How to make a laptop a more exciting present for a child

benjus

Install some programs (not just games) that match his interests.

You can get free versions of all sorts of things - maybe not as polished or feature-rich as the commercial packages, but still good enough for starting.

e.g. if he's into music, try installing LMMS, Audacity etc.

Don't install free trials of commercial packages unless you're prepared to pay for it if he decides it's the best thing ever.

Threebabes

You can get a skin to put on it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=laptop+sticker+skin&!!!!!googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=72871566399&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12976646931540631998&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1y1uuesu3y_b

Marvelous bargain.

My DD is 12 next week, in year 7 and she has been using her laptop quite a bit for homework etc. Its been worthwhile having.

pollypenny

Another who thinks a laptop is a very exciting present!

Let him enjoy finding and downloading his own games. If he has to pay for them he can use his other birthday money. Choosing is part of the fun.

Congratulations on such a bargain.

greyharpoon

Blimey, what difference does it make if 'a laptop is a good enough present on it's own'. I'm gonna stick up for the OP here - if they want to buy some other little knick knacks to go with it, that's entirely their perogative. OP was asking for ideas of the sort of things they could get, not asking if it was morally acceptable or not!

We bought DD a laptop last Christmas. It was more than I would normally spend, but her luckily birthday's not long after Christmas so she was able to have it as a joint xmas/b'day pressie. Siblings bought her things like a small mouse, a laptop skin, a usb stick - stuff she could personalise her laptop with

Thing is, it bothered me that she wouldn't have anything to open on her actual b'day but in the end I found a decent enough laptop bag in a charity shop. Bunged some sweets in it and a few little make-up bits and we were sorted :-)

itsanne

Not quite what you were asking about, but you might want to consider setting it up in advance so that all the inevitable updates and any security you want to install are up and running before he gets it. That means he can get stuck in straight away.

Remember to keep an eye on what he gets up to online - it's not only girls who are vulnerable - and that it's easier to set rules about how long he can spend on it other than for homework at the outset than after he's got into bad habits. Also, even though it's his laptop, for an eleven-year-old I'd set it up so that he can't install things without your agreement, both because it's easy to end up with real nuisance stuff and to avoid things you wouldn't be comfortable with. That may not seem pertinent right now but it could easily become so, especially when friends are over.

Because I'm sure he'll love it and you're worrying needlessly about it not being exciting enough, I'd suggest that it would be okay to make his other presents completely separate from the laptop, especially if there's anything he's particularly interested in.

A great bargain ....and then both of you enjoy Christmas!

Flyonthewall

Elsewhere wrote: »

Games -
I haven't played it myself, but Terraria is supposed to be a very good game and suitable for age 11 and up. It's like Minecraft but better.

If he's a fan of Minecraft then get Minecraft. Do not buy another game in place of that because it's similar, even if it's meant to be better. If you're a fan of the game you may be happy to try similar games but you still want the game you're actually a fan of, especially if all your friends are playing it!

When my children were that age one of the things they particularly liked was the facility to make and print out birthday and Christmas cards they had designed themselves. We used to use Microsoft Publisher, but maybe there's a free application available these days which you could have installed ready?

There are free versions of similar office programmes that you can use. Pretty much Publisher under a different name.

gabriel1980 wrote: »

Get him Grand Theft Auto 5 for it - he'll love that

I hope this is a joke. It's a great game, but not for an 11 year old. It's rated age 18 and it's rated that for a very good reason!

pigpen

itsanne wrote: »

Not quite what you were asking about, but you might want to consider setting it up in advance so that all the inevitable updates and any security you want to install are up and running before he gets it. That means he can get stuck in straight away.

Remember to keep an eye on what he gets up to online - !

I set all mine up in advance.. add myself as admin and the recipient as a user. download updates add antivirus set schedule for defrags and virus scans etc

I add parental controls so I can have time settings so it turns off for bed and cannot be turned on again until the next day.. and NOT before school

You can also block games/sites of certain age rages for example 18+

I also get a daily email giving me details of what sites they have been on, games they've played etc .. its always really boring

you can also block certain websites.. facebook for example .. they say they should be 13 before they have an account anyway but it isn't really a place for young children.

ooh.. present as an add-on .. headphones... if I have to listen to Plants Vs Zombies in 'surround sound' once more I may not be responsible for my actions!!! lol

itsanne

pigpen wrote: »

I set all mine up in advance.. add myself as admin and the recipient as a user. download updates add antivirus set schedule for defrags and virus scans etc

I add parental controls so I can have time settings so it turns off for bed and cannot be turned on again until the next day.. and NOT before school

You can also block games/sites of certain age rages for example 18+

I also get a daily email giving me details of what sites they have been on, games they've played etc .. its always really boring

you can also block certain websites.. facebook for example .. they say they should be 13 before they have an account anyway but it isn't really a place for young children.

ooh.. present as an add-on .. headphones... if I have to listen to Plants Vs Zombies in 'surround sound' once more I may not be responsible for my actions!!! lol

That's exactly what I had in mind, but did forget to mention headphones - definitely a sanity preserver!

Serendipitious

Just to say it is a very nice laptop - I bought a HP Pavilion quad core in 2010 - it was around £500 then but it has been worth every penny. It's been in daily use and I have only just replaced it this month.

I had to have a separate mouse though, to me that was an absolute essential.

x-Princess-Vikki-x

Not sure if it's already been mentioned, but you can get awesome laptop 'skins'! Basically stickers to jazz them up. You can get personalised ones: http://www.wrappz.com/cat/laptop-skins

I got mine to match my phone case!