Community Newsletter: Q&A: Laptop recommendation for children
- 6/20/08 12:13 PM
Laptops for children
by gliwice - 5/19/08 7:38 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Bob: It's a great idea to get the children laptops. Children start typing their homework in elementary school. Laptops are portable and they don't need much room. No need for costly desks either...so use the desk cash to put towards the laptops. Get them something small and light...a 12" inch is nice...otherwise go for the 15" which is usually heavier. Sorry that I cannot recommend a brand for you, but I am a Sony lover myself.
Laptop for 11 yr old
by Gondolfo - 5/19/08 8:04 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have an ASUS Eeeepc 8gb and love it, it would be great for a child, and it has a flash drive, not a hardrive. The flash card is better in case the laptop is dropped.
Asus has a new 9" screen 8gb laptop that you might look into it comes with Linux, but you can also get Windows XP.
The price is around $549.00
laptop for children
by scottmathewson - 5/19/08 8:12 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Bob, I have been using the ASUS EePC with built in web cam for my 8 year old.
This is a very cool version of Linnux, has some educational games built in and an excellent size and form factor. you can also load XP on this as well. Built in wireless and usb ports.
i am not sure this woul dbe a hard core gaming laptop and I am not sure your going to find any gaming laptaps that are smaller for the kids, but this one seems to have everthing she needs at the moment.
the screen is a bit small, but when we are home, I hook it up to 19 inch monitor and we are good to go. Solid State disk drive makes i durable and under 400 bucks.
http://event.asus.com/eeepc/microsites/en/index.htm
Thanks
Scott
Parental Control
by raptor008 - 5/22/08 6:03 AM In reply to: laptop for children by scottmathewsonHi Scott,
I read about the laptop. I bought an equal one in Italy and i would like to install a Parental control filter for my daughter. Do you know one, please ?
tks in advance,
Stefano
My Reccomendation
by kadrian1979 - 5/19/08 8:19 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Bob: here is what I would look at for several reasons. The ASUS EEE PC they are small lightweight do not have a spinning hard drive (instead they have a solid state drive from 2mb up to 20 mb and no attached cd rom. They run either linux or if you go with the larger size you can get the light weight version of windows XP. There are great reviews here and the prices at overstock.com cannot be beat.
which laptop?
by MechX - 5/19/08 9:03 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I undestand your concern, am a parent myself.
Laptops and gaming do not usually go well together unless money is not an option for you...but it sounds so. I would recommend a COMPAQ Presario F750US NoteBook AMD Mobile Athlon 64 X2 TK-57(1.90GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB Memory 120GB HDD, DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 7000M. you can get it for under $500 each if you search the major online tetailers. OR TOSHIBA Satellite A215-S5829 AMD Mobile Athlon 64 X2 TK-57(1.90GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD DVD Super Multi ATI Radeon X1200 IGP NoteBook. This one can go for under $500 too if you search. Consideing their ages that should hold them and not stress your pocket too much.
Please remember to make their gaming experience a part of their reward for doing homework, studying, completing book reports and for being obedient, cooperative boys. Oh and play with them...even if its just to see what they are playing.
Laptops
by jafryar - 5/19/08 9:56 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Try TigerDirect as they probably have the most reasonably-priced units available.
http://www.tigerdirect.com
A short and clear solution for you ,friend !
by colloqdragster - 5/19/08 10:36 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Acer Aspire AS7720-6381 NoteBook
Intel Core 2 Duo T5550(1.83GHz)
17.0" Wide XGA+ 3GB Memory
DDR2 667 250GB HDD
DVD Super Multi
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
This is a perfect configration for you which I am suggesting you.Its price is $999.Go for www.newegg.com you can find it there also.
The system which you wanted is very truely provided here and I am suggesting you with another also just have a look at its configurations
HP Pavilion DV2810US
14.1" Laptop (AMD Turion 64 X 2 Dual Core TL-60 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)
also find it at Amazon.com
and then you just mail me at sizzlersats@yahoo.com,thanks for giving me an eligibility to suggest you a good system.
good bye.
Answer for Bob, Laptop recommendation for children
by Joshxy - 5/19/08 10:38 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
They are too young to carry around a regular portable computer.
It will be trashed quickly.
A small desktop is best for them.
If you must get them a portable to trash, I suggest the ASUS PC Eeee.
Try one on your oldest first. Give him a 3 month test.
Answer for Bob, Laptop recommendation for children
by Michael Yeo - 5/20/08 1:31 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Bob, I am from Singapore, 53 years old. I have a son and daughter who are now in their 20s. I am writing from my experience during the early years when my children were still young then.
When they were young, I had a laptop and sometimes brought it to office or left it at home. Whenever it was at home, they would turn on the laptop to play without supervision as my wife and I were at work. Because of the proximity of the screen and keyboard, their eyes were very close to the screen without realising it.
One day, my now 25 years old eldest son told me that his eyes were very tired and had to strain to see the whiteboard in school.
Initially, I brought him to consult a general practisioner and the question he asked was whether he had been sitting too close to the TV in the hall or anything that made him strained his eyes.
I told him that I have a 43" TV and couldn't possibly be the course. He then asked whether I have a computer or laptop and it was then that I realised that it could be the laptop.
Thereafter, I brought him to consult an optomologist and he confirmed that the strain was due to the laptop. He then suggested that I keep tha laptop away from the children and buy them a desktop with a 15" monitor.
In addition, he also adviced me to get a head restrainer that is attached to the monitor. This is to restrict his head from moving too near to a 15" CRT monitor screen.
Bob, the rationale of writing the above to you is that the possiblity of your children straining their eyes with a laptop is far greater than a normal desktop.
