Community Newsletter: Q&A: Laptop recommendation for children
- 6/20/08 12:13 PM
Consider other alternatives
by Chuckles_1 - 5/23/08 9:34 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
After reading your question I am left to wonder if a laptop is the best option for you. The reason why I say this is based on your posting. In it you state you do a lot of traveling. A battery on a laptop will last for about 2 hours and will require frequent recharging. Unless you have a flat surface like a table a laptop will not take being bounced around and chances are the laptop may crash on you.
Next you state you have basic requirements such gaming. Unfortunately laptops are not designed for gaming and if you are looking for a laptop that is gaming friendly you would be looking at the upper end in prices for a laptop.
My last reason for saying a laptop may not be appropriate is based on your children's age and the purpose, travelling. For me it is implied that you are looking for something for them to 'play' with on trips or to keep them entertained. A laptop is not designed for use by chidren in a car and the short charge time of the battery makes it impractical for long car journies. Personally I feel you would be disappointed and I would wonder if you are looking for something to keep them entertained if you would be better off buying them a hand held games from either Nintendo or Sony?
There are gaming laptops now, Chuckles.
by Dave Konkel [Moderator] - 5/24/08 10:53 AM
In reply to: Consider other alternatives by Chuckles_1
Though I agree with the rest of your post. The former CGW (now Games for Windows) has had some features recently on gaming laptops. -- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
Wait already!!!
by veeteeny - 5/23/08 10:46 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Bob,
I feel my opinion is more a matter of common sense than an assessment of what's the best laptop in this case so pardon me but . . . .
I have of course not met you or your children, whom I'm sure are great guys, but I would most strongly suggest just ONE desktop PC for both for the time being though its my assumption that two laptops are easily affordable for you. This would first of all promote a valuable lesson in sharing. Besides, if you can afford two computers it probably should not be a problem for you to set up an area at home where your sons can take turns using the computer.
One computer, a desktop, would also make monitoring or setting up software blocks as apppropriate regarding use a lot easier. I also think it's a lot better idea because kids as young as yours are prone to be forgetful or distracted by all sorts of things just because they are kids -- thank God -- that will may well keep you from ongoing spending of a lot of money on repairs or replacement that may well have been avoided during the next few years until they are actually ready for separate computers.
It would seem that this is more a matter than just your being "good" to your kids. You still have many lessons to teach as far as parenting is concerned and most are more valuable than all the computers in the world. That said, there's no harm in or providing things to your sons as is age appropriate. Your nine year old is not ready for the same things that his older brother is. You're not going to let the youngest, at 14, try to drive when the eldest is 16 legally ready are you?
Exercise some restraint over the next couple of years and also possibly avoid some unecessary waste. Kids as young as your can still easily bang, drop or mess up a laptop in any number of ways. Think on a laptop for the eldest at about thirteen or fourteen after carefully laying out not only the proper manner of use you expect but its care as well and save the PRIVILEGE of a laptop for the youngest until he's about the same age.
And that said, I hope I may have said something helpful and will most respectfully remove myself from minding your business:)
Good luck,
Venson Thomas
laptops for kids
by ppsm - 5/23/08 10:46 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Okay well get them the I-phone for the 11 year old and the Asus EeePC for the 9 year old. along with a Vado for both. If they are into gaming then tell them to get a job and buy there own horsepower. Then hire them to set up a server for the whole house and put them on a separate ISP
An inexpensive laptop for kids
by GoddessLu - 5/24/08 4:28 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My daughter inherited an Acer laptop that was recently purchased at WalMart for $500 (they still have it on their site, I'm not near it so I forget the specs at the moment). Plenty of speed, memory, plays games well, gets her to her cartoon and anime sites (she's a budding artist), which has the requisite chat rooms. It's an inexpensive way to introduce them to their own computer. As for monitor, you simply have rules as to usage. It's mobility makes it easy to simply remove it if the rules are not adhered to. I hear Macs are great but this is half the price and thus won't hurt as much if they kill it. The only thing a bit lacking is that it needs consistent charging--leave it off for too long and it seems to be perpetually lagging behind the charge curve.
