Cheap Lappy around $500 — Asus Eee PC or Compaq C710TU?
I have got a problem to solve here. I want a cheap low-end notebook — not something I need, but just something that is nice to have. I want it for my 3 1/2 year old daughter who spent around 1-1.5 hour a day in front of computers playing with sites such as Sesame Street Workshop and ABC Kids Playground (yes she is pretty good at using mouse). The problem is — she does not like the computer I built for her! I guess the fact that her computer is an old recycled Compaq desktop with 400Mhz Celeron, 15″ CRT monitor and runs Xubuntu could be the issue. Worse, it is actually not connected to the Internet!! No wonder she always used my wife’s Dell Inspiron, but left icons all over the place, bookmarked strange sites and made my wife really annoyed…
“If only she has her own computer that actually works“, sometimes I thought…
Then today we received the latest OfficeWorks catalogue in the mail (you can get the online version at Catalogue Central, but no direct link to the catalogue), and there are two lappies at around $500 — Asus EEE PC for $488, and Compaq Presario C710TU for $548 after cashback.
Asus EEE PC
- Intel Celeron-M ULV 353 900Mhz
- 512MB DDR2 RAM
- 4GB SSD
- 7″ LCD at 800×480
- Xandros Linux + KDE
- 0.92kg
Compaq Presario C710TU
- Intel Celeron M530 1730Mhz
- 512MB DDR2 RAM
- 80GB HDD
- 15.4″ LCD at 1280×800
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Dual Layer DVD Writer
- 2.99g
Comparison
Specification-wise, the Compaq seems to win hands down. It is faster, bigger, comes with optical drive and larger storage. It actually comes with Windows that runs your favourite games like Free Cell and Minesweeper! However,
- Compaq Presario might be made in China but Asus EEE PC is manufactured in Taiwan so potentially better made (sorry I was born in Taiwan so the bias here :)
- 512MB is not enough for Vista, so I have to either (1) upgrade the RAM, or (2) install Linux
- You only buy it for $548 if you can successfully claim the $150 rebate.
- 2.99kg is maybe too heavy for a 3 1/2 year old, not that she is going to bring it to pre-school :)
- EEE PC with Linux probably has more Wow factor than Presario with Vista.
- Most importantly, because daddy wants to play with an EEE PC :)
Again, CFO at home (i.e. wife) needs to be consulted before making any financial commitment, however the likeliness of getting either is pretty slim, because 3 1/2 year old should not spend that much time in front of computers anyway.
I’d say a 3 1/2 year old isnt going to care if its a celeron or a xeon, isnt going to care if it as 256Meg or 8 gig, and wont care if it has a CRT or an LCD, and isnt probably going to even notice the difference between KDE and Windows.
But she is going to notice that she cant access her favourite websites. So why dont you buy one of those $20 wifi adapters, or simply an ethernet cable, She’ll love you for it :D
Alternatively you could buy her an expensive gadget that she’ll hardly get to use because daddy keeps “borrowing” it…
As far as gadgets go, the Eeee sounds neat, but terribly low-specced. The display in particular is too small and lo-def.
Many adults easily break their laptop by dropping it, spilling liquids, things falling onto lappy etc. Although I think a having a computer for a young child is a great idea, perhaps not a laptop. I’d go Compaq.
For a 3.5 yr old, I’ll go with Asus. Simply because the price is enough for a kid that old. Hmm, I can still remember when I was that age, I wasn’t even allowed anywhere near the computer. My parents are scared that I would crash it!
Either way, the decision is your CFO’s, still.
Of the two laptops, I’d say go with the Eee for a number of reasons:
1) It has a solid-state disk, meaning no moving parts. For a 3 y/o this will reduce the risk of damage from any sudden shock or vibration (ie. dropping the laptop)
2) It’s lighter, so less chance of dropping it if she tries to carry it, and less impact when it hits the ground.
3) The OS is far more restrictive, so the young madam will have very little opportunity to wreak havoc, and her options will be layed out in a simple, logical way.
The only problem you might have with the Eee is that, having such a low-res screen, some of your daughter’s favourite sites may not display properly, which makes it pointless i guess…
Now, all that said, I actually agree with young_dazza. It might be better just to install a wireless network adapter on the old PC, as long as you find one that works with linux and has low enough system requirements.
Thanks for all the replies. I think it is more of myself wanting to play around with an Eee than actually wanting to buy a lappy for my 3 y/o :)
Unfortunately the old PC is a Compaq slimeline desktop recycled from work that has half-height PCI slots. USB wifi *might* work although PCI ones are usually better.
I am still hoping to get an Eee sometime this year (yeah I have already made up my mind :)
Definitely the Eee, they’re even designed for kids, it’s the right size and even the keyboard is a better size for her, besides it’s a much better gadget which can be abused.
yer. the eee is betta for a 3 y/o and its lighter but i dont know a 3 year old who has a laptop!! also its the perfect for a student
Or…
… make friends with someone in the US and get the One child Laptop. (They only ship to the US but you can have a friend mail it here.) I played with one a few months ago and they are seriously cool on so many levels. Bonus: when you get one someone in the 3rd world gets one too!
Lol, interesting post
Am I the only person who thinks that a 3.5 year old kid is doing pretty amazingly to be using a computer already? I’ve worked with 5, 6, 7 year olds on computers and let me tell you, I found it a very trying experience. Thankfully I only had to do it a few times. I’m not quite sure I would have been able to get a 3 year old going.
Either your daughter is a genius, you’re a genius or you’re both geniuses. :D
@Michelel — I actually knew someone who worked in the development team of OLPC. Yes you need to know someone in US to get hold onto one. However Dec 31 last year is the last day of Buy One Give One program so I don’t think you can even buy one now.
@Jonk — thanks to Windows Vista even a 3 yo can use computers! (j/k)
Actually not much is involved for her. She normally just opens it up, click on Firefox (and she knows it is called Firefox), and then just go to the sites that have already been bookmarked by my wife (Sesame Street Workshop, Disney, ABC Kids, etc). My wife loves the fact that my elder daughter can sit down and play with the computers for an hour as that’s about the only time she can take some day nap :)
I saw an Eee PC today for the first time. The chap who had purchased it for a want of nothing better to do installed XP Media Centre on it. It performed extremely well, in fact better that his current media centre. The external VGA connector allowed us to connect it to a large LCD (40″) and the little thing was able to produce a very high resolution and excellent video play back either from a USB DVD or HDD.
An excellent bit of hardware…