Laptop recomendations for my daughter?

[An_Island_Girl]

Hi everyone,

My DD6 has officially asked for a laptop of her own for her birthday in Nov. She goes online with mine to educational websites that she has for homework, so I think it's about time to get her one for herself.

What I don't know though is what I should be looking for? How much memory, size, brand, etc

I figure she'll have it for a few years, so I want something that can grow with her.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rantnnravin]

If you are planning for her to have it a few years, I would go Mac (welll, i would go Mac regardless)
It is an investment.
Look at it this way - DD10 has an imac that was built in 2001 and it is running OSX just fine.
Last Christmas, I got her a new macbook for $750 (refurb from Apple site) and I like her machine better than mine!

 

[Minnie824]

I just ordered an HP for my daughter for her birthday...it was on sale for $499 with a ton of memory and system upgrades from HP directly. We have an HP at home and love it as well.

 

[andrea2289]

I highly recommend a basic Compaq Presario. Compaq and HP and made by the same company. Both my husband and my son have one of these (I used to) and you can't go wrong. You can find them for less than $400 everywhere (my husband just paid $349 for his at Best Buy). I got my son his at QVC and did the easy-pay (no interest), If she is only 6 she doesn't need a lot of memory, just a clean well running laptop. Compaqs do not come preloaded with a lot bloatware (preinstalled programs that slow a computer down). My son is 19 in the Army and loves his. My daughter has a $1400 Sony Vaio and, honestly, my son's Compaq runs better/quicker than hers (Sony's are notorius for bloatware/slow running).

Hope that helps

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Don't buy an Asus. We've had to have it repaired 3 times and it's less then 6 months old.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I've had my HP laptop since June 2005. It's still running, and is still my primary computer. I'm a student, so it sees a LOT of use and abuse. The trick with HP, though, is to buy from HP. Do NOT buy at Wal Mart, Best Buy, etc. I have no idea what the difference is, but we have several HPs, purchased directly from HP, and have had no isses. My friends that have purchased HPs from box stores have had many issues.

 

[abmitch01]

I'd go Mac, lasts forever, few tech issues. Mac Connection has the macbook with a $150 rebate now, so it's $850. Also has some printer rebates.

we finally are pc-free and I can't believe how fewer headaches we have.

 

[woodkins]

If she is using it for mostly online games/websites etc why not a netbook. With technology advancing at the rate it is a laptop she gets at age 6 will be outdated by the time she really needs it for more than online usage anyway. We bought my 8 yr old dd a netbook about a yr ago & it was about $250. She links into our internet via our wireless router and can play away.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

Thank you everyone for your help!

I guess the more I think about it, she only needs to be able to go online and a small word program with some type of kid-pics program for her book reflections (mini book-reports).

Can you load a word program on a net-book, or is it strictly internet only? I never really looked into them.

 

[Ericandjenng]

If she is using it for mostly online games/websites etc why not a netbook. With technology advancing at the rate it is a laptop she gets at age 6 will be outdated by the time she really needs it for more than online usage anyway. We bought my 8 yr old dd a netbook about a yr ago & it was about $250. She links into our internet via our wireless router and can play away.

Thank you everyone for your help!

I guess the more I think about it, she only needs to be able to go online and a small word program with some type of kid-pics program for her book reflections (mini book-reports).

Can you load a word program on a net-book, or is it strictly internet only? I never really looked into them.

I don't know alot but I did ask some questions about Netbooks because my son started asking for a Wii and we thought another laptop might be better because we can use when travelling. What I was told was that Netbooks are designed more school work than anything. They don't have the memory capabilities nor the video card to handle the more elaborate games. And evidently it is not simple to simply add additional memory or a better video card--costs skyrocket.

That being said, frequently and especially for Black Friday, many retailers tend to great deals on Laptops. We got our current laptop during last year's back to school sales. We went for an HP that was on sale for $399 but they were out and decided to buy a Toshiba at $449. Other than one fluke of a problem which was major but Toshiba took care of it very quickly and efficiently, we've not had any other problems or issues. I also really like the HP brand--I use their laptops at work and we have an HP desktop at home.

