Advice on PC for 11 year old

[celestebellman]

For his birthday, my ds would like 'a PC for his room.' He mainly plays Nintendo switch, connected to our TV - Fortnite, Zelda, Minecraft. He does not actually play 'PC' games, and from what I understand these are aimed at slightly older teens and maybe more violent (so I am in no hurry for him to move on to these).

My main motivation is for him to have his own device for doing homework when he starts secondary school - everything is set and submitted on Teams, so this is pretty important. His sister has a laptop, but he does not want a laptop.

My plan would have been to get him a desk top PC, with a monitor, which he can plug his Nintendo into should he wish, and on which he can do his homework, watch Netflix etc. I'd like it all to look nice in his room.... my partner, who has different priorities re aesthetics, says we should get him a raspberry pi (?sp) and gaming keyboard etc, and he can use our (ancient, 10 year old) TV and we can get a new TV.

I'd prefer for his birthday present to be an entire ensemble which all matches, looks nice, and does what he requires. But I know nothing about computers - any advice would be much appreciated.

Isn't he a bit young to have unmonitored access to the Internet? The rule in this house is that they can use the computer but they do it in the living room or kitchen so we can see what they're up to.

Hi, ideally I don't want him sitting gaming in his room - he currently mostly does it in the sitting room with his younger brother. But I do want him to be able to do his homework in his room, which his sister also has been doing since age 11 - she also uses her laptop in her room, mainly to watch Netflix and we have had no issues. Most kids of that age also have phones which give them internet access anyway.

You can build your own pc for much cheaper than it costs to buy one, 400/500 pounds for a gaming one and it is really easy.
and make its case, leds and fan match the rest of your setup
If your dh is suggesting a raspberry pi, I’m guessing your son has an interest in building electronic stuff. The pc could be a cool project and you could upgrade its components over the years instead of buying a whole new one

Budget is the most important factor...

Thanks - my dp's issue is that a PC monitor is not what you would normally use to play a Nintendo switch (which is what he plays), that this would usually be on a TV or just handheld. Whereas I thought he could just connect his switch to the PC monitor....?!

I have no idea what a raspberry pie is, but I would rather it was a straightforward, easy to use set up (so I can use it to help him with homework if needed). Not keen personally on building techie stuff!

Budget - not massive, he's 11! I'd say no more than £400.

@celestebellman

Budget - not massive, he's 11! I'd say no more than £400.

Yes you can connect a switch to a pc monitor as long as it has a HDMI cable. I agree with you about getting a proper PC monitor rather than a tv. Pc monitors are less straining on the eyes and are made for upclose use as opposed to TVs.

A raspberry pi is simply a small device (the size of a hand) that you can use to program small games, robots, little cars etc… it’s a cool educational kit but it’s separate from the pc.

I wouldn’t bother with a gaming keyboard if he doesn’t play pc games. I believe their main purpose is to make hand and finger placement more comfortable for an optimal gaming experience. They can be super expensive.
But if your son really likes the look of them you can get entry levels one, that are more like regular keyboards but light up

If the PC is mainly for homework, Netflix, word, etc…beware of some of the pcs that have graphics cards in them. The price for those have skyrocketed over the past couple of years and they’re way overpriced

@morrisy - thanks, that's really helpful, I will present that comparison of monitors vs tv to dp.

When I say gaming keyboard.... I mean one that lights up and looks cool So yes, saw some in Curry's that were quite cheap.

F

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/asus-zen-aio-m5401-23-8-all-in-one-pc-amd-ryzen-3-512-gb-sdd-black-gold-10232059-pdt.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=4d7eb93e-055f-499d-8ee5-1cdcc50d67d1&istItemId=ppmwxmqpi&istBid=tztx&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~1010%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20Desktops%20-%20Generic%20SSC%202021~1010%20(PLA)%20Desktops%20-%20Adaptive%20ad%20group~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=m&ds_kids=92700067458273275&tgtid=1010%20(Shopping%20Ads)%20Desktops%20-%20Generic%20SSC%202021&gclid=CjwKCAiA55mPBhBOEiwANmzoQiSP2-ACyi05jqy1sAqnJFiN3yGfQ_2KGOgGty6X4CVUwFYvgEeoFBoCEsYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Looks like it ticks a lot of boxes, can accept a cable from the switch as well.

Won't play many pc games though, but will be fine for Internet, Netflix, teams and homework

This one is really decent for the price:
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B093TC734S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_E778V77V98P48Y09XMRE?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

And ryzen 5 - Good processor

Also had an integrated graphics card for light gaming

16gb ram so it’ll be really fast and smooth

1TB of memory

These are very very similar specs to the PC I use as a software developer and it works perfectly fine

Games for the PC aren't exclusively aimed at older kids - what an odd idea! It's just a different platform. DS 10 prefers his laptop and plays Minecraft, Roblox etc on there and quite a few flight/tank driving simulators and Age of Empires type cartoony historic war simulator things. He has to ask before he downloads anything new so we can check out reviews and age ratings. Little DS who is 7 plays the latest Fifa with a console type controller on the laptop. Its just like having a games console just a lot more flexible as its easier to do other things too!

Great, thanks for the ideas.

@littleowls83, my knowledge of games is limited to what they play already - which includes the Nintendo games, minecraft and Roblox. My dp says gaming pcs are usually used by older kids to play things like Call of Duty. He has an advantage over me in terms of computer knowledge - however, although his job involves academic computer science he is, crucially, not a gamer, so do sometimes wonder when he purports to know things like this.