We got a quick look
Disney's little Netpal Eee PC rebadge, and found our not-too-high expectations slightly exceeded by the fairly slick skin Disney has slapped on top of XP. The Netpal platform is really Disney's primary contribution here, since the computer underneath is vanilla Eee PC other than the fairly stylish "boy" and "girl" skinning job. The shell, however, is a locked down environment that allows parents to white list web sites and email addresses for kids to access, along with a list of allowable apps -- kids aren't restricted to just Disney's set of experiences, little Bobby can master PowerPoint in between play dates if his parents don't mind. Standard netbook sluggishness is of course a drawback, but the extensive parental controls, kid-friendly interface and $350 retail price are all good omens for rising above the general shoddiness and usual misnomer of "kid tech." Video is after the break.
posted Jun 22nd 2009 3:28PM
When is someone going to make a Funputer?
netbook for kids so what?
It is to appeal to engadgets largest commenting/viewing demographic.
What, you mean the, "omg I can't believe engadget isn't writing about the craphone, again, win rulez apple droolz" crowd?
Yeah, I really don't see the point, lol
Then perhaps tonight I will get video of the drastic change in my six and a half year old daughter's expression and attitude when presented first with a computer, and then presented with a computer covered in pink.
You must not've seen how hard it is for a 3 yo to use plain Windows.
I eagerly await Lightning McQueen Red.
With stickers for headlights.
I think this is great! I'm not thrilled about and hope they have more options for the outer shell but the interface looks great... and even though it’s Disney its still a good price!
Way to go!
"...Youngsters can change the desktops with customizable themes, built around Mickey Mouse, Cars, Toy Story, WALL-E and other themes..."
OMG, I have been waiting for news on this for a long time now. The UI looks really nice and easy to use.
Disney subliminal messaging ftw. "Must go to Disney land"
Disneyland ®
Disney World FTW!
Looks like Disney's getting desperate
Way better than those stupid V-TECH 'kids' laptops that I had when I was young that advertised "LOOKZ LIKE THE REAL THING! OMGZ"
I always hated people who bought those for their kids, because as soon as the kids see the box, they think "oh, AWESOME! COMPUTER!!", and then they find out it's a cheap "kid-safe kid-tech" computer. I wish they had these Disney Netpals when I was a kid.
It looks like a Eee PC with Disney badging. It's nice to have the interface locked down so kids don't go futzing with stuff they shouldn't, but they also need to add kid friendly hardware. I won't let my kids near it unless the thing has a spill resistant keyboard and display if for no other reason than to make it easy to clean after they put their grimy hands all over it.
to hell with the haters, this is great, if i had a young child i'd definitely be getting them one of these. stylish design, nice OS touches and without the usual inflated Disney price.. seems like a winner.
I could also see this as useful for the older, less computer-savvy crowd. Surely you know someone who has had to help fix a parents computer because they installed something or visited some bad website or changed some settings and didn't know how to set it back.
Yea, mom and dad are really gonna get sick of having to allow/add permitted content. Better off to make it a regular netbook for the kids.
That would just be lazy parenting. My kids have locked down profiles and as much of a paint that it is to maintain. It's better that the alternative that I've noticed from what other kids have done to the family computer and online in general. This interface is a great start. At $350 it's a pretty disposable PC too.
when are you going to start seeing touch screens god damn it...
www.draincleaner.ie
Touch screens don't really work for this demographic. I mean unless they were some sort of industrial strength screen that can withstand all sorts of stains and the possibility of sharp objects being used as a stylus. I've seen parents give their kids pencils to use as a stylus for their NDS. This is not the demographic for it, trust me.
I like netbooks for my own personal use, but I never thought before how well suited they could be for a young child audience. A cheap, light (portable) computer that I can lock down and have my child interact with - awesome. I don't work for Disney and I don't particularly care about this specific model, but sure, add some kid-friendly branding, learning games, and suitable advertising in there and this kind of computer will sell like MAD in December. I don't know if this computer is going to be the one, but there will be a computer (probably a netbook!) that will occupy this target demographic and other manufacturers are going to slap themselves for not thinking of this first and leading the way.
After that happens, kids will be inclined to use the same software going forward in life. You think playgrounds at McDonald's are crazy, right, until you get hooked as a kid?
