Recommendation for childs computer...

[Chilis]

I want a system for my pre-schooler & 2nd grader. Obviously their computing time is spent with simple games and learning software. What would you recommend putting inside a case for them? I plan on it being modest yet capable of running "Reader Rabbit", etc.

On the other hand, is this one of those deals where I'm better off picking up an inexpensive pre-built somewhere? I've already got a spare monitor, printer, etc. and originally thought building something was best. Let me know what you think

 

[spie34]

well check on newegg my friend got his kids something very cheap. didn't cost him a whole lot. think he went with a soltek mobo and duron 1 gig with 128 mb ram and some cheap vid card. all in all I think he spent less than 300 bucks on it. he got tired of his kids screwing his up. he will prolly put xp on it to limit what his kids can do as well.

 

[Mavrick007]

They don't need much for processing power. You could get by on an old Pentium or K62 system easily. The thing is that if you want to buy something new then I would go with something like a cheap Duron 1.0Gig, an ECS mobo like the K7S5A, 128Megs of ram, and a cheap vid card like spie34 mentioned. You can make a whole case for about $300 I would guess, and then add in a monitor.

 

[imgod2u]

A kid's computer, somehow Macs come into mind. Relatively easy to use, and yer kid'll like the fruity colors.

 

[Chilis]

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking in the $300-400 range max whichever way I decided to purchase. They don't need much...just enough to keep them off mine

A Mac??? Say it isn't so...just one more thing to have to worry about corrupting my kids!

 

[yg17]

It's the old macs (pre-G3) that gave macs a bad name. I use a Mac g4 (os9) with photoshop at school and that thing speeds past any PC I've used.

I would think a pentium II would be good.

 

[JohnnyPC]

Oh my! For $3-400 you might seriously consider looking around the web for a basic prebuilt system. Since it's for the kids virtually anything will do in the line of specifications - maybe just shop bugdet on this one. Check out Tiger Direct for some occasional stellar buys. Some people swear off Tiger Direct but I've always had great 'lick' with them. Or just browse eBay for a barbones that you could finish off with some of the parts you have laying around. Make it a mission to get the most for the least! Good Luck!

 

[Chilis]

JohnnyPC - thanks for your input. I'm going to shop the net tomorrow. I just wanted to get some opinions on basic specs to look for