An inexpensive PC can be a powerful (and nowadays, essential) educational tool for your child. Here’s how to shop for a kid-friendly laptop, as well as our top models to buy. Many are under $500, and all have been tested in depth.
The question of whether (and when) to buy your son or daughter a smartphone is fraught with concerns over responsibility, online safety, and much more. The same goes for buying a laptop, except for one very important difference: Many elementary and middle schools consider them essential educational tools, and equip classrooms with machines for their students. Other schools require parents to purchase laptops, offering a selection of recommended models. The upshot is that your kid might need to use a laptop at school or for school whether you like it or not, especially in these uncertain times that may mandate distance learning. Regardless, they will almost certainly want to use that computer at home, too, both for fun (messaging their friends, watching videos, playing Fortnite) and homework (looking up information, typing book reports). Kids being kids, the list of factors to consider doesn’t end there. Don’t forget about parental controls, durable plastic, and water-resistant keyboards. At least you won’t have to worry about the cost. Buying a kid-friendly laptop need not break the bank—all of our recommended models cost less than $700, and most are well under $500—and the even better news is that just because they’re inexpensive doesn’t mean that they are necessarily slow or poorly made. Our focus here is on younger kids. If your child is at the university level, check out our roundup of the best laptops for college students. And you’ll find even more choices in our overall roundup of the best budget laptops. Also check our top picks for the best Chromebooks for kids for more on Chrome OS concerns and education aspects, especially for the lower grades. If your child is also of the age that they may be looking to play PC games on the same machine that they’ll use for schoolwork, that is a whole other set of considerations. We’ll address that in a section near the end of this article, but know that gaming machines cost more than our other picks here. Which Operating System Is Best? Before you begin to evaluate features, you’ll start with the essential question that has plagued PC shoppers for decades: Which operating system should I choose? This is not the Mac vs. Windows debate of old. New Apple laptops aren’t available for less than $500—not even close. The MacBook Air, Apple’s least-expensive notebook, starts at $999 and is still overkill for an elementary- or middle-school student. If you’re an Apple fan and want to raise your son or daughter to be one too, you’re best off giving them a hand-me-down and buying a new MacBook or MacBook Pro for yourself. Reused Macs aside, most parents will choose between Windows and Chrome OS, the operating system from Google. In addition to running web apps within the Chrome browser, Chrome OS can also run apps from the Google Play store designed for Android smartphones and tablets, including Microsoft Office. If you’ve decided against buying a smartphone for your kids but they talk your ear off about wanting to play mobile games, buying a Chromebook might be a good compromise. Windows 10 and Windows 11 have also become more useful for kid-oriented laptops thanks to S Mode, which is aimed at the education market and, among other security enhancements, prevents apps from being installed unless they’re available on the Microsoft Store.
