Toshiba Satellite Laptop is Kid-Friendly, Parent-Approved

In an attempt to keep your kids safe online, you can do one of two things: Shield your kids from any sort of Internet connectivity for fear of exposing them to the many dangers of the interwebs, OR teach them about responsible computing and educate yourself on the many ways to keep your kids safe online. Even if you do choose the latter, I’m sure you don’t want your kids messing around your nice computer (I cringe every time my two-year-old even breathes on my iPad).

Toshiba has decided to nip two birds with one stone and put together a tougher, “kid-friendly” laptop and include parental controls designed to help parents control what their kids do online with the new Satellite L635 laptop.

Let’s go over the design: It’s a 13- inch laptop that is small enough for kids to start on and big enough to last as your kids grow. The laptop comes with a lime green accent color to set it apart from your other computers and gives it that “kiddy look” but without being too lame. It also comes with textured fingerprint-resistant keys in addition to the entire keyboard being wipeable just in case peanut butter comes out of “nowhere” and “magically” finds its way onto the keyboard. Finally, the hardrive has a drive impact sensor that protects the data on the hard drive if and when it gets banged around a little.

Now that your kids are ready to hop on the Internet and you don’t have to worry (so much) about computer damage, you are free to worry about what your kids are doing online. The Satellite L635 hopes to ease some of your fears with its built-in child safety features:

- Using the Net Nanny parental control software so you can prevent access to the wrong sites or disclosure of private information though email or instant messaging in addition to limiting online visits, so you don’t have to worry about your kids sneaking back on the computer after bed time.

- KidZui Internet browser that gives your children easy access to do research, play games and browse the Web safely (websites, games, and videos are pre-approved by both teachers and concerned parents)

By no stretch of the imagination is this just a kiddy laptop with only a hard shell and an Internet connection. This baby has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a webcam so your kids can actually be productive online in addition to, having a good time video chatting with their little friends (and grandma). It also has some preloaded entertainment features as well including CinemaNow, which offers thousands of movies on demand, and includes Disney’s “Princess and the Frog” movie and Lego Batman game which should give your kids enough stuff to discover without them trying to download Lord knows what.

So if you feel your kids are at that explore the Web phase, but you want to make sure that they have the ability to learn, enjoy AND be safe, check out the Toshiba Satellite L635 Laptop.

“It plays well with others.”

About the Author
Terrance Gaines is a husband, father and self-proclaimed Technology Evangelist who shares tech news, reviews, tips and tricks on his blog BrothaTech.com as well as other sites and in print media. You can also find him talking "all things tech" on Twitter @BrothaTech.
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