Laptop for my nipper

[malef!c]

My lad (10 this year) is looking to get a laptop for his birthday / Christmas (as they are 2 days apart its ideal!) but could do with some suggestions.

He will need it for school work that is starting to confuse me, so Internet is very handy!!

So generally looking for something he can research his homework on, chat to his friends online, play miniclip etc (main games will be on the main PC that we all share).

Being the young un he is, if it could withstand a bump and bash here and there it would be good - you know that kids move at the speed of light without actually seeing what they run over!

Was thinking of looking at the XP EEPC (239 quid at the local Toys R Us), but would that be easy to upgrade if needed.

Cheers!

 

[Gilbretto]

I was going to suggest a netbook. Seems suitable for a little kid.

From what i've read, most of them are pretty much the same so things to look out for are;

Size : 9 or 10 inch
Price : Most are £300 or below
Look : What ever takes your fancy
Battery life : 3 or 6 cell, only the Samsung nc10 offers the 6 cell as standard at the moment.
OS : XP or Linux

They are the main considerations when choosing.

Most talked out models at the moment;

Samsung NC10
Eee PC 1000N
Acer One

As for upgradability;

Memory can easily be upgraded up to 2GB on most netbooks. Although a lot of people are saying that it doesn't seem to make any difference to having 1GB.