Computers for teens

Extended warranties at places like Sam's Club are dirt cheap compared to Best Buy's. I think I paid an extra $30 for an extra two years on my warranty.

 

Toshiba Satellite C855-S5347 available at Office Max for $280. It has a 15.6" screen, Intel processor, Windows 8, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI port, RBG port, 320 GB HD, Bluetooth and a DVD-SuperMulti drive. All you need to add is Microsoft Office or a free download of Apache OpenOffice.

I bought this exact model 9 months ago there and it's been trouble free and I'm using it 10 or more hours a day, 7 days a week. More than adequate to download any video or music files or burn CDs/DVDs. Only shortcoming I found is the built-in speakers are inadequate (but which laptop has good speakers?). I bought a clip-on Cyber Acoustics speaker bar for under $20 (also at Office Max) and have no complaints.

Toshiba spec sheet: http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/C850/C855-S5347

Office Max page for Toshiba laptop: http://www.officemax.com/technology/computers/laptop-computers/product-prod4380340

Office Max page for Cyber Acoustics speaker bar: http://www.officemax.com/technology/computer-accessories/speakers/product-prod4310432

 

A friend who just got his 13-year-old her first laptop said the first thing he did was disable the camera. Obviously, there are ways around that, but it still seems like a smart move.

I remember years ago they were talking (on Stern, I think...) about a program that records every keystroke so you can monitor what your kid is doing. I know this falls into the "Don't you trust me?" category, but given the creeps that are out there these days, I think this would be a must for most parents...

One of my other friends gets all of his son's (age 11 or so) Google searches sent to him and they're pretty hilarious. A lot of searches for "boobs". My friend said he won't bust him unless the searches get really disturbing.

 

He could just be really into dinosaurs.

 

Just don't let them keep their phones or devices in their rooms when you think they have gone to sleep. They will be texting and posting until 2 am.

All devices charging on a designated table will allow your child to get some sleep at night.

 

I have a friend who does the same thing with his kids... All the phones, iPods, iPads and laptops go to the parents at night time and they get them back in the morning. It seems like overkill, but they had quite a few issues with them staying up all night texting...

 

That policy would help anyoone, not just children.

 

Very true.

 

We got that policy at our home.

 

My clueless relative only lets her 11 year old daughter use the computer in her room (the daughter's room, that is) because "I don't want the computer and a mess in the family room." Hoo-boy.

 

Wow. I don't care how perfect a kid is, there's nothing good that can come from that approach. Except the all-important no mess in the family room, of course.

When our kids got iPhones, that was part of the deal, that they don't even have chargers in their room for it. Every night, it goes on the chargers in the kitchen and they know we regularly look at their texts and call history. Plus, I don't have any idea how it's done and I think it may have been by accident, but my wife has it set up where when texts to and from the kids' phones show up on her iPad.

The first time our daughter's little group-texting girlfriends had my wife's iPad chirping at about 11 p.m. on a school night, it only one message of "[Name] is asleep since she has school tomorrow. Do your parents know you're up texting at this hour?" for that shit to stop in a hurry.