Tips for Buying a Home Computer for the Family

When you're pregnant or planning on adding to your family, you think a lot about the gear you'll need. Usually you focus on diaper pails and crib bedding and nursing pads and other immediate essentials. But if you have kids, you will need a family computer. If you're reading these pages, it's a pretty sure bet you already use a computer. Perhaps that's the one that will be used by sticky little fingers in a few short years, and the new one will be for you. However you work it, here are some pointers to help you make a smart purchase.

This is the first question you need to ask yourself, and the answer depends on your needs.

Laptops are great for portability—they are set up for wireless Internet connectivity and can be taken anywhere in your house, to the coffee shop, or even on vacation. They also double as a portable DVD player or music system. And, if you're short on space, laptops can be very compact—the MacBook Air is just 0.16 inch thick and weighs only three pounds.

However, if you want a computer for the family to share, a desktop might be the way to go. Placing the desktop in a central location allows you to set limits on usage and monitor the sites your kids visit. Desktops have other positives, too. First is price: Desktops lack the "cool" factor and are usually less expensive than laptops. They are also easier to upgrade and repair, and expanding the memory is simpler. Finally, you don't have to worry about someone dropping or stealing your desktop the way you do with a laptop!

Just like cloth vs. disposable, the question of Mac vs. PC comes down to a personal choice. Mac and PC users are usually so loyal to their brands that they are no help to the novice computer user, so the best thing to do is to look at how you will use your computer before you make a decision.

Macs are thought to be more intuitive and easier to use than PCs. They are reliable, and great technical support is available. They also aren't as prone to contracting viruses. Finally, Macs can run Windows as a second operating system, which means that most programs and data that are used on a PC can also be opened on a Mac.