I agree with the other parents who suggest taking them outside but every child is different and its good for them to have their own space and their own property for both scholastic and personal use. I limit my daughter's time on the computer and encourage other activities (she reads and draws a lot plus bowls and swims--not a triathelete but semi-well rounded). I hop on about 1-2 weeks and view the sites she's been to, clean up the hard drive and keep things running, plus have access to her accounts. She's got her freedom to an extent but with limits.
Hope that helps.
Suggestion
by wildwood_1 - 5/24/08 6:44 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My 13 yr old daughter has a Toshiba Satellite laptop. She's had it two years and it's worked out nicely, but it does require her to handle it with reasonable care. Her primary use is for web search, word processing, email, digital photography and a modest amount of interactive online games like checkers. This modestly priced laptop has plenty of horsepower for her needs, albeit she doesn't get into gaming.
We have a wireless internet router and wireless printer set up. My daughter routinely uses her laptop throughout the house, particularly in common areas like the dining or family room. This flexibility affords her a very high level of casual interaction with other family members for homework or other computer/internet questions as they arise. For me the wireless portability aspect makes a laptop a much superior choice over a desktop.
Insofar as the gaming requirements go you might consider picking up a modest stand alone gaming system hooked to spare TV or inexpensive monitor. We chose this route a few years ago after chronic frustrations with computer video games causing driver conflicts and other issues on my son's relatively new desktop. At the time we picked up a modestly priced PS2 and it has worked out great. I suspect one can even get a pretty good used gaming setup from Ebay if you choose that route. Hard core computer gamers will likely peel my hide off for making this suggestion, but its worked out very well in our house.
-WW1
Just to share
by simonaw - 5/24/08 8:08 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi,
My son is 11 and also plays runscape.;-))
We are using the HP Pavallion tx1222au with 2MB RAM. I think it is quite OK. A few 'positive' points:
1. It is a 12.1" laptop - the most 'portable' size.
2. It is slightly less than 2kg (with 4 cell battery)- it also has a free 6 cell battery too!)
3. It has almost all the features you would need for a laptop (one negative point is that there is no firewire - but it is not detrimental)
4. It has added feature of a touch screen function - I think it can be useful in some educational softwares? - but I have not use one so far.;-))
5. Price is about S$1700
May be you can check it out in more details if you are interested.
Cheers!
Simon
Laptops for kids?
by mikeheel - 5/24/08 11:22 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I see some good discussion in this thread, but I am extremely disappointed in the number of knee-jerk replies of "have them play outside." While that is great advice in general, there are situations where a laptop is useful for kids. I don't know whether that is the case for the original poster, but I think it is rude to assume it is not and just blast into someone.
All that said, I do think it is a mistake to buy laptops for kids that age if the overwhelming purpose is entertainment. But there are, IMO, valid reasons to get laptops for kids that age.
For instance, my son is 9 and will turn 10 in July. My daughter is 10 and will turn 11 in 2 weeks (early June). We home school. We follow a classical model of education that focuses heavily on reading and exposure to a broad base of information, so they read a lot of books. We are very involved in community sports and activities (basketball, football, swimming, and martial arts). But we also emphasize typing, technology, and use a variety of computer-based educational programs. We have found that my son often learns much better when he can interact with a computer, so we have tailored some of our strategy to accomodate his natural talent/inclination.
One of the advantages of home school is that we can tailor the teaching to the child's strenghts. Also, the education is very portable. We home school year round, so school always goes with us on vacations.
At home, we have traditionally had the kids share a pretty decent Dell desktop. My wife and I each have solid duo core laptops (1 Dell, 1 Toshiba). When we travel, we let the kids use my wife's Toshiba. The Dell is off-limits b/c it is a work computer, but the Toshiba is a personal laptop. The kids love the chance to use the laptop.
We have found that a full-sized or nearly full-sized keyboard is NOT a problem. I would reject the argument you should buy a tiny computer b/c it will fit better with their hands. I think that is fairly irrelevant. Also, the smaller computers will typically be either extremely underpowered or much more expensive.
