling Audrie Dollins. This post created in collaboration with Microsoft and ShopStyle, but all opinions and honest product reviews are my own. Thank you for supporting Hi Sugarplum sponsors!*
Great choice on the laptop! We’ve had our Surface Pro for 3 years and it’s still going strong. It’s so versatile and powerful. Yet lightweight and easy to use. I’m sure your daughter will get years of use out of it!
We have three of those exact computers in our house and even though I am an apple user, my girls have loved their surfacePro! And absolutely love your blog!! You are a bright light in your little corner of the internet world and I throughly enjoy your ideas and fashion styling and especially your travel adventures!
We bought the same tablet a few months ago for our oldest son, who started high school this month. I’m curious about the safety parameters you put in place. I’m not techy at all- I don’t even know where to start!
Please, a post on parental controls and rules folks have for their kids and computers!!! We’re getting a laptop for our 10yo this year for his birthday. We know the computer will stay downstairs so we can keep an eye on content and messaging. But other than that we’re trying to figure out what else we need!
Unfortunately, You Tube is the biggest source of inappropriate viewing, and that’s tricky to control. We mostly insist she watch it in our presence so we can keep an eye on it!!
Our kids have been too young for tablets or phones so far but they are starting to focus on them a lot (a lot of their friends have them and they often end up all huddled up together watching one of them play a game on a smart phone). We wanted to push away the screen time as far away as possible but they are now 6 and 8 so I don’t know how long we’ll be able to keep them away from them. Every time we go to their great aunt’s place they don’t even say hi anymore, they immediately ask her for her tablet (which is something we really don’t like). I guess soon we’ll have no choice but to cave in but you can be sure of one thing, they’ll be getting one, previously owned tablet to share to begin with. And once they actually need something for school, then we’ll see what’s best for them. We currently don’t have parental control on the Wi-Fi because one, they don’t have actual access to internet and two, they mostly watch Netflix and normal youtube in our presence (in the living room while we make dinner) so we always know what they’re watching. However this will definitely change once they have more internet access on their own. But there will be no electronics in bedrooms (that’s where you read books or sleep ;p)
Our high school daughter also has a Surface Pro and it’s been a great choice. She will run out of memory occasionally, but we consider that a plus since it requires her to pare down what she keeps on that drive. The most important parental control we have is no electronics (phone, computer, etc.) in her room. It was very challenging implementing that at first. We found that a no-fault (lose the electronics for a day if they wind up in your room even if you forget for a good reason) was the quickest teaching tool to help her remember, and now it’s just second nature. It keeps her room as an oasis of rest and creativity — there are plenty of other spaces in the house to use electronics. We also use My Circle — it’s by no means perfect. Sometimes we have to just turn it off briefly to get some things to work (it hates our family calendaring app), but in general we’ve been happy with the customization features both for internet site access and time limits (by activity and/or app, i.e., get all of your Instagram done in 30 minutes a day). We work off a philosophy that we’re training her how to use this technology when she’s out on her own, with graduated privileges as she matures. When we were setting things up, I was wishing it didn’t require so much effort on our part, but there are many people out there whose job it is to lure good kids into bad places and we want to help her navigate that.
Where did you get her desk ?
It’s from Ikea!
Little Miss is so darling and reminds me of my youngest daughter who is now, (gulp), 26! Love her art wall as well! I just got a Surface Pro 6 and I love it. Little Miss is blessed to have such a cool laptop/studio/tablet/Streaming device. It is so versatile. Maybe it needs a new name- laplet? laptab? lapstudtab? They all sound a little suggestive- so maybe not! I had an Apple MAC Pro at home, but used a PC for work and after 10 years of being frustrated with the lack of compatibility between the two and the quirky, supposedly intuitive but not, ways of the MAC I gave in and started looking for an alternative. After reading lots of reviews and comparing pros and cons I landed on the Surface Pro. As you have shown it has great versatility and usability. Cheers to a great and productive school year!
Thanks so much, Lynn!! xo. C
College will be much easier than you ever thought! I also felt like you but then, looked so forward to seeing my son during the breaks. We would have a new place to visit, football games, etc. We had a very active Facebook parents group and that really helped. Someone always knew what was happening and going on from testing, to sorority and fraternity events, where to go and stay while you were in town that I felt very connected and made many new friends. If they have that, do sign up! From my perspective now, my son graduated in May, it went by so quickly! Hang in there, it will go by quickly for you too!
Ohhh, now I want to get a Surface laptop. I had a Surface 2 back in the day, but it doesn’t have any of the capabilities as this new one! For going back to school though, are you worried about taking it there? I just read an article about sharing electronics and that lice can travel on them here https://www.ez.insure/2019/08/head-lice-prevention/ I may be too suspicious but it makes me nervous thinking bugs can get on them ew
Yikes!! They actually have individual laptops at school…this one is just for home!!
Where did you get her chair?
IKEA!
Is she loving this laptop? I’m looking to buy one for my 9th grade son. Anything you’d do differently with the purchase? Thanks!!
She LOVES it!!! Does everything she needs, and we’ve had no issues at all!