Public Library Laptops

[Goda]

My mom is the director of teen activities at our local library. The teens like to play flash/java/other internet games on the library computers, which is fine except that they take up all the time on the computers. So the plan is to get six laptops for teen use only. I suggested that they make them Linux based, as it would be cheaper and they could do more on older laptops. Any suggestions on what to do and where to get cheap laptops? Thanks

[herteljt]

I installed Edubuntu on several computers at my wife's work (she is a children's librarian) and they were used quite often by the kids. The standard install has more games then Ubuntu. However, some of the games were geared towards younger kids (elementary level). It might be worth checking out.

[Casual Fan]

Does Mom already have funding? If not, there are surely grants available that would pay for computer purchases for teens at a library. I would not encourage her to buy used laptops as there is usually a (bad) reason the laptop is for sale--dropped too many times, spilled Coke on it, left out in the rain, etc.

Otherwise, the Asus eee is only $299 at Amazon.com...

[Vadi]

I'd go against used, but refurbished are a possible choice. That said, shop around in your local town too.