Note the cheaper laptops tend to use regular desktop chips, which run hotter and burn the battery faster than chips designed for laptops. If they will use them at a desk and keep them plugged in most of the time, that's not a big deal. If they will sit with the computers actually on their laps or run on battery power, it becomes a little more of an issue. Note, too, that if a computer runs hotter, it tends to run louder b/c it has to work harder to cool off.
I have had very good luck with relatively low-end Toshiba, Acer, and HP computers. My recommendation would be to buy one of those three brands b/c you can generally get reasonable specs with them cheaper than other brands. The Toshiba has seemed to be best mix of solid construction, good features, and pricepoint so far.
Regardless of which way you go, I'd suggest:
Get a duo core (again, pay attention to the chipset, depending on how they will use them);
Get at least 2M RAM;
Get at least 160G HD;
Get a computer with an actual video card/memory (rather than just virtual RAM);
Get a computer with decent sound.
You can get that for $500 or less pretty easily these days, and it will last them for a few years. I will likely buy our kids Toshibas in the near future.
I noticed another comment that you should just have one computer and teach the kids to share. There are lots of opportunities for sharing at that age; the computer doesn't have to be it. Nothing wrong with sharing, unless that means you add a lot of extra time to your school day, for instance, which is a concern for us.
It's also pretty easy to establish and enforce house rules for how, when, and where a child can use a laptop so that they don't accidentally expose themselves to harmful content.
Anyway, I hope that helps.
Mike
consider what they want to do on it, and durability
by beelissa - 5/24/08 11:37 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
We have a family of 4 people and 5 computers. Soon to be 6 if I can get someone to fix the old Thinkpad (I bought it to learn Linux and learned that installing it was over my head when I messed up something in the partitioning process, trying to set it up to dual boot with Windows.
We have 3 desktop computers and, when the Thinkpad is fixed, it will be 3 laptops, though one of them is an Asus Eee PC. The kids are 16 and 10, both boys.
We also have a swimming pool and bikes and they play baseball and basketball -- just thought I'd throw that in for those of you who seem to think kids using computers means they don't also do active things.
Anyway, my son says that the 7-inch Asus screen is a bit too small to run Runescape, and it will be way too small to run the new higher resolution graphics they are coming out with soon, though this is, I think, an option, not required. My kids would be frustrated if the Asus was their only option as far as a computer they could use. Another drawback of the Asus for kids is the disk size, it's just not big enough for all of the downloads they want to do. I had to stop my younger son from downloading the demo of some video game yesterday.
Then you need to consider their computer ability. My younger son has no concept of how to know whether a computer might be able to run something or not, so he had no way to know he shouldn't try downloading that demo on the Asus. I would think the kids would appreciate the biggest hard drive and the fastest processor you can afford. My kids have been known to give up and never try something again if it won't run on the first computer they try it on. They don't have patience to re-install it on a different computer. So if you can afford it, your best bet is to get one that will run what they will want to run without problems.
The most limiting thing we have found for games is graphics. Read the graphics requirements for the games they currently play and those they are likely to want to play, and make sure you get a computer that had a graphics card that will support them. Unlike with a desktop computer, you can't just upgrade the graphics capability of a laptop, so you have to get one that has it built in, or decide you don't want to spend that much and get a desktop model.
One last consideration -- size and durability. My then-9-year-old dropped our old Gateway laptop when carrying it into his bedroom. The drop caused a scratch/mark on the corner that was permanent, but did not damage the computer's functionality. We were luckly. Smaller laptops will be easier for the kids to carry without dropping, though they may be more expensive, too. There are several models of ultraportables that you can find for around $500 used, if you want to only run XP. These might be good choices for younger kids' first laptop, depending on your budget. You should also consider some rules about where they can use the computer and under which circumstances they can carry it around. My son was carrying the Gateway open when he dropped it, which should not have been allowed.
