All right, pardon this post, it's quite out of character - but I thought that this question could probably be answered (quite well) by you guys so here it is:
What computer would you recommend for a 15 year old girl?
Right now I'm looking at the Inspiron Zino HD 400
. Not necessarily through Amazon though since I've found it through Dell for around $230 (sometimes a little less) and that price is my primary reason for looking into it.Why am I asking this? Well, truth be told I have 3 younger siblings who have no computer to use for school, socializing or entertainment. While the two youngest don't really need one, I feel that it's integral to the life of a high school student and I know that it really helped me make it through school and through the stresses of being a teen in general. This is the same one that I'm planning to set up an anonymous teen oriented site for so she can have a hobby and start earning a bit of cash.
There is a computer in the house, my mother's laptop, but she doesn't let the kids use it for any reason including educational purposes and my sister is a year too young to get a job so that she could buy one herself. She does a lot of work around the house including cooking, cleaning and watching the other two kids while trying to keep her grades up in advanced classes without access to a computer anywhere but at school.
I feel bad for her, and would love to help her out, although $230 (plus costs of a monitor, probably $80 through Dell as well) would set me back quite a bit I think it would make her life a lot better at the same time. I just want to make sure that I'm getting her a decent machine if I do go through with it.
All it really needs to do is run the internet, word processors, instant messengers and games without being incredible slow or laggy. I'd like the pages to load instantly and for the games to get a decent frame rate as well.
Any input is appreciated on computer options, programs that let teens age 13+ start earning money (SwagBucks for example) and anything else that may be applicable.
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8 comments:
On sale at Wal-Mart for $298 at this very moment is an e-machine (just bought out by Acer, not the old crappy e-machine it used to be). It's got 3GB and Windows 7, a 15.6" HD LCD, Intel Pentium processor, DVD drive, etc. It's a great deal for the price. I bought one and I love it. Now I have 3 laptops, but my other one is a mini/travel and the third will be sold on ebay as soon as I can figure out how to wipe it clean.
Good luck, and that's very nice of you to do!
Sadie@
nelliebugs-swaps.blogspot.com
What type of games? If it's just flash games like on Facebook, then any store bought machine will do. The Laptop that Nellie Bugs is referring to is this one Emachines GB eME725
It is a decent price for a laptop, and would be ideal for a teen doing basic computer functions.
I'm actually really reluctant to get her a laptop (I did consider it, and might do it) for a number of reasons... The two biggest being:
1) She's bound to take it to school to "keep it safe" from our mom (see reason 2) which would end with it getting stolen, lost or dropped.
2) I love my mom dearly, but she's... Quirky. There's a really good chance that she'd nab a laptop from my sister and hide it from her to make her "earn it" (trust me, she's earned it) or she'd con her into some terrible deal and give my sister her run down laptop in exchange for the new one and a weekend out with her friends or something.
My mom is a serious believer that kids shouldn't have anything that their parents don't, and it shouldn't be nice than their parents things either. Example, I bought my mom her first cell phone, because she threatened to take the one I bought myself at 15 if I didn't. I swear she's not as bad as she sounds lol
With a desktop, even a small one, I think my sister would be safer overall. She couldn't take it to school and mom prefers something that she can sit in her recliner with in front of the TV lol
I'll keep that eMachine on my list though, especially if they're better than they used to be.
Is Acer a good brand? I don't actually have much experience with them and wrote them off as low quality since I haven't heard much about them.
Oh, and as for what types of games, nothing super amazing.
Maybe WoW, not for raiding though, and online games from places like BigFishGames or GameTap.
The Zino comes with 2 gb of ram and 250 gb hard drive which should run everything well enough, I've raided on a Dell with less than that so I think it would be ok.
I prefer Asus over Acer myself. Asus is just the better lower end brand. But, since she would probably only be playing games like WoW - which wasn't made to be overly graphic, then I think the Dell Zino would be fine. Although, I don't have too much knowledge in the entertainment pc's. It just looks odd to me. lol
Haha, I'm so out of the loop on computer brands. I always bought Dell when I was younger because the outlet was cheap and they were dependable (as far as I know)... Then I got an AlienWare in '08 that I'll probably keep until it explodes because of the cost lol.
I'm completely unaware of Asus and Acer. I feel so behind the times.
LOL Alienware is the most overpriced brand ever! You can certainly build a computer just as good, if not better for probably 1/3 of the costs. HA.
Oh, I definitely agree lol. We had them made as part of a big splurge back in 2008.
Neither my SO nor I are knowledgeable enough to sit and build a computer. I've always wished I was though :)
None of our techy friends are located close enough to do it for us either, so we opted for pre built machines. They've been excellent to us, so we're not complaining hehe.
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