Laptop for 6 year old?
 

My daughter is proficient with puters so I am going to hook her up with her own laptop, that way we can move it anywhere in the house to monitor what is happening. She does kids flash cards, writing, and browses kid's websites that have a lot of Flash stuff.

I am thinking an old Apple g3 Clamshell or a new iBook with a good crash warranty. I would prefer to go the old iBook route since I can find a decent model for $250 but I want to make sure that it can handle her web applications.

Howie...c'mon. 6 year old???

Roller skates?? Swing set?? Puppy...maybe??

I'm so old school I guess.

3 dogs, many bikes and blades, big jungle gym and lots of books.

I'm with you but times are changing, personally I think its best to let her flourish with it, I'm not saying it just because she is my kid but she is getting pretty good at learning the nuts and bolts of computers.

Ok, Bob Dylan.

It (computers) are the future, and she needs to be a part of it. Or get left behind.

Just IMHO keep it in a spot where you and the misses can always see. Allways monitor her activity.

That is why I want a laptop.

No way I would ever buy a kid that age a new computer unless I *really* don't care what happens to it. She might seem grown up beyond her years, but one day you will find a melted crayon stuck in the DVD drive, and then realize, yup she's really a 6-year old. But you are the dad, and you know best.

If I had a juvenile who needed a computer, laptop or otherwise, I would also invest either time or money in a firewall that keeps good logs that can be monitored in real time or later. You can't be watching the screen at all times, but the firewall can monitor all traffic.

And I agree with S-n-T, she might need a computer.

She takes good care of her stuff and I know the security risks, my main question is will a G3 handle web flash games or movies?

Get an IBM Thinkpad T series.
They're built like a tank and even have drain holes in case liquid is spilled on the keyboard.

The T-20's, 30's and 40's are all great laptops.

Drain holes? That's funny. :D

Drain holes are a good feature for adults...I lose one or two keyboards a year...:D

I'd go for a very durable (read cheap) computer, any halfway decent laptop should be able to play her games. Heck my POS Emachine computer at work can probably handle them.

You didn't have to buy her a $1400 Think Pad when she started preK so she could download her Monday Papers?:confused:

I second that... I have an IBM T60, and I spilled a pretty good amount of stuff into there... Its still is working flawlessly..

used thinkpads are sub $350.

She's NOT getting a $1000 computer, unless it has some kind of abuse warranty that satisfies me.

For a child, consider the ergonomics of the keyboard and monitor. I would suggest that you get a computer that has a full sized keyboard with a numerical keypad, versus one that is embedded. Laptops tend to have tinny sound audio as well.