my brother and emac

ok here is the deal my brother is 9 years old, and he might be gettting a emac, and I will possably be getting a powerbook, I am wondering is the emac right for his age, cause if he goes for it, it would be in his messey room which is good cause there would be just enough space for a moniter,and there is no web service in there so he would have to go wireless, and he is into computer gaming web surfing and some school stuff. I think it would be perfect, but he wants an ibook, now the ibook is more expensive, and it would not have all the things he wants, but since I am might me getting a powerbook he wants one as well. The thing is it would cost more for all the stuff that he wants, and more expensive, plus he is not that moble.
So, what do you think is best for him. by the way we are both possably getting them from my uncle, in exchange for some labor and a virtually brand new Toshiba laptop. not to mention he just bought us ipods.

IMHO: The eMac would be great for your brother. It was designed for the educational market so it was made to be as compact and sturdy as possible. The newer models will support the latest Airport wireless option and the card is easy to install. The one area of concern may be the video. Even though the latest model uses the ATI Radeon 9200 chipset with 32mgs of VRAM it might get overloaded by intensive game demands. As for an iBook, you pay a high price for portability with similar performance. Unless he absolutely must have a portable the eMac would be a much better choice.
Badger

I tend to agree that the eMac would make the most sense for a younger child. It's tough, durable and with the addition of a good keyboard skin it should outlive the kid. I would consider the iBook too fragile to give to a 9 year old.

jjh

R macs good for games?

Shadow said:

R macs good for games?

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Well, it's not like there are no games written for the Mac operating systems. There are, but just nowhere near as many as for the Windows operating systems. I mean, you'll still be able to get Halo or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on your Mac, but not GTA, Counter Strike, FarCry, etc. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong) So, if all your brother cares about is games, then I'm not sure if a Mac would be the best choice, PC HATER. I'm really sorry to say that. But then again, check around for every game that is made for a Mac, and if your brother feels comfortable with the selection then you can spring for it. And another thing: I don't want to tell you how to run your life, but giving a computer to a nine-year old? It just sounds like a humongous responsibility. I know it's a Mac, but it's still a computer. Should a nine-year old really be the only one in charge of an entire computer? Unless he really knows his stuff about OS X, and what he should and shouldn't do, you might want to rethink who's gonna be charge of this computer. After all, it's a huge responsibility, and if something should go wrong.....

Psh. Virtual PC doesn't even run.
But VPC7 will be faster than a kid running away from a Michael Jackson sleepover party. Hopefully...

Absolute Zero said:

Psh. Virtual PC doesn't even run.
But VPC7 will be faster than a kid running away from a Michael Jackson sleepover party. Hopefully...

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That is a classic

Nightblade said:

I know it's a Mac, but it's still a computer. Should a nine-year old really be the only one in charge of an entire computer? Unless he really knows his stuff about OS X, and what he should and shouldn't do, you might want to rethink who's gonna be charge of this computer. After all, it's a huge responsibility, and if something should go wrong.....

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I couldn't disagree with you more strongly. There is no reason why a 9 year old, or in the case of my daughter in a year, a 3 year old, cannot have a computer and use it. If you teach them responsability, and you provide them with a safe environment to use the computer in, a computer is a wonderful tool for any child.

For my daughter I will probably load BumperCar (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/kids_learning/bumpercar.html) or something similar so that I can control where she surfs. I like it's ability to use whitelisting.

Any child can learn to use a computer, and at 9 years old, there is lots of very cool stuff to explore, software to run, and games to play.

jjh

jerodhusvar said:

I couldn't disagree with you more strongly. There is no reason why a 9 year old, or in the case of my daughter in a year, a 3 year old, cannot have a computer and use it. If you teach them responsability, and you provide them with a safe environment to use the computer in, a computer is a wonderful tool for any child.

For my daughter I will probably load BumperCar (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/kids_learning/bumpercar.html) or something similar so that I can control where she surfs. I like it's ability to use whitelisting.

Any child can learn to use a computer, and at 9 years old, there is lots of very cool stuff to explore, software to run, and games to play.

jjh

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Perhaps......

And let's remember that it's a cakewalk to create a user log in for a 9 year old that cannot modify the system! On my old doz pc some idiot accidentally deleted some of the desktop icons just by playing solitare!

I would have to strongly disagree with some of you. I am 14 and have owned my owned my own computer ever since I was 5. Mind you, it was a pc but it was still mine no doubt. I even had unfiltered internet access. It allowed to explore the internet and learn about technology. I now program in 3 different languages and consider myself an independent movie maker. 9 years old is great and a eMac or a iMac would do. iMac would be better for gaming.

I think eMac is the way to go...