Momster

My brother recently asked me what computer to buy for his daughters. He was tired of sharing his own computer with two teenagers and had decided to spring for a computer for each of them. He didn’t want anything expensive because he was buying two. And he didn’t want anything too powerful because he didn’t want them to idle their lives away playing computer games. I suggested netbooks. I know tablets are wildly popular and full-sized laptops are now relatively inexpensive. But I still like netbooks for students.

I personally made the mistake of buying my son a laptop because he insisted he could not work on the small screen of a netbook. I feel the same way about small screens. I work on a huge desktop screen. So I fell for this gambit. But the truth is he wanted a laptop because it offered a more pleasant viewing experience for watching movies and playing games. So now, I have to lock him off of our Wi-Fi network to get him away from his laptop. That’s not the case with my daughter and her netbook.

Also a netbook is small and easy to carry to school – and an increasing number of schools are encouraging this – so kids can use tools like Evernote, Google Calendar, and a myriad of online tools that help them keep track of schoolwork and schedules.

Best of all, netbooks are cheap. The netbook I covered in the High Tech Gift Guide is selling for $319 at Target at the moment.

And, right now, I’m Giving Away a Netbook at my GeekGirlfriends.com blog. So get over there and get your name on the list!

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