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New Mac User - What to get my son now...
- Thread starter NiftyBritches
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Well, on a more serious note,
It's really good he's getting exposed to computers at such a young age. One day he will want that G5 with 8 gb ram...lol...so you probably dont understand what you got him onto
I suggest you get him a machine that will work quickly enough so he can enjoy it. Don't get the absolutely cheapest lousiest system. Maybe one step above that, if you want it to last; certainly in a few years, he'll be typing things up for school projects and such. Think of it as an investment in his education, as he can certainlty learn A LOT from using the computer.
It's really good he's getting exposed to computers at such a young age. One day he will want that G5 with 8 gb ram...lol...so you probably dont understand what you got him onto
I suggest you get him a machine that will work quickly enough so he can enjoy it. Don't get the absolutely cheapest lousiest system. Maybe one step above that, if you want it to last; certainly in a few years, he'll be typing things up for school projects and such. Think of it as an investment in his education, as he can certainlty learn A LOT from using the computer.
I agree with that other poster. Buy a USB keyboard and mouse and run the iBook in closed-lid mode. If you have a spare CRT monitor lying around, hook that up as well if you don't want your 4-yr old smudging up the LCD display.
That way, your iBook can be safely tucked out of harm's way and your able to save a lot of money from having to buy a separate machine that has fallen off the technology curve in terms of performance and keeping up with the latest security updates.
That way, your iBook can be safely tucked out of harm's way and your able to save a lot of money from having to buy a separate machine that has fallen off the technology curve in terms of performance and keeping up with the latest security updates.
I seriously think you should get the mini. It's about the same price as all the computers everyone else is mentioning and it's a lot faster. Space is not an issue with it either.
NiftyBritches said:Nintendo at 3? I think we had Pong, then an Atari at about 8-9 years old with combat and PacMan. My first computer was called Tommy Tutor. You could use it to program Basic and have your name flash across the screen, or different colors. My first PC was in college. I want to say it was a Magnavox 386SX running a Windows clone called GeoWorks or something like that. I remember financing it for $1,000. The 'internet' didn't exist as we know it, so it was a 24kbs??? modem to download pics off of bulletin boards. It took about 10-15 minutes to download a normal pic, sometimes up to 45mins.
Scary to think about what my 4yr old will be able to do...
IMHO
You can save lots of money (as mentioned before) and get an older mac that can run classic (personal choice OS 8.5 - 9.2).
MAke a good boot disk, and on the normal hard disk for this "kids" computer, Remove any non needed extensions, or control pannels. If he needs internet access, load the latest Internet software that runs on classic, and install it's own parent control software.
High Schools, Middle Schools, and Elementery schools have been doing that for years. And with a $30 computer, you don't have much to be mad about if your son decides to practice food fighting, backyard wrestling, or other nasty things to your comptuer.
But to each their own..
Whatever you go with , I am sure he will love
