Choosing The Best Laptop for Kids - A Buyer's Guide Every Parent Should Know

Are you Looking for The Best Laptops for Kids ? Here are 2 laptops we recommend :

#1 The Gateway NX570X has sterling performance and a great new look.

Most notebooks out in the market today have a glossy finish on the outside, but not the Gateway NX570X. This 6.3 pound system from Gateway has gone in a different direction with its new look, and it comes up trumps. Combined with this new look is some excellent performance that makes this mainstream laptop the pick of the current bunch.

On the outside of this Gateway laptop is a pebbled matte-finish, that has a great look and feel to it, and according to Gateway it is more smudge and scratch resistant than the glossy plastics being used by its competitors. Under the lid is a full sized keyboard surrounded by brushed aluminum alloy, which adds some strength to the unit. The keyboard did seem a little noisy and the touchpad�s mouse buttons a little stiff, along with the fact that there are no dedicated multimedia control buttons.

This Gateway machine came with the optional 15.4-inch high-res widescreen (1400 x 1050 pixels); but if you want to save yourself $100, go for the glossy 1280 x 800 pixel screen. The high-res display is great for running the Vista Home Premium OS, but DVD�s will look better on the glossy display. The speakers were adequate, but not as good as some other systems in this class.

Performance from this notebook computer was excellent. With a 1.83-GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, this system left its rivals in its wake. The graphics were also impressive thanks to the ATI Mobility X1400 GPU, and whilst it is not a true gaming machine, you can still play 3D games at a decent frame rate with the settings on autodetect. Wireless throughput was very good at 17.1 Mbps at 50 feet, and battery life was an average two hours, which is not too bad considering the screen size and the eight cell battery.

There are the usual number of ports as well as a PC card slot and a 6-in-1 card reader. There is also a nice range of additional software to complement Vista Home Premium, which includes CyberLink�s Power2Go CD/DVD suite, Microsoft Works, Napster audio library software, and Gateway�s BigFix utility suite for system troubleshooting.

Overall, the Gateway NX570X is a great looking well designed system that has superb performance. For its all round capabilities and great price, it is one of the best laptops on the market at present.

#2 The HP Pavilion dv6500t - a Good Kids Laptop

The HP Pavilion dv6500t has the piano-lacquer design from previous models that still looks good, with this finish being a more circular imprint, but the glossy black on the outside and the silver keyboard deck still look as slick as ever. The big plus for this laptop is the Santa Rosa chipset, which delivered good performance and good battery life.

Some other changes that are available are a fingerprint reader (extra $25) and a HD-DVD drive (extra $400), which turns this HP laptop into a real multimedia performer. It has a full size keyboard that is easy and comfortable to use, providing a positive action with every click.

Above the keyboard are the touch sensitive multimedia control buttons and on the front edge of the chassis are two headphone jacks. But the QuickPlay multimedia utility that was so good for controlling your photos, music and DVD playback without booting Windows XP is now useless, with you now having to wait for the Vista OS to load (90 seconds), and then QuickPlay to launch.

On the plus side for the dv6500t is the new glossy 15.4 inch widescreen, which is now brighter and giving out better color reproduction, which is noticeable when compared to older panels. When watching a DVD the colors are rich and clear, with thanks to Intel�s Clear Video technology and the screen�s pixel resolution of 1280 x 800 makes for an enjoyable experience watching on an LCD of this size. Above the screen is a 640 x 480 pixel webcam, which has a lower resolution than some other models, but has better frame rates for VoIP and video conferencing. Included is the usual number of ports, and an ExpressCard slot and a 5-in-1 card reader.

Performance from this HP notebook is delivered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 CPU, along with 2GB of RAM. Its performance was on par with the Acer TravelMate 6460-6263 and the Dell E1505. The new integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics are fine for normal chores and applications, but you can forget any form of serious gaming. The graphics do have more than enough power to handle all of the visuals from Vista, including the Aero interface.

Wireless throughput at 50 feet was 11.8Mbps, which is on the low side, but wouldn�t be that noticeable with everyday use. The six cell battery delivered two hours and thirty five minutes of battery life, which is pretty good for this class of laptop.

Overall, there is plenty to like about the HP Pavilion dv6500t. The performance is very good, there are multimedia options, and the sleek looks make this notebook a winner.

Visit your favorite Computer Store to Find More Options of The Best Kids Laptops