One Laptop per Child

I gave each of my children their own laptop. It started with old laptops that my wife and I outgrew (a Toshiba Tecra 8100 and a Dell D600), but these same models are available inexpensively on eBay. The 8100 usually goes for about $100, depending upon the specs. The D600 usually can be found for $250 if you are patient.

We have standardized on these two models for the same reasons companies standardize - it makes it easier to service and support them. This way I can stock extra power supplies and other spare parts, and if two were to fail I can probably combine them into one working machine. You can also learn the quirks of the machines so you know what it will take to restore an imperfect unit. For example, the Tecra's often are listed with 128MB of RAM, because they frequently have one of the DIMM slots fail if the unit overheats from blocking the cooling vents for an extended period of time. 128MB of RAM is just not enough for most things, but you can buy a single 256MB DIMM for $40, and then the unit is perfectly usable again. Also the backlight inverter often works itself loose or fails, and this is a 3 minute repair using a $10 - $20 part, and you used to be able to get it done for free by Toshiba due to a recall.


We use a Windows 2003 Server for domain controller, Microsoft Exchange server, and file server. Everyone gets their own user account, but I have the system log them in to their laptops automatically. This really helped when they were younger and couldn't be relied on to navigate the "Ctrl-Alt-Del" windows login and remember passwords. To do this, you use the registry editor to change settings in the following group:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

1. Set "AutoAdminLogon" to 1
2. Set "DefaultUserName" to the user name
3. Set "DefaultDomainName" to the windows login domain name
4. Set "DefaultPassword" to the user password

I use Windows XP on all the laptops, which works fine with 256MB of RAM. These settings also work for Windows 2000.

The first software I put on the laptops was FasttMath by Tom Snyder Productions. This program is basically math fact flash cards for the PC. It is well worth it because it keeps track of their progress, provides fact memorization games to keep them interested, and provides status reports for you to monitor their progress. It is mostly used in schools, but they will sell single copies to consumers directly. I highly recommend it.

The next software I installed was SafeEyes a content filtering program that runs on the laptop. I have mixed feeling about this software because it does effectively block content, but the number of times I had to manually reconnect the software was an excessive drain on sysdadmin support hours. It may be because all of the computers I put the software on also used wireless connections, which maybe confuses SafeEyes as the connections come and go. If you are using wired connections or if you're not worried about manually reconnecting it from time to time, you should check out the 30 day free trial.

Aside from content filters, you can create a whitelist of sites on a computer by disabling DNS and putting only the sites you want to allow in the local hosts lookup file. On Windows XP, this can be found in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. You could put entries in the hosts file like this:

165.193.130.178 http://www.funbrain.com/ funbrain
199.181.132.250 http://www.disney.com/ disney
209.9.8.79 http://www.webkinz.com/ webkinz
77.73.32.120 http://www.miniclip.com/ miniclip
208.139.194.177 http://www.starfall.com/ starfall

The problem with creating a whitelist is that the IP addresses can change, or there can be more than one ip address that is used for load balancing and failover of the site. But this is a low tech solution that can protect the innocent, but kids who are older and motivated to find a way around it can easily do so.

Aside from web browsing and FasttMath, the most common things they use the laptops for are drawing in Paintshop Pro, writing homework in Micrososoft Word, browsing family photos, watching movies (family or commercial), and loading up their iPods with my mp3 collection. My sons also have the Timex Ironman Datalink watch which can synchronize appointments, contacts, and notes with Microsoft Outlook. All of them are strangely obsessed with Google maps from time to time, but then again, isn't everybody?