ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Dear Friends
I'm after a little advice on my dilemma on setting up the kids & wife with home computers. So here's my problem, I'm a family man with a wife and 3 boys (aged 13, 8 & 5). The wife loves her Ipad - doesn't use a computer anymore, the eldest had a laptop pc which has just died. The two younger boys both have Ipod touches which they love. We have an old laptop pc that gets used occasionally. I have a work laptop that really doubles as the home pc (Ipad & Iphone sync'd). I have a Pogoplug which I don't really make much use of.
So my question is what does a modern family computer system look like? do I invest (silly word term to use) in individual laptops? or should I buy a home computer and tablets for the rest of the family to use to work on/do school homework?
I haven't talked about cost yet which is always a factor to consider and will determine what I can afford, but suggestions are needed to get a the right system.
thanks, Hugh
ps - I'm a BV4 (50) & BS3 owner, with BS4, old BV5 and MX4002 and various speakers around the home
All you need is a main storage for media and for backups = a NAS!
Tablets/Touch'es and or small laptops (if needed for school) for individual use. Should be easy to up or downgrade when needed.
A main good laptop or a stationary with a big display (depends on how you would like to use it) for you and the family.
And a good network infrastructure (as wired as possible).
Greetings Millemissen
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Hughie: I'm a family man with a wife and 3 boys (aged 13, 8 & 5)
Hughie:So my question is what does a modern family computer system look like?
A very interesting question, and which must of course take into account the other inhabitants of the house:
Hughie:I'm a BV4 (50) & BS3 owner, with BS4, old BV5 and MX4002 and various speakers around the home
And as you know on Beoworld you also have to indicate if you are a dog family or cat family, and the of course the car ...
But more seriously, the central question -- needs to be answered by usage.
In our house (we are about 20 years ahead of you!) our children grew up with computers and mainly have careers that are based around the use of computers: programming and graphic illustrating. So by the nature of their careers we have a predominance of laptops with keyboards and the occasional WACOM tablet. Prior to that we had desktops in three bedrooms -- all built by the eldest brother.
But for my wife and myself, we both have laptops -- yet spend equal time on our iPads. And although my laptop is now 4.5 years old and I have the itch to replace it, I just can't convince myself that it is a PC/laptop that I need (as opposed to just an iPad).
So back to my point about needs -- it is hard with your kids are only aged 13, 8 & 5 -- as they evolve and the kids grow.
From what you have said, and picking up on my friend's advice, I would go for a single central system (I would prefer a desktop over a pure NAS) for backups, printing, and the occasional heavy duty keyboard tasks, and have everyone connected with iPads or iPod touches and perhaps an ATV for your BV4.
BeoNut since '75
As an adult, I rely almost exclusively on a combination of a good laptop and an iPad, which will probably be replaced by a Windows tablet as soon As the processors get a bit better, maybe next generation. The iPad is just too limited for me although I like it. I have a desktop, small form factor I use as a music server, but doubt I'll ever go back to a desktop unless absolutely needed for something my laptop can't do. I have a larger monitor I connect to for photo work. Laptops are just too portable and convenient.
If your kids were older, high school or college, I'd strongly recommend laptops supplemented by tablets, as there are times in school where you need both portability and a keyboard, optical drive, etc. given their ages I'd recommend tablets and a desktop. Desktop for the reason that it's often good to have the computer in a location where you can monitor young children's activities and keep an eye on them. Of course if you give them tablets too that horse has already left the barn so there's no reason to lock the door.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
The 13 year old at the very least needs an ACTUAL computer he can work with, even at that age. I listen to Leo Laporte regularly answer this same question about household computers over and over again every week and there are 10 to 14 year olds that call in there regularly with advice on what computers to use for school and home and light gaming typically.
Particularly for a family that already has some establishment in the Apple ecosystem, it would be a good idea to get the eldest the lowest end Macbook Air if you're looking to buy something new. Even the lowest end 64GB SSD version should be sufficient for some time to come, and that is the one component in the Air that is upgradeable. Later on you can pass this computer on to the next youngest as it will still have plenty of life left in a few years. You will typically pay more for an Apple laptop (the lowest end one is 999) but Apple really doesn't build consumer grade machines, they are generally enterprise grade hardware and construction even though Apple is a consumer product. You can buy the kids 3, 4 or 500.00 laptops but it's likely that they will be either destroyed or having problems in a short period of time.
