What should I look for in a laptop?

[Punchy]

I promised my 8-year old daughter that I'd get her a laptop before the end of the summer, and that time is getting close...She will use it for non graphic-intensive games (barbie, etc.), learning games, internet, and watching DVDs in the minivan I will borrow it on occasion for basic use when we travel (Office, Internet). DVD quality is important because we fly a good amount and she gets bored. I'm looking for advice on processor, memory, DVD speed, hard drive size, and screen type. I was hoping to stay around $1200.. Thank you for any and all advice-

 

[MDE]

Almost anything out there now should be enough for your uses. Just curious, why'd you promise your 8 year old a laptop? If you were my Dad, I'd love you! But seriously, you might be able to pick up a used laptop to fit your needs. Just make sure you get one with long battery life and\or the capability to use two batteries and the optical drive at the same time.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Do any of her Barbie games use any 3D at all? If so, then something with at least a 16 MB Radeom. The "intel xtreeeme! graphics" are not capable of much 3D, about half the speed of a gf4 mx 420 cripple-card.

If not, maybe that $700 Dell in the Sunday paper is enough. A 14 - 15" screen should be great for DVDs, and any new laptop you can buy has a fast enough CPU for playback. About the only thing wrong with most sub-$1000 laptops is the lack of real 3D and many only having 256 MB of RAM instead of 512 MB.

 

[amdskip]

The Dell $699 deal sounds like a great solution for you.

 

[Oyeve]

You would be suprised t how many "kiddie" games require 3D acceleration nowadays. Go for something with at LEAST 16 meg ati or so. 32 would be even better. HD space is also crucial. Some game require a couple of gigs sometimes. MGS2 for instance needs like 7 gigs or so.

 

[sniperruff]

might as well get a DVD player and save a bunch of money

why does a 8-year old need a laptop anyway?

heh does an 8-year old really know the difference between a laptop and a DVD player?

me so evil =P

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Punchy
I will borrow it on occasion for basic use when we travel (Office, Internet).

after reading that sentence i can think of a scene

wife: Punchy honey, why are we buying this? This is $1200 and it doesn't fit our monthly budget!
punchy: Well, I promised our daughter that I would buy her a laptop if she gets an 80 on her daily math quiz!

yup! it is for your daughter, who you adore, right?

heh i was just kidding. but seriously kid + laptop = a risk of $1200. kids are not best known for taking care of electronics...

but to answer the question any laptop with a 14inch or above screen would be nice. so as others have said the dell 1100 with a celeron would be enough to play anything you want it to

or consider a sotec from bestbuy. it has a smaller screen but it is also light, when compared to the very very heavy dell 1100. check it out at the hotdeals forum

 

[zephyrprime]

Hey, remember. This kid is eight. You need something very lightweight! A 15" screen comes at too high a cost in terms of weight. For her to lug around a 5lb notebook at her size would be like you lugging around a 25lb notebook! You might need to get a unltra portable but they cost more than 1200.

 

[Punchy]

Thanks for the help guys! I've printed this thread out and will show the wife tonight.. We will get something within the next 2 weeks.

I built my daughter an AMD K6-3 machine when she was 2, and she immediately was able to select and play games with the mouse, and she progressed to writing letters and using spell-check. We moved into a new house last December, and I didn't bother to set up her computer in her room because it is pretty outdated. I'm getting her a laptop so she can sit at a smaller desk and her room won't be as cluttered. When we built, I ran a CAT5 cable from her room down to the study so she can share the printer (and broadband if it ever becomes available - we're in the country ) She gets on my computer daily to go to nick.com and disney.com, and she has an e-mail address, but unfortunately none of her friends do......