I remember a conversation I had with my orthodontist a few months back. For christmas she decided to buy her 10 year old son an HP laptop. After less than a week he tried to pull the power adapter out of the wall by yanking on the cord. The power adapter flew out and shattered the screen of his week old laptop. Luckily the store they bought it from allowed to to exchange it for a new one. I suggest a desktop or a really protective case.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
new mb advice for my 10 yr old daughter:
- Thread starter danielpicasso
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I disagree, MS Office would be fine, that's what I've used since elementary school and I've never had any problems with it. Then again, I've always been really good with computers
I disagree, MS Office would be fine, that's what I've used since elementary school and I've never had any problems with it. Then again, I've always been really good with computers
I agree. MS Office is what they are going to use at school (even at that age), and she will need to be able to work on her files both at school at home.
My kids have used my laptops since they were that age, and I think only her parents can decide if she is ready for a laptop.
A ten year old is probably in 5th grade - seems fine to me.
If you want her to have the computer for a while, then the MacBook is definitely what you should get. Getting anything less, and she won't be able to use it for projects that require things like iMovie, iDVD, etc.
This past week, the latest episode of the TLC "reality" series 'Little People, Big World' opened w/ 16-year-old Molly using a MacBook Pro and 12-year-old Jacob was on a white MacBook, both doing their homework. Knowing how dad Matt Roloff operates -- he just got a MacBook Pro during the house reno (no doubt on TLC's dime!) -- I bet the MacBook Pro Molly was using wasn't borrowed from Matt (meaning 2 new MacBooks besides his in his office). Just a little factoid on kids and computer usage.
To the OP, one day your kid will be 12 and tapping away trying to spell certain words and using them in everyday sentences for a school assignment.
* edit: I should state that this episode was filmed maybe half a year ago when (I think) the 13" MB wasn't yet branded Pro by default, so it's possible she was using a 13" MB. Again, knowing Matt, I bet he'd want _the_ best, so I bet a 15" MBP.
To the OP, one day your kid will be 12 and tapping away trying to spell certain words and using them in everyday sentences for a school assignment.
* edit: I should state that this episode was filmed maybe half a year ago when (I think) the 13" MB wasn't yet branded Pro by default, so it's possible she was using a 13" MB. Again, knowing Matt, I bet he'd want _the_ best, so I bet a 15" MBP.
I remember getting exposed to MS Office when it first came out when I was about 13-ish (Its been a while) and was psedo-working with an Amiga before that (lol, it had Hangman, what could I do?
) MS Office isn't that hard to wrangle with, IMO, and the usage pattern will do good with formatting reports in future.Note; If your daughter ever starts having to deal with gnarly graphs in high school or college, Mathematica is the bomb.
Better not show her what the "F7" key does
Does not????
Does not what???? Inquiring minds want to know!
You could fill anything in that space argh.
Anywho OP get her the top of the line; 17 inch MBP top end (3.06 Ghz proc) and be done with it. Judging on how people still pimp out their powerbooks, that should last her until after college. Or maybe a base level macbook would work too.
Kids need to be more involved with computers (less myspace more office) because they aren't going away any time soon. Having those skills will be golden in college/working years especially if she has the abilities to do basic troubleshooting on her own machine. I've seen kids freak out because they pop open word and can't do the simplest of tasks (paged numbers, line spacing etc). It is a powerful program but it takes time.
Just get an old ibook off of ebay, will save you a lot of money, a normal mb/mbp is completely overkill for a 10 year old. Or does your 10 year old intend to do video/music editing? An older ibook would be good for teaching her how to use a computer, internet, etc.
Also, why does she need a computer that will last a long time? She's 4 years from high school and 8 years from college, just get her something to play with and have fun with for now. You should not be buying a current model MB/MBP until they're ready for college. As responsible as the kid might be, accidents will happen with such young kids. Kids these days are so spoiled, indulge them when they'll actually need the computer. (I'm under the assumption she's not a young and brilliant computer whiz already, in which my opinion would change)
An older ibook would be good for teaching her how to use a computer, internet, etc.Also, why does she need a computer that will last a long time? She's 4 years from high school and 8 years from college, just get her something to play with and have fun with for now. You should not be buying a current model MB/MBP until they're ready for college. As responsible as the kid might be, accidents will happen with such young kids. Kids these days are so spoiled, indulge them when they'll actually need the computer. (I'm under the assumption she's not a young and brilliant computer whiz already, in which my opinion would change)
+2 for the refurbished section.