One more piece of advice. Consider what you want them to learn with it. Do you want them to do computer graphics or video editing? What type of specs would a computer need to do that? My 10-year-old is a budding film director and my husband is planning to get him some kind of video editing thing (combined software and some piece of hardware) so he can learn more about it. He has already made lots of short movies using stop animation with his legos. I don't know what special requirements this type of thing might have, but it would be good to know ahead of time.
Hope some of this helps.
get desktop instead?
by Aznmask - 5/25/08 12:02 AM In reply to: consider what they want to do on it, and durability by beelissaI'm not a parent. But i think a laptop for kid is bad idea. They will so easier get damage or lose it. Kids this day is so wild, you can't predict what they do next.
Why not just buy a decent desktop,..
If u don't like my first suggestion, then buy a laptop, get 12inch size cause the size is matter. (14-15inch is kind of big)
I prefer Dell cause i got a Dell Inspiron 700M 12inch.
Toughbooks.
by TonyLP2007 - 5/25/08 9:19 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
... Spill-proof keyboards, shock-proof hard-drives, alloy shells. If cops and military can handle them, they should survive whatever your kids can dish out... Will most likely last for a long time so worth the extra $$$.
Definitely a MacBook - College students prefer them too!
by joshuncc - 5/27/08 7:48 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'd definitely have to suggest the lowes-priced MacBook (with Intel processor). It's intuitive, and user-proof, which is nice when kids will be using. No viruses....an added bonus. Good parent controls, and the camera in the laptop is nice when the kids want to create video messages for mom, dad, and the grandparents. If you get two, you can use it even in your house, or when one child is on vacation...and the cam is a breeze to setup.
In addition to all that, MacBooks retain their value longer than PCs (typically twice as long) and since they don't don't bog-down as soon as you fire them up (as PCs tend to do), they will remain powerful enough to run their applications, even to college.
It's the number one laptop on college campuses now...could all of those college students really be wrong? Heck, take a trip to your local coffee shop and see how many MacBooks you see opened up.
Go ahead....the MacBook is your safest bet (anything other than an HP/Compaq)
very simply
by krikus050 - 5/27/08 10:49 AM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The Asus Eee PC. It has a 8.9 inch screen so it is very portable. It has a 12 or 20GB Solid State storage space which makes it very durable. The 12GB model comes with windows xp while the 20GB model comes with linux. I would choose the linux one. There are many othe great features which you can find here http://eeepc.asus.com/global/news04152008.htm
one more thought
by krikus050 - 5/27/08 11:00 AM In reply to: very simply by krikus050I also forgot to say how cheap it is at $549 dollars.
If a laptop is necessary for the kids. . . . . . . . . . . .
by back_water_tech - 5/27/08 10:24 PM In reply to: Laptop recommendation for children by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would say, in all honesty, a laptop may not be the wisest choice for a pre-teen. 
I have been working as a support tech for many years, and I have seen all kinds of damage that kids can inflict on a pc, let alone laptops.
That being said: if a laptop is required, you might want to look at a Micron or a Panasonic Toughbook.
http://www.mpccorp.com/
http://www.panasonic.com/business/Toughbook/products.asp
I own three Micron Transport gx3's that are used by my install techs for my wireless internet business. These laptops are very durable. My guys had been destroying Dells and Lenovo machines at a tune of one every three months or so. We purchased these two years ago and all three of them are still running very well.
What the real question is here is not what kind of laptop to buy, but how much are you willing to spend?
With the features you are asking for, you are looking for a laptop that should have a fairly fast processor (no celeron or sempron); 3 gigs of ram for games and Vista; a SATA 7200 rpm hard drive; a spill resistant keyboard and a high impact resistant case. 
Micron builds a very good machine, so does Panasonic with their Toughbook line. Unfortunately, the machines that can take some punishment and have gaming capabilities are going to cost you. You may be looking at the $7-900 range laptops. The Panasonic Toughbook laptops I believe start at around $1500 for the same machine specs as a $800 machine from Dell or Gateway. On the other hand, You could go to one of the super stores and grab a few of the cheapest laptops that they have, let the boys learn how to care for them (destroying them in the process) then buy them a nice Dell or Gateway for Christmas.
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