What Computer for Children?

[Juan handed]

Would this be suitable? A little over what he was wanting in price, but it will last him a good while. Toshiba PSAF3U-0PV00V

Holy smokes! I would get that for myself.Can't really beat something like that as far as specs go.The only thing that would scare me is vista.The only OS I have experience with is XP.I'm a simpleton.Is vista OK?Is vista going to disappear and become a distant memory?

 

[jmacavali]

Yes it is. Windows 7 will be out soon (like October I think) and Vista will be gone. However, you'll be able to get a deal on most sites that will come with a free upgrade to W7 when it comes out.

 

[Juan handed]

My apologies for asking this at this point(a bit out of touch) but has vista been a complete bust?

 

[jmacavali]

Complete and total from what I understand. I have it on my home computer and haven't had that much trouble with it. But most people hate it, almost like Windows ME...

 

[essentialx3]

I got my Acer Aspire One Mini Netbook for $278 at WalMart. 10.1" screen. Size of my hand from front to back.

 

[dude_56013]

Is vista OK?

Yes. Vista is fine. Your system needs to be a little beefier to run it over XP, but it's been just fine. I find the worst company that sells products with Vista is Acer. Now, normally, they are an okay company, but their budget line comes with Vista and has bare minimum for specs and it runs really slow. This is the reason a lot of people hated Vista; because companies would sell it with bare-minimum specs and it would run like Geo Metro.

Is vista going to disappear and become a distant memory?

Yes it is. Windows 7 will be out soon (like October I think) and Vista will be gone.

I have to strongly disagree. It absolutely will not. It won't become a distant memory for some time.

However, you'll be able to get a deal on most sites that will come with a free upgrade to W7 when it comes out.

This is true. I just ordered a Sony Vaio laptop (Vista Home Premium), and when Windows 7 releases, I'll get a free upgrade. However, I highly doubt you'll get this deal if you purchase a laptop/desktop from Newegg. Someone can certainly prove me wrong on this, but from what I have seen, it's just companies (Dell, HP, Sony, etc.) offering this from when you order from THEM. Bigger chains might offer the upgrade for free though; such as BestBuy (yucky!) and the like.

My apologies for asking this at this point(a bit out of touch) but has vista been a complete bust?

Complete and total from what I understand.

No, again, I disagree. I've there were problems pre-SP1, but after, there haven't been too many problems. I've been running it for over a year and have yet to have a major problem. Sure, there are some annoying things you have to disable (and they'll be back in Windows 7; such as UAC), but I like Vista over XP. I actually find it more user friendly, no matter what anyone else says. You had to do a lot of things manually in XP that you don't have to do in Vista.

I got my Acer Aspire One Mini Netbook for $278 at WalMart. 10.1" screen. Size of my hand from front to back.

I'd recommend a laptop with a full size keyboard for the kid(s) to get used to. That's what they'll be using in the "real world". Just my 2 cents on that.

 

[Juan handed]

Yes. Vista is fine. Your system needs to be a little beefier to run it over XP, but it's been just fine. I find the worst company that sells products with Vista is Acer. Now, normally, they are an okay company, but their budget line comes with Vista and has bare minimum for specs and it runs really slow. This is the reason a lot of people hated Vista; because companies would sell it with bare-minimum specs and it would run like Geo Metro.

I'd recommend a laptop with a full size keyboard for the kid(s) to get used to. That's what they'll be using in the "real world". Just my 2 cents on that.

So,Windows7 is it going to be like a Vista 2.0 ? I get the feeling that people are looking forward to it,for what reason?

What type of specs are anticipated to run Windows7 efficiently?

Yeah,I'm thinking I might go for the full size keyboard,being that is what I believe the school system is using.And since I haven't gotten any feedback telling me that kids are trashing laptops,I'll probably go that way.

 

[dude_56013]

So,Windows7 is it going to be like a Vista 2.0 ? I get the feeling that people are looking forward to it,for what reason?

W7 is WAY less power/resource hungry than Vista is. I have yet to meet someone who likes Vista over Win7 (lots of us have been testing the W7 Beta and Release Candidates for a while now). I would say it's its own OS. There are a lot of similarities between Vista and W7, but a lot of differences as well. It runs very smooth.

What type of specs are anticipated to run Windows7 efficiently?

From MS:
-1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
-1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
-16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
-DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Yeah,I'm thinking I might go for the full size keyboard,being that is what I believe the school system is using.And since I haven't gotten any feedback telling me that kids are trashing laptops,I'll probably go that way.

Yup. Just set some ground rules and make sure they follow them. Limit their "play" use and such.

 

[01001010]

You know an Apple Dekstop might be perfect for what you are after!

Macs are generally more child friendly because they focus more on the user experience and are easier to use than PC's.

Sorry, I don't think that's necessarily true. There's still potential to do damage to your own computer if you're not careful. While Mac OS might be more intuitive, it can also be a very powerful operating system if you configure it properly.

It may have a nicer exterior than Microsoft Windows, but it's still the same basic concept. You can't really go wrong either way.

 

[foothead]

HEY...

Why has nobody suggested an Xandros Linux Eee PC?
ASUS made the interface extremely simple. My 4 year old cousin can easily use it.
Plus they are like $165 on mwave right now.

Get them each one. Even better.

EDIT: zipzoomfly has the 701sd for $150 if you sign up to wait for it a little.