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Which Mac for Child?

Wow, I haven't gotten my first computer until I was in 1st grade. My first Mac didn't come until last year.


Well, my 3 year old sister, uses my old 700MHz eMac with 512MB Ram to play games on Disney Channel, or watch Care Bear DVD's and such. It suits her well, though Flash seems to run a wee slower than on my dad's PC or my slightly better Mac.
We got it like 6 months ago for $200 from Craig-list. Everything runs OK, even though some system files seem to be corrupted (such as the archiving Utility, but she'll never use that).
Educational games do seem to take up a lot of space, about half of the HD (20GB), but she hasn't even played all of them yet :p
 
I appreciate all the replies. Please keep them coming if anyone else has input.
 
Whatever you do, don't get a laptop. With a kid that age it's just an accident waiting to happen.

My mom teaches 1st grade and they have eMacs in the classroom. The kids are definitely rough on the computers but they're just using a $50 keyboard and mouse. If they break that (and they do sometimes) they're easy and cheap to replace.

The eMac is definitely the way to go. The last edition is still fast enough for just about everything too.
 
I won't give you the "get an imac/emac/etc", because you don't have the space. Advantages to the laptop include the ability of your child to watch movies on trips, etc. Make sure you buy a keyboard skin to liquid proof it a bit. Also make sure you have a good neoprene cover for the inevitable bumps. Realistically, (but possibly out of price range) the 12 inch G4 will be easier for your little one to handle, and probably more durable.

Dual boot into OS9 might also be nice. The amount of pretty good, really cheap OS9 educational software is staggering. Luck!
 
I would also recommend a Mac mini - easy to keep out of sight (and away from accidents), you can get a nice Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse (Laser) set for like $60 which can easily be moved out of the way when necessary, and get a decent low-priced 17" monitor.

A laptop is a good thought, but if something happens to it, that's big bucks to get it fixed/replaced (and AppleCare won't cover accidents!)

-Bryan
 
zioxide said:
Whatever you do, don't get a laptop. With a kid that age it's just an accident waiting to happen.

My mom teaches 1st grade and they have eMacs in the classroom. The kids are definitely rough on the computers but they're just using a $50 keyboard and mouse. If they break that (and they do sometimes) they're easy and cheap to replace.

The eMac is definitely the way to go. The last edition is still fast enough for just about everything too.
Click to expand...

On eMacs. A lot of Universities and schools filled their labs with eMacs, and imagine that there's a fair chance that the time is coming for them to be replaced. I know my uni is slowly starting to phase out eMacs in favour of iMacs.

What I'm saying is, you could probably get a very plentiful source of second hand eMacs if you contact a couple of schools in your area (if the usual channels don't turn anything up).
 
spork183 said:
I won't give you the "get an imac/emac/etc", because you don't have the space. Advantages to the laptop include the ability of your child to watch movies on trips, etc. Make sure you buy a keyboard skin to liquid proof it a bit. Also make sure you have a good neoprene cover for the inevitable bumps. Realistically, (but possibly out of price range) the 12 inch G4 will be easier for your little one to handle, and probably more durable.

Dual boot into OS9 might also be nice. The amount of pretty good, really cheap OS9 educational software is staggering. Luck!
Click to expand...

If it really HAS to be a laptop the skin etc. are excellent suggetions. Maybe you could get some external keyboard and mouse for the laptop too. I have to agree that 4 year old + laptop equals desaster.
 
I noticed that many people are recommending desktop machines to the original poster, but he specifically said that he does not have room for a desktop.

So I wanted to contribute my two cents here.

I have a 4 year old who loves using our iBook at home. Our current iBook was the last one made before switching to Intel Macbooks, i.e., our iBook has a 1.42 GHz G4, with the 14 inch screen, and 1.5 GB of memory.

Our 4 year old could probably spend all day on this website:

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/

Nothing fancy is required by your computer for such little people's needs. Even if you bought a slower iBook, it would be more than sufficient. If you are going to run Leopard (i.e., Mac OS X 10.5), you want to make sure that you have plenty of RAM in the machine, but that is easy to do yourself and is relatively inexpensive. My version of the iBook can only hold 1.5 GB of RAM, so I put the maximum in it. Some of the other iBooks can hold slightly less, because the motherboard in the iBook has a different amount of built-in RAM, depending on which version of the iBook that you buy.

A few posters mentioned that a laptop is inappropriate for a 4 year old, but I must disagree. My 4 year old is very capable of opening the iBook himself and playing the Sesame Street game of his choice. We just leave the page open for him all the time. In fact, he closes the iBook every time he is done. He treats the machine very well, and he just turned 4 years old a couple weeks ago. Honestly, he has been playing on the iBook for many months now, lets say (approximately) since he was 3 and a half years old, all by himself. His 1-year-old sister (who is almost 2-years-old now) loves watching him play.

(Of course, we limit the amount of time that the kids can be on the iBook, and we rarely watch TV either. We're just a reading-oriented type of family!)

So my experience is that an older iBook is more than adequate for your needs. No matter what you do, I think it is important to just spend some time with your child while getting familiar with the machine. I love watching and helping my children learn and grow, and the computer is just one small aspect of our learning experiences together.

Good luck! Best wishes!
 
