Category Archives: Kids

Will Buying A Laptop For Christmas Make My Son A Digerati?

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Last month, I wrote an article called: For Christmas, My Eleven Year Old Son Wants a Laptop!

In this article, I revealed that my son wanted a laptop for Christmas.  I honestly thought I was going to get a response in the comment section where I would hear that he’s too young and that it would be a waste of money to buy him one this early…  boy was I wrong!

Young Digerati?

Young Digerati?

Exposure to Technology

I remember hearing talk about the digerati and how they would have a much larger role on society.  But 10 years ago, the technology was a joke and expensive too.  I remember when the palm pilot and blackberry’s first came out.  With the Palm Pilot and their “pda – personal digital assistant” technology, I decided to pass!  To me a good old paper notebook and pencil/pen was much more efficient and tons more cheaper.

Now times have changed!  Back then just the well-off crowd could afford the technology, but now it’s cheap enough and easy enough to use that almost anyone can access one form of the technology or another.  Even the very cheap “notebooks” are worth the money, if you don’t have gaming demands.

Rise of the Digerati

Just 10 short year ago, the technology as either too expensive or too underpowered to do anything really cool with it.  My how times have changed!  There are so many options and at such reasonable prices that I have a hard time resisting making Technology purchases myself.  I’m even going to buy a Republic Wireless hybrid phone once they come out!  The tablets that are out with the Android operating system all seem to be a great value.  Obviously the Apple iPad is a hit and incredible device too.

I consider myself a part of the Digerati crowd, but I’m not really in as tightly since I don’t have any of the really cool tech tools of the trade like most of the members of the Digerati have.  In some ways, since my son has an iPod Touch already, he’s more of a Digerati than I am.  Not to mention that he has his own blog called EntertainmentTimez.com.

Having a laptop will enable my son to blog more often and much quicker than he can on his iPod Touch.  I was shocked when I actually saw him writing his article on his iPod Touch… I almost laughed…

I was pushing for him to get a tablet, but he wasn’t interested in them yet, and to be honest, his iPod Touch and Cell Phone makes him pretty tech heavy already.

The Laptop

I didn’t want to spend a lot on a laptop for my son, but I didn’t want to buy him a netbook either (especially since he plays online games).  So I bought a laptop deal from Best Buy that seems like a good buy!  It was a $375 laptop from Samsung with 4 CPU cores, 4 Mbs of RAM, 500 GB hard drive.

 

Laptop

Laptop

This laptop is just another addition to help him become more technologically savvy.

Thanks everybody that commented in my original post about my son wanting a laptop.

I hope he enjoys it!

Thanks,

Don

 

For Christmas, My Eleven Year Old Son Wants a Laptop!

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Well I just posted a few months ago about how my son got his first Cell Phone: “Buying My Son His First Cell Phone“, well now he wants a laptop!

At first I though, we perhaps he sees me with my laptop and want to follow suite, perhaps he wants to learn to program, or download some cool function software like Gimp or Open Office….

So I asked him why he wanted a laptop, and he said so he could play certain computer games while he watched kid shows on TV…

Now I’m sure your thinking: hard life huh.  Most likely, you’re thinking that my son is a slacker and lazy, but that’s not so.  He’s plays both soccer and basketball, and he’s a straight A student to boot.

Now my daughter has been begging for an iPod touch like my son has in the past (he now has an iPod Touch), so if I were to buy him a computer, well obviously, I would have to buy her an iPod Touch too!  Then before you know it, I have a very expensive Christmas suddenly on my hands!

You might think that this is a no brainer, but actually for me it isn’t!  My son is a great kid and doesn’t really ask for much, and he’s both courteous and kind.  Yeah his answer to my question about why he wanted a laptop wasn’t the most prudent, but at least he was honest, and I know he’ll use it for school work too.

So today, I’m going to ask you the reader, what would you do, especially if you child hasn’t asked from much in the past?  It’s obviously, more powerful than the iPod touch and ironically cost practically the same amount…

What would you do?

MR

 

Are Star Wars Lego Sets An Investment?