Unless she's a heavy gamer, then any MacBook will do. I think you can get one of the aluminum unibody MacBooks for $899 refurbished. I prefer aluminum to plastic unibody any day. Aluminum is more durable period. And you won't be missing out on any new features since the I/O ports are the same from the plastic to aluminum MacBook.
I have about 700+ songs, 10+ movies, over 200 podcasts in iTunes, and I'm only using about 100GB of my 320GB HD. I've also got FCE and Adobe CS4 installed as well as other HD hungry apps. So I think a 160GB for a 10 year old should suffice. You can always upgrade later on by using Carbon Copy Cloner, clone the drive, upgrade drive and put the clone back in.
I would use iWork since I doubt she'll be sharing Office files with many people. It's also cheaper and more efficient to use (easier to concentrate for me). If she does share Office files quite frequently, then Office will be needed. iWork does export to Office formats, but conversion process isn't perfect. Some formatting, etc will be lost. This matters in the business world, but not so much for a 10 year old.
When I was about 8 years old or so, all my teachers were suckers for the templates I custom made myself in Word (I was a PC'er back then). I'll bet that they would fall heads over heels with the templates found in iWork.
Unless she's a heavy gamer, then any MacBook will do. I think you can get one of the aluminum unibody MacBooks for $899 refurbished. I prefer aluminum to plastic unibody any day. Aluminum is more durable period. And you won't be missing out on any new features since the I/O ports are the same from the plastic to aluminum MacBook.
I have about 700+ songs, 10+ movies, over 200 podcasts in iTunes, and I'm only using about 100GB of my 320GB HD. I've also got FCE and Adobe CS4 installed as well as other HD hungry apps. So I think a 160GB for a 10 year old should suffice. You can always upgrade later on by using Carbon Copy Cloner, clone the drive, upgrade drive and put the clone back in.
I would use iWork since I doubt she'll be sharing Office files with many people. It's also cheaper and more efficient to use (easier to concentrate for me). If she does share Office files quite frequently, then Office will be needed. iWork does export to Office formats, but conversion process isn't perfect. Some formatting, etc will be lost. This matters in the business world, but not so much for a 10 year old.
When I was about 8 years old or so, all my teachers were suckers for the templates I custom made myself in Word (I was a PC'er back then). I'll bet that they would fall heads over heels with the templates found in iWork.
kids either gonna trash the mac, or load the pc full of viruses, take you pic. there is almost no 10 yr old that NEEDS a laptop. Desktop is the best for younger kids, that way you can monitor more and they are less likely to break it.
I think the main point is she just ENTERED 5th grade. If she was 16 or 17 I'd say otherwise, but Macs are really expensive and COMPLETELY overkill. An ibook would teach her basic computer skills while being very low cost and low risk. I do think a desktop is an even better option.
Also, do you really think she's going to fill up 250 GB or 320 GB of hard drive space by the time she's 13 or 14? I think 10-20 GB would suffice. Come on, let's not get crazy here.
well, it shouldn't matter how old she is, but the question should be "Is she responsible?" However, the dad clearly thought his daughter is capable of taking care of the machine and that's what matters here.
if the hdd upgrade is too expensive on the just updated version, you can either consider the next older gen (easier to open up) or get her an external hard drive, this would also teach her the merit of backing up files. 250gb might seem like a lot, but it's hdd, you always need more, esp. when 1TB is selling for less than a benjamin.
if you're in the wheel chair, then applecare might be a good idea, there's phone support and they have fast turnarounds since the policy at the repair facility is the machine has to go out on the same date it comes in.
MS office and the included programs, plus some of the opensource ones, should be good enough until high school at least. if not, there is always the free Google Docs.
I can't remember what's the other question(s) is, but you should also factor in the fact that she would have less of a chance to get virus on the laptop. and just as a reference, I'm a senior in college, and almost 40% of the incoming freshmen has apple compares to my year of less than 10%
if the hdd upgrade is too expensive on the just updated version, you can either consider the next older gen (easier to open up) or get her an external hard drive, this would also teach her the merit of backing up files. 250gb might seem like a lot, but it's hdd, you always need more, esp. when 1TB is selling for less than a benjamin.
if you're in the wheel chair, then applecare might be a good idea, there's phone support and they have fast turnarounds since the policy at the repair facility is the machine has to go out on the same date it comes in.
MS office and the included programs, plus some of the opensource ones, should be good enough until high school at least. if not, there is always the free Google Docs.