Random aside

Just before christmas I was unpacking my nice shiny new 20" iMac when our 2 (soon to be 3) year old walked in and said in an awe struck voice "is that for me?". I managed to let him down gently.
Sad thing is, he probably spends more time on it than I do :rolleyes:

Back on topic: I'm was planning on giving him our old G3 ibook, but after reading this thread I'm beginning to wonder if it will be powerful enough :eek:

Might have to go with the 8 core MP ;)
 
techgeek said:
Just before christmas I was unpacking my nice shiny new 20" iMac when our 2 (soon to be 3) year old walked in and said in an awe struck voice "is that for me?". I managed to let him down gently.
Sad thing is, he probably spends more time on it than I do :rolleyes:

Back on topic: I'm was planning on giving him our old G3 ibook, but after reading this thread I'm beginning to wonder if it will be powerful enough :eek:

Might have to go with the 8 core MP ;)
Click to expand...

To techgeek: Your story reminded me that our children do love playing on our new iMac too (see my sig), and they've also played on my huge Mac Pro at work (also see my sig). So they have several options, but they are honestly very content with the iBook. I think it helps a lot that we let them play on whichever computer they feel like, so that the iMac and Mac Pro are not "taboo" for them. That is helpful. Forbidden things become very desirable. So maybe just let your little one play on your new iMac for awhile, and then show him how special your old G3 iBook can be too. Just a thought.
 
I would say an iMac. My kids absolutely love mine. I let my son (8) use my Dell XPS Laptop and he hates it. All the kids fight to get on the iMac. I have mine in the kitchen where I can keep an eye on what their doing.

I understand about the no room thing, but thats going to be tough. One of the other posters talked about spilling stuff into a laptop. Be prepared, it will happen. I'm on keyboard number 2 and this ones already had soda spilled into it.

The iMac's don't really take all that much room on the desktop. A wireless Keyboard and Mouse can be stuffed into a drawer when not in use.

I'm not big on buying last generation technology, because at this point, the Intel machines have been out for almost 2 years. Apple does a great job supporting older hardware, but you might get more bang for the buck with a 17" Intel based refurb or a used one off of eBay. Look in the local papers, I do see them being sold all the time.
 
my son will soon be 4 and he likes typing away when he gets the chance!!

i did think about either giving him my 20" imac (wall mount it) or my macbook in a years time..

that way, he'll have a computer and i can get the tv tuner usb thing, so to have tv too...

i think the wall mounting imac would be a good solution for you too?

just something to think about..

let us know what you finally decide..
 
Hawkeye411 said:
He's 4??

Why don't you buy him Tickle Me Elmo or a puppy.
Click to expand...
because 4 year olds are not just adorable little morons, they can often type for themselves and use a computer better than you'd think. it's not such an out-there idea.



I'd avoid a laptop, it really seems like a recipe for disaster. A wall mounted iMac would be a great idea, I think. Less little fingerprints on the screen and if something is spilled the keyboard will take the fall, which is a much cheaper problem to have.
 
All the people saying the child is too young: there's tons of educational software geared for this age child. My kids (now 14 and 16) learned to read and learned basic math concepts on Macs. Reader Rabbit is highly recommended -- not sure it works with Mac OS X, but a G4 should be able to boot into OS 9.

You *should* definitely limit the child's computer time. There's lots to learn and do in the world that's not on the computer.
 
I agree completely on limiting the computer time and that's our plan. He needs to spend time running around, playing and reading. At this point in his life it's a learning tool that will be used a few times a week for relatively short periods. All of that time will be supervised, but as a parent I won't be telling him what to click on and such. It will also be parent/child bonding time -- just one more thing we can do together.
 
One thing I don't think anyone has been mentioned is - be careful with the G4 iBooks. We've had quite a few come in to our workshop with broken logic boards, some only lasting a few months before needing to be replaced. There was also an early revision of the iBook which had a really badly design logic board/graphics layout where you can make it crash by pressing the case in a certain place. While I completely understand why you'd want a portable, one of the tilt/swivel iMacs really are nice machines. They don't have a big footprint and would certainly be more durable in my opinion.

I work at a Art & Design college and I can honestly say many of our students will be messier than your 4 year old. We still use the above iMacs on a daily basis. They get grubby, but in general they are pretty reliable. I actually have a soft-spot for their design, which I think is timeless!

Hope that helps.
 
My children (now 6 and 7) have the use of a G4 iBook and an eMac. Of the two I much prefer them using the eMac, as they can forget that computers need care.

With the iBook, their problems are:
1) They cannot stop poking the screen.
2) They slam the lid down.

For your peace of mind, I'd get a desktop - if you have room.
 
I don't get why nobody has suggested to get an external monitor keyboard/mouse along with a G4 powered laptop?

That way majority of the time at home he can use it as a desktop to avoid damaging it, though during trips or if you wanna watch him in another room or something you can pull it out and use it as a laptop.

17" lcd for 150ish and a cheapo logitech mouse keyboard combo for about $25 dollars. So with tax and stuff that'd be about 200 bucks. If you or your friends have some spare computer crap laying around maybe you can snag something from them? I know I have like 3 previous optical mouses and 2 keyboards stored away.

So I'd get the laptop, and later on pick up the desktop stuff for him to use as well.
 
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