Thinkpads Forum

I thought that maybe I was premature when I gave my 9 yr. old faux granddaughter a 570 with XP/ubuntu dualboot and 80gb HDD preloaded with plenty good science websites to spare her mothers voice line in Paris. First thing she asked how to set her own desktop theme and password. She returns with 570 in a couple weeks with more requirements and needs a CD/DVD player. Will do.

At 9 she's discovering that not all her cousins are as interested in science, beetles, dragonflies, etc., as she has been since 3. So she's socializing with the bimbos.

My little foster-daughter is having a baby girl in August so I guess I can start on her earlier. One year old, eh? I'll be ready. the 600 IS a good machine.

After my stepson (10 years old) slammed my wife's new HP laptop shut because it "cheated," I fixed up an old 600E to run XP and put some office software for his school work. It takes just about anything he dishes out and, at 400MHz, runs XP fairly comfortably. I can even let him use the wireless PC card from my 390X when I'm not using it.

On the last day of his summer enrichment courses, his digital photography class gave an exhibition of their work, which consisted primarily of having fun with Photoshop Elements. I was pleased to see that this elementary school in our school district (a Des Moines suburb) had about a dozen R40s that the kids were using. He actually had been using one for the past two weeks to program his LEGO robot in another class. He loves his computer, but he seemed uninterested when I pointed out that it was like his mom's new car, and his was the equivalent of the muscle car I have in the garage.

Oh, well. Kids.

This stuff about 9yo and 10yo kids is well and good, but a 1yo? Are you kidding?!!

Get the book "The First Three Years of Life" by Burton L. White which talks about small kids' sensory and cognitive development a lot. 1yo is WAY too early for a computer.

phr wrote:This stuff about 9yo and 10yo kids is well and good, but a 1yo? Are you kidding?!!

Get the book "The First Three Years of Life" by Burton L. White which talks about small kids' sensory and cognitive development a lot. 1yo is WAY too early for a computer.

To each their own. My son started using computers around 3 years of age, and he is in the top of his class...generally first place for everything...

My 5 year old some is about to move on to his 3rd TP this summer. He got the first one at around 3 (600e), then the following year (600x so it would run W2K better). I'm about to start to piece together an A22 for him to play his learning games. Actually none of those upgrades needed to happen; they are pretty much due to his dad's hobby disfunctions!

I must say though that he started banging around on the keyboard of a 755 when I was 1 to emulate mom and dad playing with theirs.

I almost feel like a traitor to say my son has had a toughbook since before he was 2 years old. Early on it was great for playing his Baby Einstein videos. It has a touchscreen and for quite some time now (he is 3) he has been able to start his own preschool games by touch. Will have to wean him off the touchscreen eventually though... sometimes I wonder if I should have made him use some sort of mouse.

Any thinkpad that can stand the handling by a small child and any software thats meaningful and stimulating. Just an example: a program that displays pictures (faces, animals, cars, etc) and makes a sound when hit by certain keys. If repeated apropriately certain picture returns, etc. Or moving objects with the mouse/pointer, puzzles, etc. Maybe responses to childs voice?

But the best part would be if you and your son played with that thinkpad together. Getting reward and acknoweledgement from humans is far more educational than any software.

Thanks for ALL the great feedback. I got Tom Jr. (see him at my web site below) a 15" A22p and a Vtech both with mice. He likes it but his favorite toy is a Casio keyboard.

I'd recommend a 600E also, good solid laptops...

As for something to play with, use this little script in w95 or something, it'll make the 'pad beep when its clicked, my aunts daughter loves it.

:== beep.bat
@echo off

> d.d echo e 100 07
>> d.d echo n 07.bin
>> d.d echo rcx
>> d.d echo 1
>> d.d echo w
>> d.d echo q
debug < d.d > nul
copy 07.bin con > nul
del d.d
del 07.bin
::== DONE