I can't remember what's the other question(s) is, but you should also factor in the fact that she would have less of a chance to get virus on the laptop. and just as a reference, I'm a senior in college, and almost 40% of the incoming freshmen has apple compares to my year of less than 10%
+1 for desktop. I used the family desktop for a very long time lol.
Then in high school I started learning how to do video work, so my dad was nice enough to let me have a $500 desktop of my own. Then a few years later I got a job and saved enough money to buy an MBP at 19.
So yeah, don't get a 10 year old a Macbook ><. Wait until late high school/college to even consider getting her a laptop.
You all should be ashamed for not mentioning the obvious:
Why does a 12 year old need his/her own personal computer?
Call me old fashioned, but there is no way that my kid is going to have a pc until high school. A family desktop is more than sufficient for their use. Yes, technology is progressing rapidly, and soon computers will be mandatory in elementary schools. But this does not stop good parenting. Kids should be out, playing sports, socializing, and having good ol' fashioned fun.
Why does a 12 year old need his/her own personal computer?
Call me old fashioned, but there is no way that my kid is going to have a pc until high school. A family desktop is more than sufficient for their use. Yes, technology is progressing rapidly, and soon computers will be mandatory in elementary schools. But this does not stop good parenting. Kids should be out, playing sports, socializing, and having good ol' fashioned fun.
This is so stupid. The parent must decide if the kid is mature enough or not. Is a 5-year old too young for a book if he/she can read or you want to teach them how to read? Is a computer any different? It's all about knowledge. A kid that learns how to use a computer from a very young age will allways be a step before the other that touched a computer for the first time after the age of maybe 13-14. Of all the people I know, the earlier they started using computers, the better they are (no surprise there).
I got my first commodore 128 at the ago of 5-6, 386 PC w/Windows 3.1 at the ago of 8-9.
Hi,
I have a daughter that also just turned 10. I got her a macbook last year for Christmas. The macbook is probably more machine than 90% of kids this age will use, including mine. My daughter mainly plays games on the computer. But on the productivity side, she has needed to do Power Point presentations for her class. But I had been skeptical of Office for MAC so I let her do her presentations on our windows laptop. However, recently I finally bit the bullit and got Office 2008 for MAC. Now I wish I had gotten it earlier so she could have used the MAC for some real work. Anyway the point is, as a parent, I try to give her good tools right out of the box so that if she really gets into it, she has a decent tool to work with. You never know, your kid might be in that 10% who really gets into computers, if that makes sense. So, yeah,
1. get her a macbook, refurbed is fine,
2. get the apple care,
3. stay with the standard harddrive, it's more than sufficient, and you can always upgrade it later if you need to, and
4. do get Office 2008 for Mac if your child does presentations or the like for school. The schools in my area are still Windows and MS office dependent, meaning that iWork is not an option due to the need to share the file. Office 2008 for Mac i's only $150 for the student version and comes with 3 licenses so you can add it to your computer later as well, for no additional cost.
I have a daughter that also just turned 10. I got her a macbook last year for Christmas. The macbook is probably more machine than 90% of kids this age will use, including mine. My daughter mainly plays games on the computer. But on the productivity side, she has needed to do Power Point presentations for her class. But I had been skeptical of Office for MAC so I let her do her presentations on our windows laptop. However, recently I finally bit the bullit and got Office 2008 for MAC. Now I wish I had gotten it earlier so she could have used the MAC for some real work. Anyway the point is, as a parent, I try to give her good tools right out of the box so that if she really gets into it, she has a decent tool to work with. You never know, your kid might be in that 10% who really gets into computers, if that makes sense. So, yeah,
1. get her a macbook, refurbed is fine,
2. get the apple care,
3. stay with the standard harddrive, it's more than sufficient, and you can always upgrade it later if you need to, and
4. do get Office 2008 for Mac if your child does presentations or the like for school. The schools in my area are still Windows and MS office dependent, meaning that iWork is not an option due to the need to share the file. Office 2008 for Mac i's only $150 for the student version and comes with 3 licenses so you can add it to your computer later as well, for no additional cost.
+1 for mentioning the unibody Macbook, i almost forgot about that and almost suggested the MBP 13. Its a great size and shape for a 12 year old (or was it 10?). MS Office is not hard to use at all (i think Open Office is more confusing and broken even though its free), plus they got little recognizable icons.
Well, I've been to the Roloff Farm. Last year for their pumpkin patch deal..