As the saying goes "Prevention is better than cure". Pls consider and reflect on my suggestion. Cheers.
laptops 4 kids
by startreksuite - 5/20/08 4:40 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recommend a 14 to 15 inch laptop. HP makes two that are good, I got the dv6768se because it was cheaper, about 700 dollars at Best Buy!Both models have NVIDIA grapics cards, mine has a AMD processesor, 2.0ghz. I don't know how tech savy your kids are, but most likely could handle these laptops well. My wife has a 17" model and it's too big. It runs on vista, so hopefully that doesn't hinder their game playing.
Good Luck!
Laptops for kids
by Knight_al - 5/20/08 6:00 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Given the ages for your two boys I offer the advice that getting them their own laptops is not a good decision. I have found from personal experience with my two sons, now ages 16 and 19, they spend way too much time on the computer and it is difficult to monitor their online activity when they can hole up in their room. While I am not, and no one should be, telling you how to raise your children, my advice would be to have one computer in an open common area of the house so you can keep an eye on what goes on.
It's Your Money
by dittersdoodles - 5/20/08 6:13 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First of all I would like to say a lot of times people are posted their own experiences and opinions. Don't bash another for that.
Between the two of us we have 8 children, 5 of them teenagers. We are a gadget household and including hubby, online gamers - Kuma, Runescape, etc.
Over the years I have bought 6 computers. 3 Compaq laptops, 2 Compaq desktops and 1 Gateway desktop.
We got a lemon Gateway, which they replaced with a whole new tower, which also ended up giving us nothing but grief. It came so highly recommended, I was pushed into buying one and never will again.
The only other hardware problems I have had with computers were that the one Compaq tower ended up dying of mother board failure at the age of 7 (with 5 years of it probably being powered up). And then recently I had a head crash of the hard drive which is suspected to be caused by outside influences, not quality.
But every company has it's issues, good and bad.
In order to keep up with the online gaming, I bought a Compaq 751 series laptop, and upgraded it to 2 gigs of ram. It's fast and the graphics are great. I run 2 graphics programs at once while having an online movie playing and it doesn't miss a beat. There are better systems, but you're going to pay for it.
You tell the computer store that you need it for online gaming so they will make sure you have the ram, the free space and the video and graphics card you need. And you need a good processor, like a Pentium, not a Celeron. Even with 2 gigs ram, our 'cels' are slow.
Don't forget some comfortable headphones. Your sanity depends on it.
I also have bought a USB wireless mouse for each.
You travel - you'll need a way to plug into your vehicle. (As a safety measure, I make sure ours is unplugged before turning on or off a vehicle.)
Durability? Even the best built ones can be harmed by dropping or mishandling. Here is where you need to educate them on the value of a dollar and how to take care of their expensive toys.
No eating or drinks around the laptop and wash hands after eating.
Keeping dirt and debri from the keyboard and other open parts.
Don't touch the screen.
If something goes wrong, don't touch it and get you.
If inside parts get wet, disconnection power immediately, turn off, remove battery and leave it alone until it's completely dry - days possibly - or take it in. It's the current going thru the water that does the most damage.
Invest in something good to carry the laptops in. Laptop cases just advertise there's a laptop inside. Teach them not to toss the bag around or hit people with it, sit on it or put it on the bottom of the pile of stuff.
Laptops get stolen. There are different ways to protect them. I use a cable and hook it to the picnic table when I take the kids to the park. If I have to walk away for a minute, one has to steal the table too. My cable has an alarm that goes off if it's cut.
My girlfriend lost her laptop when her house was broken into. They found it a couple months later because she registered it and the 'new owner' connected it to the internet. She called the company to locate that exact laptop (to buy a new one) and told them hers was stolen. Apparently they tracked it through automatic updates.
Teach them internet safety and how to properly disconnect cables, USB's and shutting down, as well as how to take care of the CD's and DVD's they use.
Lastly, software protection... The Polly Klass foundation has a good list of parental control software listed on their site. Some are pricey, but worth every penny. Deep Freeze is a good program too. You want something that protects against spyware, inadvertant downloads, controls the sites they go to and has a better system restore than the default Windows version. It will be a bit of work setting the software up, but in the long run it's much better than taking it in to remove skipleasetoday/adoginhispen or winantivirus2007 viruses (which the kids 'found' before our getting Deep Freeze).
Get Them a MacBook Pro
by mtshannon - 5/20/08 6:55 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Bob,
I've been a systems administrator for 9 years and have worked with all kinds of Windows computers and laptops. Last year I bought my daughter a MacBook Pro laptop for her to use in college and I was so impressed with the speed and ease of use working on the Mac OS. In addition to using the Mac OS, I use a utility called Boot Camp which is built into the Mac OS, that enabled me to partition the C: drive and install Vista or Windows XP on the other partition. Now she has the option of using either Windows or the Mac OS. If it were me, I'd buy a Mac for the kids!
Rightsizing laptop for children
by Bwaanaa - 5/20/08 7:32 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am also looking for a small laptop for my niece,10 years old. I think the laptop by Asus, Asus Eee PC 4G is a perfect solution, especially since the price is very low (Tigerdirect.com sells it for $349).
It is 7" and weighs less than 1 Kg and therefore ideal for children. Although the hard drive is 4 Gb, it is a solid state device so it is shock resistant and can handle rough treatment. The notebook comes preloaded with document and email software as well as other productivity software. You are always connected with the built in WiFi 802.11 b/g that automatically detects and connects to the internet at any hotspot according to Asus website.
It incorporates user friendly and intuitive graphics interface.
It comes with only 512 MB(DDR2). But if you arre interested in more memory then model Eee 8G comes with 8 GB drive and 1 GB memory.
The price in Canada is too high. I am waiting for it to drop before I decide to buy.
For more information, go to the Asus website:
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/700.htm
Good luck.
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