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General discussion

laptop purchase for kid

by meepgirl Dec 8, 2009 10:41PM PST

My ten year old son wants a laptop for Christmas. I do not have unlimited funds, so have been watching ebay. Are refurbished units necessarily a bad thing? What sort of things should I be looking for in a laptop for a kid this age? Should I worry about DVD capability? I don't want to be buying a new computer every year, but I know everything is outdated the minute it hits the shelves. We use satellite internet here is WV, and my router has been flaky lately--it's only a couple of months old, so I'm a little irritated with Airstation. Any advice?

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6 Posts
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Just what I've bought
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Dec 8, 2009 11:38PM PST
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laptop advice
by meepgirl Dec 9, 2009 1:54AM PST

That price is certainly doable. I checked the links, and the only thing I wonder about is the weight. In this day and age, I wonder how much use he'll get out of the DVD...although it could come in handy when traveling. Is there anything out there that you know of that is any smaller or lighter weight? Nearly 5# seems a lot. Of course, he would need a case, and that would help with the load. Thanks!

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DVD player
by jeff_windows_team Dec 9, 2009 1:58AM PST

Think of a DVD player as like getting a built in portable DVD player. Those things have come down in price lately, but it is probably one feature you will regret passing up if you do.

If you have some free time give this tool a spin and let us know if any models pop out at you: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pc-scout/default.aspx

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For a few dollars more.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Dec 9, 2009 2:01AM PST

Look at the Acer Timeline series. You get the weight down but the price goes up. For now a DVD drive is a great idea as we still load software that way. And dollar DVD rentals too.
Bob

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one more question
by meepgirl Dec 10, 2009 5:40AM PST

will the Dell be suficient for any games he might want to play? I don't allow Call of Duty, but there are other online games out there he might want to try, and I (evil mom) make him do homework over the summer--last year I bought some good CD learning games. Thanks for the advice!

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Let me share.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Dec 10, 2009 9:14AM PST

My kid has a Toshiba L305 with a 2.1GHz Celeron, 3GB RAM, Vista, the usual 4500MHD display chipset and plays all the usual games including "The Orange Box."

Hope this helps,
Bob

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