Disney World is sooo much better.
tried to go on porn sites with it yet?
aside from the disney bit (and let's be honest, it's not much. just the skin) it's actually a great idea. I have a niece that turned six and loves disney princess and loves playing simple games on the internet (pbskids, disney, nickelodeon etc.) she uses her mom's macbook and though i've made it pretty user friendly for her (and the internet is REALLLYY locked down. about as much as this one is) she still manages to get into the back end and change system prefs or worse, delete files she shouldn't be deleting. she doesn't care for mac or windows, though she likes that the macbook is white!, and and overall solid user interface for kids just seems like the best idea...seems like a great x-mas present, see! disney already achieved what it wanted to, get the uncles and aunts and grandparents thinking this would be a great idea for the youngster! isn't that what every disney product sells on??
NOW....the biggest test would be to see how much that nifty gui messes with the puny atom. i've used an eee pc or two and multi tasking isn't it's strong suit. a friend of mine has style xp on his and it really slows it down and that's a pretty light app! this seems MUCH more involved...
and one lest query, is the gui uninstallable?? what if us "kids-at-heart" types wanted the nostalgia? i personally wouldn't, but I know there has to be a few people that love disney so much they'd prominently display it on their tiny computer!
As a parent of some pretty damned bright 4, 5, and 6 year olds, this is a great thing. It sure beats that silly Hot Wheels and Cindirella make believe Craputers they sell in Toys 'R Us.
Got 3 kids, I'm buying 3 of these first chance I get. going to make cross country travel much better. Especially paired with my new Mifi.
Interesting, almost there.
Wake me when it is all based on Windows 7.
Actually, my wife is a HUGE Mickey fan, and we've been talking about getting a netbook, so this is a perfect fit for us (and we are in our 40's). Although we will probably be taking the cute interface off it (and probably throwing Windows 7 on it)...
What?!?!? No Mickey MOUSE?
I think it's a great idea. I have an Acer One, stock, and I can run MS Word Suite, Photoshop, iTunes, watch movies, etc; so I really think that something like this would handle running a Disney theme and some apps.
I showed this to my wife and we both agreed to get our five year old one.
so can it play crysis? ;D
If it's got a Disney logo on it, that just means it costs more. You can get a Disney sticker a lot cheaper.
wouldnt be the first time there was kid themed PCs, there was a PC maker called patriot computers they made barbie and hot wheels branded PCs. they werent bulit well though lots of complaints eventually the company went under(their other pc models had the same build quality issues)
OMG, kids got no privacy on email! Forget keeping secrets about your cooties to your online buddies then!
I got one for my daughter's 5th birthday since she already uses our laptops to play pbskids games and such, and the fake toy computers just don't do it when she's already using the real thing. I started setting it up last night, and overall it seems nice. It's tiny and has an easy-to-use interface on top of XP for little ones, and I like the parental controls that allow me to specify what programs she can use (though who cares about the times of day) and the websites she can go to. I also like that the Favorites in the browser shows images of the websites since she can't quite read yet. Also, there's an app that plays music and videos, and it too shows images of the videos that I put on there for her. My only issues and questions so far are: 1) the mouse seems kind of hard to use...You have to really press it. So, I hope she doesn't have trouble with that in playing her games and such 2) it took me a little bit to figure out that the web controls mentioned are only in their special web browser, and not in Internet Explorer 3) I don't like all of the advertising Disney did by putting so many of their own websites in the Favorites of the Parental Controled Web Browser (including sites that sell their movies and products, not just game websites which the kids would care about), and also that the Disney ones come up first in the Favorites (you have to click another link to get to the others that you add), and I'm not sure how to change that, but I'd like to change it so that pbskids and sprout come up first. (So, if anyone knows how to change that, let me know) Also, it doesn't seem to use the Home Page that you set up in the main Internet Settings, but instead always comes up with Disney's web page first. (So, again, if anyone knows how to change that, let me know...I don't mind her going to the Disney site, and, so, I don't mind her having that in her Favorites as an option to go to, but I'd prefer her to primarily go to her usual pbskids site, and, so, I'd prefer that to be her default Home Page and to come up first in the favorites. But, of course, Disney has to make their stuff come up first!) Anyway, that's what I know so far from setting it up some last night...