Posted on 12/07/2015 2:07:50 PM PST by Bill Russell
Fellow Freepers,
I am looking into getting my son (13, soon to be 14) a build-it-yourself computer kit. He has ripped apart a couple of old laptops, but they don't have compatible parts. I am looking for a kit that he can use to learn to put together a working cpu that is usable and can be loaded with an operating system. I see a couple available on Amazon, but one looks too simplistic and the other is too complicated. When it comes to hardware and operating systems, I am very much a novice. I welcome your insights.
Thanks so much!
Bill
Rasberry Pi ii and polulu usb controllers. Watch the magic
Go here and search for DIY Computer.
www.tigerdirect.com
Check Make magazine and their online store. Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don’t have any financial interest in any of this.
You can also try Newegg.com. I purchase most of my parts and software from them. Low prices and great customer service.
I am not affiliated in any way with them but I sure have spent a lot of money on their web site.
He might could get millions of dollars if he chops
up a clock-radio and stuffs it into a box.
Granted, little Hachmed-Mohammadeen ain’t been paid yet but he might.
I’ve heard of friends using Raspberry Pi and my son’s school used Lego Mindstorm for their robotics programming.
Absolutely. I was abbout to post the same thing but saw your post.
I second the motion. Rasberry Pi ii.
He'll be the envy of all his Geek friends.
Building a full PC is actually a lot easier than it was in the not too distant past — no floppy drives, SATA HDDs, built in audio / video. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of instructional ‘how to build a pc’ vids on youtube now. My advice - build a real PC. Rasberry PI and the other popular kits are more of a homebrew experimenting type thing, chiefly used in homebrew robotics.
I don’t know how old he is but you may want to consider combining the experience he’ll learn putting it together with research experience. Give him a set limit to spend on newegg and let him learn how to research and purchase all the parts he’ll need. I’d suggest making sure he sticks to products with lots of reviews to ensure good driver support going into the future and he needs to ensure it’s all compatible. Have fun!
Buy 2 or 3 used non-working pc’s of the same general age and see what he can make out of it... they don’t have to be working machines and you can probably get them for free just by asking around at work.. just promise them the hard drives will be wiped , everyone has an old pc in the closet. You can download the version of windows that goes with the license/key tag on the machine and you’re all set.
My last 2 pc’s were a Vista machine I bought for $50 3 years ago (the premium sound with subwoofer was worth the $50) and a Win7 machine I got for free 6 months ago with a bad hdd... both have been extensively upgraded and run great... If you’re not building a gaming machine slightly older hardware is perfect.
The starting point is here: raspberrypi.org
Gives outline plus how to and various and diverse projects. The little computer started as brainchild of BBC as gateway for young students to start learning. Has a native language on microSD memory chip. Youtube has a ton of getting started vids and projects for the tiny wonder. Small enough that first adopters were putting the in Altoids tons.
He’s 13. Buy him a tablet for $49 at Best Buys. He will love it.
What I was thinking.
Amazon.com
Get him a girl instead ;-)
NewEgg is a good site for build your own systems and also has instructional videos.
There’s a guy in Qatar who makes clock kits for that age...
(everyone else is giving good suggestions, so you can skip this one)
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