Anyways, I am pretty sure that they can afford their stuff, without the help of TLC; although I am sure that doesn't hurt. Their land is MASSIVE, and they have all sorts of events hosted at their farms, such as tours, christmas tree sales, pumpkin patches, etc. ..
I do believe they are like 7-9 months behind, from film to airing the episode..
thank you for the reply
all/BrokenE the replies have been very good and I specially got a lot out of your reply being we both have children of the same age and thay are each responsible. This would also be a combination Christmas/birthday gift. My dauhter is very responsible and has been introduced to our home computers since she was very young. I also have had a home office with work/business related software, so she has interacted and has seen me use powerpoint/excel/word. I also see that her school is using advanced technologies on Mac for teaching aids and they do use office. I am recently divorced thus the need for the mac book to bring to her moms as well as my home is important (otherwise I would of gotten an iMac). My question to you being I have not had a mac since an Mac SE. There is now a refurb for $749 vs $999 for the new one, for the $150 which would go towards buying MS office and apple care, is that justified in your mind to buy the refurb? Its a matter of 160 vs 250 hd, and what ever the new Mac Book has. Other wise the refurbs price points have been high and not much of an advantage. Thank you
all/BrokenE the replies have been very good and I specially got a lot out of your reply being we both have children of the same age and thay are each responsible. This would also be a combination Christmas/birthday gift. My dauhter is very responsible and has been introduced to our home computers since she was very young. I also have had a home office with work/business related software, so she has interacted and has seen me use powerpoint/excel/word. I also see that her school is using advanced technologies on Mac for teaching aids and they do use office. I am recently divorced thus the need for the mac book to bring to her moms as well as my home is important (otherwise I would of gotten an iMac). My question to you being I have not had a mac since an Mac SE. There is now a refurb for $749 vs $999 for the new one, for the $150 which would go towards buying MS office and apple care, is that justified in your mind to buy the refurb? Its a matter of 160 vs 250 hd, and what ever the new Mac Book has. Other wise the refurbs price points have been high and not much of an advantage. Thank you
so everyone is a parent now
Go with the new one. Its got great build quality. I picked one up the other day and couldnt believe how much better it felt than our Macbook.
Previous Macbooks arent as sturdy (Ive got one), and the keypads crack. =(
Brand new from macconnection, no tax, free shipping, $924 AR.
http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=10681508
Dont worry about the drive size, its plenty.
Instead of Applecare, look into a Squaretrade warranty, which will cover spills and drops. https://www.squaretrade.com/pages/ $200 for 3 years on a $1000 laptop.
FWIW, my almost 5 year old and 2.5 year old use our Macbook all the time without any negative consequences. I just finished their playroom and gave them each a computer -- G4 Dual 1.25 MDDs with 20" Dell Screens and they love them. they click all day on Disney, NickJr, Sprout, etc and play the games. They spell, problem solve, learn to follow directions and learn to type.
What a great time to be a kid
Go with the new one. Its got great build quality. I picked one up the other day and couldnt believe how much better it felt than our Macbook.
Previous Macbooks arent as sturdy (Ive got one), and the keypads crack. =(
Brand new from macconnection, no tax, free shipping, $924 AR.
http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=10681508
Dont worry about the drive size, its plenty.
Instead of Applecare, look into a Squaretrade warranty, which will cover spills and drops. https://www.squaretrade.com/pages/ $200 for 3 years on a $1000 laptop.
FWIW, my almost 5 year old and 2.5 year old use our Macbook all the time without any negative consequences. I just finished their playroom and gave them each a computer -- G4 Dual 1.25 MDDs with 20" Dell Screens and they love them. they click all day on Disney, NickJr, Sprout, etc and play the games. They spell, problem solve, learn to follow directions and learn to type.
What a great time to be a kid
new mb advice for my 10 yr old daughter:
thanx and u r correct... imagine where all this will go from here. i will look into your suggestions
thanx and u r correct... imagine where all this will go from here. i will look into your suggestions
I have both iWorks and Office for my mac and I like the iWorks a lot better. I send email work from home (Dell PC at work) and open/work/save using iWorks and email back to work and I can open it with out a problem. Am I missing anything?
To the OP:
I would get her a refurb and I got Apple Care form eBay for $120 for my Macbook. You have 1 year to get it and I got mine 2 weeks before my 1 year warranty was up. If you want the info of this seller I can give it to you. He has perfect feedback, power seller and very fast. I got my Apple Care code 2 hours after I paid for it.
If you go new, I think the 250GB hard drive is fine.