<p>We once adopted a family for the holidays and their list included items that exceeded our budget. One item was a bike for one of the kids. I emailed my friends, explaining the situation and asking if anyone had a bike not being used and a friend had one in her garage that her son had outgrown and she just hadn’t gotten around to donating it yet. She was more than happy to have me take it off her hands. So, you could always ask around and see if anyone has an older one they’re not using. Also, it sounds like you found one that will work on Amazon which is great but tomorrow’s cyber Monday and I’m sure there will be all kinds of specials if that one doesn’t work. You are doing a lovely thing, OP.</p>
<p>Many restaurants also have free wifi. It doesn’t take much money for a kid to go into a McDonald’s and buy a fountain drink or a coffee and then sit there for a while to use their free wifi.</p>
<p>Unless your friend has pressured you and others to participate, I certainly don’t fault her for asking if you’d be willing to “adopt” a child for the holiday. On the contrary, I think it’s great that she’s being resourceful in her attempts to brighten these kids’ lives. I’d get the laptop and a new pair of earbuds. I can’t even imagine how high school kids can do their homework without online access and word processing capabilities.</p>
<p>She definitely did NOT pressure me! She sends a group email to about 60 people and there were only 23 unspoken for kids this year so I could have easily said no! I prefer giving to these kids as my friend knows them rather than choose random names from a tree. She was relaying that she mentioned to some kids that she’d had dinner at her daughter’s house and the food was so good she was too full for dessert. One of the teens said “wow - that must be a great feeling. I hope I have that feeling one day” (no sarcasm, the kid actually seemed amazed) :-(.</p>
<p>It’s possible that you could find an old laptop donation via a Freecycle “wanted” ad … BUT there is a lot of grief dealing with old laptops, outdated virus protection etc etc. </p>
<p>I like the idea of finding a donated laptop for her. You could wrap the “needed” presents and make a present stack with the laptop wrapped in the last gift on the bottom- have a note on top honestly explaining - that you purchased the “needed” items, but that a kind friend offered up the used laptop to make the dream a reality. BUT I would check with your friend first to make sure this is ok - it may not be ok to have a stack of presents AND a dream (even if it’s used!).</p>
<p>I also agree that connectivity can be found. Schools, libraries, local Panera, etc. - one of these is likely at the child’s disposal. </p>
<p>Not that I have a clue on laptops, but the Cyber Monday site has a Acer 11" for $149 and a Samsung for $159</p>
<p><a href=“Black Friday Laptops Deals 2023 | TheBlackFriday.com”>http://www.theblackfriday.com/cyber-monday/cyber-monday-laptop-deals.php</a></p>
<p>I agree with sseasmom about wifi at libraries and schools as well as other public places. I still remember years ago when our wifi wasn’t up yet (D had a new laptop and we had an old computer with dial up). She had an assignment that needed to be turned in online through turnitin and we drove up to the local library and parked at the curb to access the wifi at 10pm. I know the public library at Yesler and 23rd has smoking fast internet. :D</p>
<p>Personally, I think going with a newer laptop is a good idea to minimize the changes of a virus and old software and hardware issues. If the used laptop is within a few years old, it’s OK (and many of us & our kids are still using such machines), but if it’s more than 3 or so years old, better to go for a new one–cyber Monday or some other deal or refurbished. You can still buy a few nice things and maybe a flashdrive, which can be handy for printing and transferring things from her computer to wherever it’s needed for printing.</p>
<p>Oh jeez, I would totally skip the idea of a cheap laptop. There is a reason these laptops are cheap, it’s because they are crap. They could be full of bugs, and that is the reason that they are cheap and aren’t selling. I’m typing on a $300 laptop right now, and it is such garbage. if I didn’t have kids with skills, it would be unusable.</p>
<p>busdriver, what is it that makes your laptop garbage? I’m typing on a cheap HP laptop that hasn’t had a second’s problem in the 2 years I’ve owned it, and I use it daily. Kids in HS need a computer that they can take notes on and do word processing, upload homework, and update social media. You don’t need a ton of bells and whistles. I think you’re also the person who said above that Chromebooks are crap too. That’s actually the type of computer some of D’s teachers use, as she does, because most all of their work is done on Google Docs. They aren’t meant for hardcore gaming, or any of that, but they boot up instantly, aren’t prone to viruses. and and the work you do on them is in a cloud so even if you lose or break your laptop, the work is saved. </p>
<p>Saintfan, I’ve spent many a time in that library waiting for D to finish dance or choir practice. Wifi is pretty good INSIDE too!</p>
<p>A computer is not just a dream gift. It is a tool that opens doors academically just as much as a library card. If I had to choose, I’d just get the computer and ditch the rest. </p>
<p>We have a Chromebook and love it. Still, in this case, a laptop would be usable in a home without Internet, whereas a tablet or Chromebook would not. We have used Open Office for word processing at our house, it works well and it is free.</p>
<p>Yes, cheap laptops generally have less powerful graphics cards and memory for high-demand visual applications. Translate: They lag or freeze playing Youtube videos and movies, and especially with serious gaming. I’d still do it. </p>
<p>my mom used to walk to that library. She lived at the end of Yesler.
I often go to the library when I am working on something. My connection at home is barely faster than dial up.</p>
<p>Imagine if you had no laptop and no near future prospects or resources in the future to get one. If that was me,I’d be thrilled with a used one. (Screened by the previous owner so you would know it wasn’t crap)</p>
<p>sseamom - the curbside wifi was at our own local library. The Yesler one is my waiting for kid at music practice haunt.</p>
<p>Before we got faster internet we did all his soundcloud uploads there</p>
<p>I think a Chromebook is perfect for a needy kid who won’t be able to fix a laptop when it gets a virus, which will happen. They are built to last, nothing fancy, but so easy to use. </p>
<p>AllThisIsNewToMe - I don’t have any recommendations about the computer issue; I just wanted to say “good for you” for doing this and for trying to fulfill this child’s Christmas wishes. I think that too often when people donate to a cause like this they buy things that the child “should” get or what the child “needs” and not what the child really wants - and isn’t it a great feeling to get something cool that you really want? </p>
<p>perhaps a couple of her 60 friends that got a mailing could go together for one kid? Maybe between those can can “go it alone” plus some going together could more than fill the help for the 23?</p>
<p>Good idea younghoss. I was just thinking that a $200 limit was * very* generous, and many years way over my budget, but sharing a contribution, is probably much more doable.</p>