[Liverpool] Laptop Recomendations

Sat Dec 12 13:35:16 UTC 2009

OK.

So there is a lot to be said for the approach the other posters have
pointed out - letting people reach their own conclusions if often the
most satisfying way of doing things.

I can see his frustrations clearly and understand them well.

There are several issues here, which should probably be addressed
separately.

"Son frustrated with ubuntu & hand me down computers given to him by father"

So this is probably the most difficult one and there are all sorts of
things one can do that may or may not work.

Give him something with a "wow" factor. Is he aware of netbooks? A shiny
small Eeepc might be something he would take everywhere. This might
sounds like a recipe for it getting broken/stolen/lost etc to a
concerned father, but if he really values it the likelihood of that is
less. Oh and at least EeePc's don't cost that much.

"Son no longer fully trusts father's advice on what he perceives as best"

That's a deep and interesting dilemma. For me, my mentor in getting me
interested in all this was my sister's partner, not my dad and I think
that helped a lot because I've never had my dad telling me what to do
with computers. It's more or less been taken from the word go with my
parents that I know more than them with regards to computer related stuff.

The ideal situation for you might perhaps be introducing your son to
people who you aren't necessarily friends with, but are knowledgeable
about GNU/Linux & free software and can help him play with stuff on the
level he's at. Maybe building games or something else fairly graphically
orientated.

You need to think carefully because anything you personally suggest to
him is likely to instantly bring about connotations of boring computer
stuff.

Hopefully you can think of something more motivational to learn about
computers and networking than trying to bypass his schools content
filtering system to play Runescape/check email/have a blog.
(That was the motivation that got me learning about networking - with
hindsight I'd have prefered to have initially learned about computers
with less clandestine motives.)

I'd be interested to hear how you end up getting on. My nephew (who is
six) is getting his first hand me down Thinkpad for Christmas (not from
me!) and I suspect in several years time we could be up against similar
kinds of things with him.

I hope this helps somewhat,

Thanks,

Tim

aidan mcguire wrote:
> Off on a slight tangent but in a similar vein.
> 
> My 12 year old son is saving up his money to buy his own computer. He is
> doing this because he is fed up of the left over laptops I have given
> him over the years that are always setup with unbuntu. I am pretty sure
> he will want windows because he associates unbuntu  with these always
> slightly dodgy laptops (of course the reason I could justify giving them
> to him is they were dodgy or old)
> 
> I don't want to say "no way" as its his
> Money and his choice but also don't want him wasting his money on a
> windows laptop.
> 
> He uses it predominantly for web based games (runescape for example) and
> homework.
> 
> Anyone - What should I do?
> 
> Understand if no one can advise.
> 
> Aidan
> 
> On 10 Dec 2009, at 17:12, oscillik <oscillik at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I disagree with the recommendation of the Asus EeePC 10**HA for this
>> particular use. While this machine doesn't look too bad, and meets
>> most of the other requirements, the graphics capabilities of this
>> machine are quite subpar since it uses the Intel GMA 950 shared memory
>> graphics...It struggles to cope with anything more modern than the
>> GoldSource engine for games (that's the original Half-Life engine to
>> those who don't know). I would think that the 10**HA wouldn't cope
>> very well with The Sims 2 even with all settings at low and at lowest
>> resolution.
>>
>> The good things I can say about it - excellent battery life (i can go
>> for about 7-8 hours without a charge on mine), and the general speed
>> of the machine when not using graphics intensive applications. also
>> the keyboard is one of the best i've used in a portable machine (but
>> of course nothing can compare to my Psion netBook's keyboard)
>>
>> I'd totally agree with the thinkpad though - i STILL want one of those
>> machines.
>>
>> 2009/12/10 Tim Dobson <lists at tdobson.net>
>> Well, two ideas.
>>
>> I'm surprised the eeepc 10**HA hasn't been recommended yet, I'd say that
>> probably fitted the bill and looks quite neat.
>>
>> Failing that, I'd say a second hand lenovo thinkpad which is a few years
>> old would also fit the bill and be highly recommended.
>>
>> I'd personally prefer a thinkpad, due to the indestructibility and
>> indisputable quality of build, however, the eeepc would certainly look
>> flashier....
>>
>> Tim
>>
>> Andrew Williams wrote:
>> > It's christmas time and Jo is getting a new laptop for christmas (she
>> > already knew so i'm not spoiling the suprise). I've had a look
>> around Dell
>> > but i'm still not sure.
>> >
>> > What shes looking for:
>> >
>> >  * Full or near full size keyboard
>> >  * Decent screen resolution ( > 800x600 )
>> >  * Something capable of playing some games (Sims 2)
>> >
>> > What i'm looking for:
>> >
>> >  * Hardware compatability with Linux (of course)
>> >  * Price ~£500
>> >
>> > Any ideas? Or should I just stick with a Dell Studio?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
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