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iMac as Kids Computer

B

bielen

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2008
151
9
New Jersey
I'm looking to purchase an iMac for use by my kids (5 year old twins in kindergarten) and my wife for general web browsing. I've read all the reviews and compared specs. My main concern revolves around the video card

I'm deciding between the 2.4 and 2.66 iMac. While it should be fine running the basic educational games (Dora, Kid Pix, Didi & Ditto), would I have any long term issues with the 2400 XT video card in the 2.4 iMac?

I'd buy a RAM upgrade separately. Hard drive storage is not an issue.

Any reason to consider the 2.66 with the 2600 PRO?

Thanks
 
Any iMac will do for your kids. They are all easy to use and your kid will love them. Built in parental controls will let you choose when and where your kids go on the internet. Its easy to set up an account for everybody in your house.

Apples never get a virus or spyware, you just turn them on and they work.

--Eric
 
That is major, major overkill for 5 year olds. What I would look into is a Power Mac G4 or iMac G3. They cost less than $100 for a decent one, and if they break it, it's less of a big deal.

If they wanted to play games, I would actually buy a G4 and put a card like the Radeon 9000 in it to run the games.

The whole thing (including an LCD) would most likely cost you less than $300.
 
iMpathetic said:
That is major, major overkill for 5 year olds. What I would look into is a Power Mac G4 or iMac G3. They cost less than $100 for a decent one, and if they break it, it's less of a big deal.

If they wanted to play games, I would actually buy a G4 and put a card like the Radeon 9000 in it to run the games.

The whole thing (including an LCD) would most likely cost you less than $300.
Click to expand...

in my opinion warranty (up to 3 years) is well worth more than $300 in the end. Any service without one will set you back $300 easy
 
As for power either of those would be more then enough horse power. Though my fears would be permanent marker + LCD screen. Any item that could be shoved in DVD drive or quick movement + imac + floor = dead imac:eek:. If you do get the iMac I would get the VESA mount adapter and either bolt it to the desk via adjustable arm or anchor it to the wall with a VESA wall mount. At least you will avoid iMac meets floor but you are not protected from iMac meets any object child decides to try against iMac.

Personally I would say a nice heavy and robust G4/G5 + CRT or eMac with no internet connection just to be more child proof then get a nice Macbook for the wife that can be locked away from inquisitive little hands.

You could also pick up an Old Apple IIe and let them play the real educational games. Oregon Trail, Odell Lake, Where is Carmen San Diego, Jeopardy and all the other 80's classroom programs. Then unless they are uber programmers and electrical engineers there is no way they could connect to the internet and view smut with a IIe:D.
 
Agree with the above in general, with the slight opinion that all in ones are simpler for setting up in a kid's space. Apple uses iMacs in their little kiddie play centers inside their stores, so I think they're safe enough. I think in terms of cost effectiveness, if you primarily just want them to use it, just get a used iMac of some kind (since you mention your wife at least using it, there's no harm in getting, say, a used Intel iMac) and then get a console for video game time. Or get them a DS or a GBA or something. Consoles are so much less hassle, even for educational games, than a computer of any marque, even Apple.
 
mkrishnan said:
Agree with the above in general, with the slight opinion that all in ones are simpler for setting up in a kid's space. Apple uses iMacs in their little kiddie play centers inside their stores, so I think they're safe enough. I think in terms of cost effectiveness, if you primarily just want them to use it, just get a used iMac of some kind (since you mention your wife at least using it, there's no harm in getting, say, a used Intel iMac) and then get a console for video game time. Or get them a DS or a GBA or something. Consoles are so much less hassle, even for educational games, than a computer of any marque, even Apple.
Click to expand...

I would prefer to get in an Intel Mac so I can have Boot Camp with Windows for some of my wife's tasks. While the kids will use the computer, it will be used for a variety of tasks. My wife has a Windows laptop from her office so we'd rather have a system with a larger screen.

Where can you find good deals on used Intel Macs? I've seems some used Macs on EBay and various web sites and they are going for $800+ 20" 2.0 ghz iMac.
 
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