Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kids
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jun 16th 2009 5:33PM
posted Jun 16th 2009 5:33PM
Past Disney gadgets may have been heavier on the Disney than the gadget, but we're guessing there'll be at least a few parents out there a little envious of ASUS's new Disney-branded Netpal netbook for kids, which will be available in your choice of "Princess Pink" or "Magic Blue" colors (the latter replete with tiny Mickey Mouse icons). In addition to that eye-catching exterior, each netbook also packs a custom, kid-friendly Disney interface, along with a range of built-in parental controls, and some customizable themes based on Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Wall-E, and other Disney properties. As you might expect, however, the netbook itself is just a standard 8.9-inch Eee PC, but it is at least available with either a 16GB SSD drive or a standard 160GB hard drive. No word on a release date just yet, but it looks like this one will set you back $350.
[Via GadgetMix.com]
[Via GadgetMix.com]
Steve Jobs is on the board, so why not a Disney Mac?
Because it cost arm and leg
Why are there no green and red Apples? the world will never know.
Might see a Disney iPod in the near future. Would make slightly more sense I suppose.
Apple designers and engineers aren't capable of make a cheap computer.
Now they have gone too far... attack the parents' pocket from their most vulnerable place.
What's the big deal about this. All netbooks are built for kids or children-sized adults. They're the only ones who'd put up with slow processors, cramped keyboards and undersized displays for a what's supposed to be a honest-to-goodness notebook computer.
@iphonerulz
Netbooks aren't just for little kids. It's true that they aren't good for even normal computer use, but they're great for carrying around. In college, I've seen students who have a netbook for taking notes (you don't need a huge screen to do that) and then have a gaming desktop in their dorm room. If they need to do any heavy calculations on the go, they can access the desktops remotely.
If apple would be trusted to do this few things would happen and wouldn't :
what would happen : -parents sell their kidney to buy it
- children think there is an apple on the back and bite the laptop
what wouldn't happen: apple's smallest screen size is 13 inch, so they won't be making smaller one for disney
color choice would be limited, because apple doesn't know any materials except ionized aluminium.
@ethana2
"Apple designers and engineers aren't capable of make marketers aren't interested in making a cheap computer."
There... I fixed that for you.
(or would have if Engadget's comment system hadn't stripped out my deliciously funny DEL tags.)
DisnEeeeeeeeeeee PC?
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ftw?
There should be a disclaimer on the box that reads 'Cannot run 3D games'.
Because, why pay $300 for a netbook with a black case, when you can pay $50 more for one with a blue Disney case.
This product is how I know we're still not in a depression.
Exactly, I mean.. the only reason why any parent would buy this for their child is because it says disney.. and not for the added simple interface and parental control.
I forgot, this is the internet and it is full of haters.
you are in denial.
A custom, kid-friendly Disney interface??
Complete with clicking on hidden dongs for bonus conent? Count me in.
This is disgusting, and at the same time, a really fucking good idea.
kids should play sand and rocks.. just like most of us.
I think the OLPC with Sugar OS/UI is still better...
Not if you're Disney and you want kids to not have problems with the Disney.com web site or Disney software or be able to use some Disney USB device. The web has become too much of an entertainment media to be satisfied by some stripped-down OS offering basic functionality. You can get away with that on a cell phone but not anything else resembling a computer.
What operating system is it running?
XP, unfortunately.
Good idea...problem is that most kids play webkinz which doesn't play to nice with that screen resolution without some tweaking. Nice idea since I was looking for some "disposable" laptop for the kids to play on instead of my expensive computer. Though $350 isn't quite disposable but is far better then $1000 plus computer.
Time will tell.
Wow how times have changed.
Good idea. SSD probably the better choice for a small child of course.
i'm not buying this unless it's signed by the jonas brothers
They will only sign it if you promise to wear a purity ring. Even then Mickey might still kick you in the nuts.
Why would kids need netbooks anyway? It's not like they need to take them to school or anything.
They can just use the home PC like we did. We didn't have any fancy netbooks in the old days...
in my school date, we has to wait 5 minutes for apple to boot up, 2-3 minutes annoying dial up sound.
LOL really?
Major problem... Netbooks tend to have screen a resolution of 1024x600. The online sites/games my kids play, including Webkinz and Disney's Club Penguin, are built in flash with fixed VGA resolution. Anything less than 1024x768 won't work for these sites. This Disney-branded netbook will not work with my kids' favorite Disney-owned online game.
You can run the Eee PCs at 1024x768 though.
@drobolover: not very well.
So I guess the OS for this thing will be Disney Ubuntu Netpal Remix?
Excuse me, but the very first post should be asking,
"who buys this kind of shit?"
The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus.
Biggest problem: Its mad ugly, MAD ugly
It looks like a plastic piece of crap...unfortunately
I hope it doesn't run Windows. Anything but Windows. Please.
This would totally be a great computer if ASUS didn't suck.
Too soon?
but can it play crysis?!
This is not a bad idea.
I work at a place where I sell netbooks quite often and more commonly than not the purchases are parentes buying them for children because they're cheap so if the kids break it, well, better than losing a $800 laptop.
This is a coup for Asus to be able to partner with Disney. They're a real player now. Right up there with HP and Dell. The specs are irrelevant. This is all about marketing.
As far as marketing goes, this is a huge step forward for Asus. I think they're finally realizing that marketing actually does matter if you want to play in the big leagues.