If however you want to buy used and hate Apple or something, consider a pre-owned Lenovo Thinkpad that is a couple of years old. My roommate paid 175.00 for a Core 2 Duo based Thinkpad that is big and heavy, but takes a beating and never gives up. So I'd say the eldest needs a laptop regardless and the younger 2 can probably make do with iPads and touches. There should be ideally 2 total computers in the household in a combination of laptop and desktop if necessary to service everyone in the house. In a household of four people we have no less than 8 computers for various purposes (including a print server). Mix of Windows and Mac.
My advice would be to buy whatever OS they use at school so that they can use the same versions of software etc to prevent compatibilty issues with homework and the like.
They can be trendy later (and hopefully at their own expense)!
Ban boring signatures!
Puncher: They can be trendy later
They can be trendy later
Sigh.
apple all the way
Flappo: apple all the way
Is there an Echo in here..?
-or is it just Flappo on instant replay...
Puncher: My advice would be to buy whatever OS they use at school so that they can use the same versions of software etc to prevent compatibilty issues with homework and the like. They can be trendy later (and hopefully at their own expense)!
Absolutely!
Jeff: Puncher: My advice would be to buy whatever OS they use at school so that they can use the same versions of software etc to prevent compatibilty issues with homework and the like. They can be trendy later (and hopefully at their own expense)! Absolutely!
I wasn't going to respond to earlier comments but, I will! My two lads are up and through the (UK) education system. Without getting into a win/iOS argument, I had experience of different versions/revisions of software and files generated at home not being readable at school etc. and the heartache and tantrums it caused.
While it's all a lot easier nowadays, I'd still advocate the same OS and package revisions as their school for a teenage/highschool student.
Even for an engineering university student (at least an EE student) I'd stick to a Win system because some things such as manufacturers free compilers for embedded microcontrollers, Spice based simulation packages etc. are much likelier to be available for windows.
You should never get in a situation where you have to fight your OS or file compatibility/translation issues the night before an assignment is due!
ios is the future
if you want to hang onto the past - be my guest
Dear All
turn away from you computer for a few days and look what happens, many thanks for all the advice on what to get/how to deal with my dilemma. I think the comment around the OS that schools used is a wise one - even though my son is an apple lover!. I am thinking that I might go for the laptabtop that Asus (transformer Book Trio) have just revealed - no prices yet but this might solve a few issues with my eldest, as for the others I think I'll go with Ipad minis but will wait until they are a little older, and no doubt the world of tech will have changed again and something else comes along.
thanks again for everyone's contributions
Hugh
Good comment Puncher, though as predicted it seems to have riled the fanboy.
I'd also point out that, at least on this side of the pond, unless you work for a graphic design firm what your employer will want you to be able to use immediately upon hiring will be Windows and MS Office. More games are available for PC, and far more "serious" software applications, like compilers, electronics bench instrumentation and circuit simulation and mathematical packages are PC only. If you are a casual computer user, or are focused on some of the things Mac supports well, photo or graphics manipulation, video editing, etc. an Apple will work just fine, bur for all their faults, real or imagined, the PC world offers a lot more depth and breadth of software applications.
Of course if you really enjoy hair shirts there's always Linux...
serious apps ? most pcs are bought and built to play games
I have been using Windows on a pc since the original IBM 8086 version and I can tell you that I have never played a computer game in my life!
I have never touched an Apple device of any description and I don't intend to start now.
Regards Graham
macs have used intel since 2006 so they can run windoze , osx and linux
what pc can do that ?
Flappo: macs have used intel since 2006 so they can run windoze , osx and linux what pc can do that ?
Not impressed I'm afraid, I have never wanted to run osx or linux so I don't feel that I have missed anything.
Try as you might, you will not convince me that I should change from Windows on a PC.
At home we have a family laptop for general use and an iPad plus a couple of iphones. If any proper work needs doing, be it work or homework or serious internet searching, the laptop is used. The other devices are just for fun. However, I'm getting a bit peeved that the three of us can be caught being lost on our respective iDevices and having less interaction between us. I myself am guilty of not reading books so much as I read the news or whatever on the phone.
The problem I guess is the simplicity of being able to pick a device and have instant access to the world, if you had to wait for something to boot up it wouldn't be used half as much. I dislike Apple for creating such clever devices but won't become all weird and cut them out of our lives. We have now set up a rule that if anyone of us spends too much time glued to the ipads or phones the others must tell them off.
My 10 yr old daughter is not allowed to take the laptop or iPad to her bedroom, she has to use them downstairs. How long that will last I have no idea especially as I've resisted getting her an iPhone like all her friends.
For me, a computer for a growing family would be one machine that's kept in the family area. Windows or IOS doesn't really matter. They all do the same.
