Feb 3rd, 2010 | Written by tc | Posted in Laptops |

Kids are using computers in school earlier and earlier each year. I remember when I was in school and we didn’t even have a computer in the classroom until 8th grade, yet alone an entire computer room where each student got their own computer to work with and learn about. Because kids are learning about computers so young it’s a good idea to purchase one for your child as early as possible. A kids laptop is probably one of the most affordable computers available. They are actually mini notebooks or netbooks which run the same Microsoft Windows operating system that most computers in both schools and businesses use.

So what is the best laptop for kids? There probably isn’t a “best” one for them. There are some models that are a better fit for children however. Most noticeably would be the models that come with a type of hard drive that is known as a solid state drive or SSD. They have two key advantages that make them a perfect fit for laptops for kids. The first advantage is that they have no moving parts inside them and actually work similar to a digital camera memory card then a typical hard drive that has spinning platters. The second advantage is heat which is very limited because of the lack of moving parts. I’m sure you’ve noticed how hot laptops can get and part of that is from the hard drive spinning.

Another advantage of the mini notebook as a kids laptop computer is that the battery lasts very long. It’s not uncommon to see models with an advertised battery life of over 10 hours and even that is improving with every new model that comes out.

So how much should you spend? Most entry level models with Microsoft Windows and a SSD hard drive can be found for well under $300. If you shop around for a used model or watch for some of the online retailers to put models on sale you can even purchase them for around $229.

That’s a great price to give your child the early advantage he or she needs at getting familiarized with a computer at a young age. Kids seem to naturally know how to use computers so you want to make that tool available for them, even if it’s a smaller computer like a netbook so that they will know how to use it the rest of their lives. They will have that advantage both in school, college and their career. And, like we said, the price is right. Invest this small amount into your child’s future and it will pay off for them.

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