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Three Years Ago, We Started Buying Lego “Star Wars” Sets…

We bought my son the Lego’s Star Wars “Republic Attack Gunship” (model 7676) for almost $100.

Lego Star Wars Republic Attack Gunship 7676

Lego Star Wars Ship

At the time, both my wife and I cringe at the purchase price, thinking that it was money down the drain. At the time that was all my son wanted, that has since changed!  Oh I tried to push the XBox 360 or other cool things that I want… erh, that I thought that he would enjoy!  But he insisted that the Lego Star War “Republic Attack Gunship” set was the primary gift that he wanted for Christmas.  I was very surprised when he even knew the model number was 7676 (he got it on ebay somehow)!

So even though we didn’t want to pay close to a hundred buck, we bought it because that was one of the few things that he asked for.  I admit, once it came to the house, the packaging looked cool, and after he opened it for Christmas, it was pretty awesome putting it together, especially since the entire family helped.  This particular model has over 1,000 pieces and is actually very challenging and fun to put together.

A Room Overrun with Lego Star Wars Kits

Now my son is 11 years old, and has grown beyond the Star Wars Lego kits!  He still has an interest in Lego, and have a few Lego city models, but the Star Wars models have gone the way of Woody from the movie Toy Story where they just sit on a shelf in his room collecting dust… or did.  He has decided to take it upon him self to sell some of the Lego Star Wars models on eBay so he can get enough money to buy a decent laptop.  He told me that he wants to watch TV and play online computer games at the same time.  He studies this way too, and is still able to get straight As… go figure!

So after asking him if he was sure three for four times, I got online and decided to see what they were going for on eBay!

Legos Hold Their Value, and Then Some!!!

I expected to see prices from the range of $40 to a high of $75, but much to my surprised, they were going for $180 to about $200!  And for new ones over $200 and I even seen a few priced at $256!  I was amazed!  In three short years, the used models practically doubled in value!  Who would have guessed?

I suggested that if he wait, it might appreciate more by next year, but he thought that $200 was plenty for him!  Now we are going thru and checking to make sure all the pieces are there, and then we are going to list it on eBay (October and November are the best months to see toys on eBay).

Anyway, I thought it was impressive that a Lego Star Wars kit could appreciated so much in such a short time!

If you have kids that have Lego Star Wars sets, you might want to check the value of them just for fun.

Cheers,

MR

Should I Spend More Money On My Kids, Especially My Young Daughter?

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First, let me say that I spend more money on my kids than I do for myself.

And in my mind that use to make it okay that I don’t really get the latest and greatest electronic, or motorized things for them.  But lately, I’ve been thinking that perhaps I don’t spend enough and perhaps I really should spend more money on my kids.

I think we are somewhat rare in that we really only spend a few hundred dollars on each kid at Christmas, and even less for their birthdays.  To me that seems like a lot, but when I compare what my kids have to the neighborhood kids, it seems like they have less.

In particular, my daughter seems like she’s at a huge disadvantage because she’s ready to try advanced electronics.  She’s been asking for a laptop, ipod touch, or a cell phone for the last few months.  I’ve been telling her that she’s too young, but really she’s not.  I know she has the focus and skills to work such devices, but it just seems unfair to my son to give her such devices now at such a young age (she’s still 7-years-old).  Of course the costs are a concern too, I do hate to busy expensive things that lose their value so quickly.

Perhaps if I think hard enough on the matter, I can come up with something that isn’t too expensive, yet still gives her exposure to such technology.  Think, think, think…

On the other hand, I would like to give both of my kids some of the adrenaline rushing fun I had as a child (go-karting, motorcycle dirt bikes etc).

First Gen American:  Babci on Death  Wise advice from Babci!  Great saying “Death doesn’t have favorites.”

Live Real, Now:  53 Percent  And to think, I thought I was tough working at the age of 15…  This is a great story of working at an early age and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.  Read this, I’m sure you’ll be impressed.

Everyday Tips and Thoughts:  Craziest Ways People Save Money  This is a funny, and yet sad story about being too frugal!

Bests,

MR