Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The laptop/tablet decision for DD10

I know this can be a problem. My son uses his computer too much, but so does the rest of the household. I restrict his often by simply removing the computer when I don't want him to use it. After all while it's his, we are the parents. And I control access when necessary through the router. With software on the router I can control when he has access to the internet, and block web-sites.

He has had his own computer since 6th grade (11). His 6th grade teacher told his class that they were encouraged to bring either an ipad (ipads had just come out & other tablets not yet out) or a netbook for their own personal use to school. He was experimenting with having the kids really use technology. While he couldn't require this I think the entire class complied. It was a bit odd because the kids were happily using technology a lot but then weren't allowed to bring these devices to junior high. I ended up buying my son a small netbook because I wasn't happy with ipads & as the types of games my son likes to play often only work on PC's.

My son has had his own computer since them. After 2 years I replaced the netbook since it really wasn't a very good computer and kept breaking down. My older DD didn't officially have her own computer till she went away to college, but effectively had primary use of an old one of my husbands by high school.

My suggestion would be a small laptop. IMO tablets are good entertainment devices and not as good for actual work.

Good Luck..

For netnanny stuff--

you can lock down your wireless router by passwording it. I never give DD the passwords-- I unlock the device, and you can set it up with a timer, too, so that it only stays unlocked for a period of time.

K9 is some of the best net-nanny software that I've run across, and I've looked at a lot of this stuff over the years. It has the added benefit of being, well, free.

When you unlock the router for your DD, you're also unlocking it for the rest of the neighborhood. To get around this problem, you'd have to also configure the device to only accept connections from a select list of MAC addresses, which corresponds to every device in your home.

I'm not talking about using it as an UNSECURED router... merely as one that requires a password entry and is time-locked for a particular MAC address.



This is how we managed to keep DD from being on the web with a gaming console in the middle of the night.

This is a great suggestion - these were used in my ds' elementary school during writing workshop.

Re the Chrome, my dds use Chromes at school - and there are things about using the Chrome and Google Docs vs using a laptop/PC/MAC and MS Word that my 12 year old dd dislikes. I can't tell you specifically what they are at the moment because she's not here but I'll ask her when she's back.

polarbear

I personally didn't like composing in Google Docs when I tried it, but I'm thinking my 10yo doesn't have all my crotchety idiosyncracies? Dunno.

Thanks for the helpful discussion so far. I am thinking she would not like the Neo due to the small screen size.

I would agree that if the choice was between Chromebook or a PC/Mac desktop or laptop, I would not opt for the Chromebook.

Our decision was iPad vs Chromebook.

I am curious what aspects your DD dislikes. My DD is significantly younger than 12, and I have been curious to see how technology will meet her needs as she gets older.

Of course, 5 years from now, all of the above-mentioned options could be obsolete, anyway!

I like Windows 8.1 on a touch screen (currently a desktop), but my son wants to start writing iPhone apps, for which he needs a Mac. So our next computer may be a MacBook (on which one can also run Windows with a license purchase). Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system, and I'd like him to learn Unix.

My kids use Pages on iPad and Mac and also have used MS Word quite a bit in the past. I've used Pages recently on both iPad and Mac (since my kids use it). I wouldn't, at this point, put a laptop or desktop ahead of the iPad for word processing. My ds14 uses iPad exclusively for word processing (it's required at his school) - and it works really well. He uses a bluetooth keyboard to type - most of the time. Except when he forgets to charge it


I will now have to pull my foot out of my mouth, and admit to being the mom of an almost-teenage-girl. She complained non-stop about using the Chrome and Google Docs all during the school year, and now that it's summer vacation and she can sleep in in the morning... she has now informed me that she actually likes Google Docs. Both ds and I were surprised considering how much she's complained about it! So I asked her specifically what she likes about it, and her response "Because I know how to use it!" ... so there you have it... proof positive that my dd12 is not really reliable for advice on much of anything at all! Sorry to have suggested that she might have some relevant info (picture me banging my head against my outdated laptop lol!).

polarbear

I assume you're speaking from a concern of building a marketable skill set, based on this and other comments about coding. OS X uses a proprietary Unix kernel and tool set that has limited appeal to the business community. Linux is far more marketable, particularly Red Hat or SuSE.