If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
i feel sorry for the apple haters
it's like bragging about being a virgin
I feel sorry for someone who gets all defensive if someone else doesn't agree with their way of thinking.
sounds like you're blaming apple for communication breakdown in your family
" We have now set up a rule that if anyone of us spends too much time glued to the ipads or phones the others must tell them off."
steve balmer has that attitude too ,he's banned his entire family from using apple products
sad
No breakdown Mr Flappo, just trying to encourage traditional family values. We can go back to falling out.
Stonk: I feel sorry for someone who gets all defensive if someone else doesn't agree with their way of thinking.
Agree, some people just cant accept that we all are different and have different needs, they just get hung up in their own little world and forget to widen their vision just a little.
As for family computing. In our family we have a main computer, each of us a laptop, For music I installed a cheap one just for music and internet films this one connected to our main entertainment system. All computer connected through wifi, My old laptop is in my vintage workshop, used for repair manuals, just because it still works, I could use my newer laptop for the same.
Every member of a family has to decide what is needed, for children of course the parents has to help deciding. As for children using phones, Ipads and whatever, its important to educate them in the proper use of them, when, where and how. Giving a 8-10 year old a sophisticated phone. just because "the others" has one, is not the way to go. Our growing ups has access to a world of info, good and bad, if not through an own devise then through friends or borrowed items, there is no way to avoid it, only education will help.
We have a lot of visitors and dine often here with our big Mexican family, all ages represented, our rule while dining is, no devices at the dinner table, only receiving very important phone calls allowed. We use the dinner time to catch up with each other, its called conversation , The children specially enjoy it, everybody has something to tell, and everybody is heard. This also shows the children (and some adults) that there is more to conversation than emails,phones, computers and texting.
Right placed and used computers, (Ipads, phones, laptops) makes life easier, and gives time for more important tasks.
I read a lot, 2-4 books a month, using my kindle saves me some 50-80 USD monthly, so Stonk, get back to reading, there is nothing better than a good book, fire in the fireplace an a good mixed drink, to relax
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
you can read a book on an ipad via the ibook store ( unlike a physical book you can even read it in the dark ! ) and there's always itunes U ( the educational arm of itunes ) , apple have been at the forefront of education on computers since the beginning of the whole personal computer revolution
just because somethings easy to use doesn't mean its designed for idiots
it's like jeet kune do - the shortest link between the original thought and the eventual action always gives the best results
something m$ will never understand - with them it's add as many bells and whistles as possible
Flappo: you can read a book on an ipad via the ibook store ( unlike a physical book you can even read it in the dark ! ) and there's always itunes U ( the educational arm of itunes ) , apple have been at the forefront of education on computers since the beginning of the whole personal computer revolution just because somethings easy to use doesn't mean its designed for idiots it's like jeet kune do - the shortest link between the original thought and the eventual action always gives the best results something m$ will never understand - with them it's add as many bells and whistles as possible
some people just cant accept that we all are different and have different needs, they just get hung up in their own little world and forget to widen their vision just a little.
Flappo:you can read a book on an ipad via the ibook store ( unlike a physical book you can even read it in the dark !
But not on holiday in sunlight!!
If you read a lot get a Kindle (or other purpose built e-reader), simple as!
or a book
lol
so much for re inventing the wheel
"if it ain't broke , don't fix it! "
i have a wide vision , i'm just amazed at how myopic people become when discussing apple
ok , they want to rule the world
big deal , at least they'll do it with style - style bno can't match
Flappo: or a book lol so much for re inventing the wheel "if it ain't broke , don't fix it! "
Shirley
Flappo:( unlike a physical book you can even read it in the dark ! )
Flappo: i have a wide vision , i'm just amazed at how myopic people become when discussing apple ok , they want to rule the world big deal , at least they'll do it with style - style bno can't match
Your wide fruit vision is well known.
who on earth would choose a kindle over an ipad mini ???
don't say price - you lot are happy to blow your dough on bno's overpriced crap - lol
Flappo: who on earth would choose a kindle over an ipad mini ??? don't say price - you lot are happy to blow your dough on bno's overpriced crap - lol
Nothing to do with price, or Apple.
Any tablet, and I mean any, can't touch a dedicated e-reader for reading books. I know they can't kill pigs with birds but when I want to read I want a Kindle!
Some people sure like fellating the corpse of Steve Jobs....
i don't think there was any need for that kinda stuff , you are showing zero class with crap like that , pleb
Jeff: Some people sure like fellating the corpse of Steve Jobs....
Jobs isn't dead. He's looking for Jimmy Hoffa. And it's FILLETING.
this site , like bno has become pathetic
see above
OK - what was good natured banter is now turning nasty, perhaps we can tone it down a touch???
(but not an iTouch, obviously)
I, for one, am a HAPPY pathetic loser.