PeeWee, the child-resistant laptop
PeeWee PC is splash-resistant and has a swiveling touchscreen display: ingredients that make it perfect, all other things assumed present, for the wee ones. From the blurb:
PeeWee PC loads each Pivot Tablet Laptop with 10 age appropriate software and game titles for Pre-K, Early Elementary, or Upper Elementary students. PeeWee also includes its proprietary security suite on each laptop, giving parents full control of how and when their children use the laptop. The PeeWee security software allows parents to limit how much time their children spend browsing the internet (on a daily or weekly basis), block inappropriate sites with any version of any web browser, take screen shots, view browsing history, and even control the laptop remotely.
It's otherwise a regulation netbook, and $600.
Product Page [PeeWee PC]
the latest
latest episodes
Well shucks guys, I sure am glad that my kids will be safe in Uncle Walt's walled garden o' corporate whoredom, not getting into trouble on that big, scary, undermonetized internet...
As thee were raised by cartoons, so shalt thine own offspring.
I'm not sure if a swiveling touchscreen display is going to be very kid-resistant. That hinge looks like something I might not consider sturdy enough for my own use.
I'm just imagining folding the screen down onto one of those latches and rotating the swivel joint...
We have one of these (Nobi branded) - I bought one for my highschool aged son.
In the netbook category, these are very fine machines. They are based on Intels CTL 2Go reference design (being produced and sold under 3 name/brandings to date to my knowledge). It is the about the same size physically as the Acer Inspire One, except thicker as it has been ruggedized for kids with better/thicker plastics than you find on other netbooks. I think that aiming this at gradeschoolers is a stretch, but the screen hinge is in no danger of any kid who knows how to take care of his/her belongings (I trust it more than what I have seen so far on full sized laptops).
Pros: This is a real computer. It comes with XP home and 1 Gig or RAM, but I'd suggest getting it loaded with XP Pro and 2 Gig of RAM, though that raises the price yet another $150 (baseline price is $499)... It has a regular sized touchpad area with real and good mousebuttons. Touch screen. Swivel webcam & built in mic. One SD Card slot. Two USB Ports. VGA out. Audio out / Mic in. Stereo speakers in bezel. Wired and Wireless networking. 4 or 6 cell battery option for 3 to 5.5 hour average uptime. Accelerometer orientates screen in tablet mode (driver in ours gets mixed up occasionally but reboot solves).
Cons: No USB (easily added though, with one of those nub style USB antennas on ebay). No PC card slot. The keyboard side to side is almost as wide as the Inspire One, but noticeably shorter front to back to make room for the mousepad and can be tedious to type on with adult sized hands. Not much else negative to say about it if you understand that it is not a physically full sized machine. I wish it had dedicated scroll buttons for use in table mode.
If you are looking for a netbook - this deserves a good hard look as it has a much larger feature set than a typical netbook. It is not the toy everyone is so quick to accuse it of. It's the best build quality in the netbook category that I've seen and I plan on getting another one for myself.
Yay, secretly take screen shots of whatever your child is doing on the computer! Now you can find out what your daughter is writing to her best friend, and what she writes about you in her diary!
My cat could destroy that, let alone my 5 year old.
Yeah child-resistant...
But, will it blend? that's the question.
This is totally worthless to the average kid. The screen resolution is 1024x600. There is no way the screen can fully display pages formatted for 1024x768. It will not properly display the Webkinz, Ty, Beanies, etc. websites.
For example on the Webkinz site, the games will not display properly. My 2 kids give it 4 thumbs down.
its called PeeWee?
Does anybody do any studie of what these words mean in other countries?
In the UK Pee means urine and so does Wee for that matter.
Are these the liquids its tested against?
Great spy on your kids without them knowing, prepare them for the the real world.