The other thing to think about is size. When we bought our Toshiba, we wanted the biggest screen possible and got a 17inch...but it's HEAVY! If we do get a 2nd one for our DS from Santa, it will definitely be smaller.

 

[nomolos]

We purchased 2 netbboks for our DD8 and DD10 last christmas. For what they use them for they are more than fast enough. Pirates online runs a little slow but for the majority of what they use them for (homework and educational websites) they work fine. If she will be running any graphic intensive programs i would suggest a small laptop. Also be aware that most netbooks only have windows 7 basic and that does not allow you to customize the desktop like home versions (that was kind of important to my younger 2). You can also get a customized skin for it to make it more personal.

 

[MAGGIED]

Another recommendation for a MAC.... with all the virus going around the MAC is a much "safer" option... while it is more expensvie at the purchase it is something that she can have for a long time... we have two MAC's and 3 PC's and 2 of our PC have gotten such bad virus (even running and updating virus protection) that it cost us several hundred dollars in repairs ...

 

[ajk912]

For a 7 year old unless she would be 100% all of the time using it under direct supervision, I would just buy the cheapest netbook you can find. She may be very mature, but chances are it will get destroyed (sat on, stepped on, spilled on, dropped, a pencil closed in the lid, etc) with most kids under 10. And even 10 is iffy I think. Just go cheap instead of worrying about longevity.

 

[aprilgail2]

I bought my daughter a Dell PC a few years ago for Christmas and have not had one problem with it. I have a Dell laptop for 4 years now no problem and I have 2 working Dell desktops- one was bought in 2002 and still works never had a problem with it and the other was bought for my daughter when she was 5- she is almost 11 now and never had a problem with it. I would stay away from macs simply because the schools here use PC's and I figure it would be easier for her not to be using a mac at home and a PC in school!

 

[karen l]

We always had pcs - a gateway, 2 Dells, a Dell laptop & 2 compaq. Dell's customer service was horrendous. We called for assistance with a laptop & desktop & they didn't help either time. Once we started with Macs we were sold. My two oldest got mac books for college & last year we purchased one for my DS who was entering high school. Apple makes a fantastic product that lasts for years. My oldest DS took his to college, on various trips, to his first job & now to grad school - he even spilled guinness on it & it survived. When our last dell was attacked by a virus I bought a mac desk top. Macs are awesome for us - I'd never go back to a pc.

 

[fakereadhed]

As a mom of 3, I'd go netbook. My oldest is my most responsible one and she went thru 2 laptops before we went netbook. 1)laptops are bulkier and easier to drop 2)They tend to overheat if kids leave them
where air can't circulate under them 3) they're more expensive to replace.

Mine use netbooks for surfing and homework. They use a memery stick to take papers to school and print them off there. If they need to save something, they transfer their work to our pc via the stick so they can save memory on the netbook.

 

[tinkrebell]

MacBook Air - all the benefits of a Mac in design, processing capabilities, speed online and off, wireless, and safety, plus small enough and light enough for your daughter to be comfortable carrying around. Not to mention cheap enough to replace if your daughter does drop it - although i've done some serious droppage with my MacBook Pro and it has survived!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If you are planning for her to have it a few years, I would go Mac (welll, i would go Mac regardless)It is an investment.

I completely disagree. No computer is an investment, at least not financially.

Any Apple computer is far too expensive (unless you find a used one) to buy for a 6 year old.

I agree with buying the cheapest netbook you can find.

 

[tony67]

I would go with a netbook as well.

It is good, cheap and the right size for a 6 year old.

As soon as you buy ANY computer it is already out of date IMO.

If she drops it at least it is only $200-$300.

Also do not buy the memory from the manufacturer.
After you get it buy as much memory as it will take from a third party, like Newegg dot com.
It is usually about 1/2 the full price and it’s very easy to install.
The more memory you have the better it will run.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

I have to go with the Mac also! We have had all kinds of laptops and nothing compares to the quality of the Mac! The refurbished ones are checked out and have warranty. Wish I had bought my DD a Mac a long time ago!