If you're thinking of giving a girl a pink laptop, here's a buying guide to the many different brands and models for sale on the market. VTech, ASUS, Oregon Scientific and other innovative manufacturers of cutting-edge educational toys are now producing a suite of sophisticated learning laptops that are fast becoming a craze in households with children. So many models are out there now that it's becoming seriously competitive - they're even starting to distinguish themselves by style and color!

• See my personal selections for best laptops for girls in the color pink for each age group.
• Find detailed information on over 10 pink toy laptops, pink real laptops with features comparable to those in an adult's computer, and even your options for pink laptop sleeves and skins for kids.
• Learn the age-appropriate kids' laptop models, from baby to toddler to preschool and grade school aged-kids.
• Read about features, detailed specifications, and, when available, highlights of the product reviews for each model.
• If you're ready to buy, see the quick links to specific models.
  

It's all here - the ultimate guide to girls' pink laptops designed to help you pick the best learning laptop for the kid in your life.

Pink, blue, red, yellow, or green, learning laptops are essential educational toys these days.

VTech is generally recognized as one of the strongest brands for infants and toddlers, producing toy learning laptops that teach vocabulary, object recognition, songs, and Spanish, to boot. Some models also introduce kids to basic laptop layout, the QWERTY keyboard that grownups use, and maneuvering the mouse.

Oregon Scientific makes pink Barbie(TM) laptops for kids starting at age five, and these are growing in popularity, as well. Oregon Scientific is a growing force in producing learning toys, with achievements "recognized by key industry analysts," to use their own terms, in several leading parenting and toy magazines as well as the Toy Industry Association.

In researching this buyer's guide of pink kids' laptops and rating them, I used information from other users, the manufacturers, and the retailers about each model. I didn't have access to most of the models themselves.

Still, out of the more than 10 girls' pink laptops listed below, I formed my own personal choices for best pink children's laptop picks--the models I would pick if I were the parent of a girl child who liked pink:

My Choice for Best Real Kids' Laptop in Pink: ASUS Disney Netpal. (True, it's the only real laptop in pink that I could find. And true, there's a shortage of reviews, but the specs are impressive, and the Christmas and holiday season's still young.)

My Choice for Best Baby Laptop in Pink: VTech Infant Learning Baby's Learning Laptop (Well, it's the only one, as far as I know, and I own one in another color.)

My Choice for Best Toddler and Preschooler Laptop in Pink: VTech Tote 'N Go (Mind you, I'd have loved the Barbie ones, myself, as a kid, but the Tote & Go is just packed with so many cool features that scads of parents seem to appreciate.)

My Choice for Best Grade School Laptop in Pink: VTech Grade School Learning Nitro Web Notebook or the Oregon Scientific PC Trainer V (I really was torn, here, deciding.)

If you have a few minutes, please do read the individual descriptions of all the models, though, because the best laptop for your child (or niece or granddaughter) might be something altogether different.

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As kids get older, learning laptops move toward being "real" laptops. Don't mistake toys for the real thing. The more sophisticated electronic transition laptops designed for children are still toys--such as the VTech Grade School Learning Nitro, the Barbie B-Smart Learning Laptop, and the PC Trainer V. As toys, they can be low cost, have modest computing capabilities, and be built to hold up to a significant amount of abuse.

Still, a true children's laptop, like the Disney Netpal, doesn't hold up too badly in comparison. It is definitely going to be sturdier than an adult's laptop. The Netpal boasts of a spill-proof keyboard and has a shock-absorbing layer that buffers against impact. (Though I personally wouldn't test it by dropping it...)

What age should kids be before they get a real laptop?

The short answer is, it depends on the kid. I, personally, would only give a multi-hundred-dollar-laptop like the Netpal to a child who's learned the difference between a toy and a tool.

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ASUS makes the Disney Netpal, a real laptop for kids in grade school, for use starting at age 6. This 8.9 inch laptop with 1024 x 600 resolution comes in the "princess pink" color or Disney Magic blue, has an impressive 5 hours of battery life, and has a 1-year manufacturer's warranty. It's new on the market but promises to be a stellar training laptop. See specs.

The Netpal is the real deal. Designed to be easy, intuitive and durable for kid's use as a first computer, it has a backlit LED display, 160 gigs of storage, 1 gig of memory, a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, built-in wireless connectivity, webcam, audio, microphone, flash card slot, ShockShield data protection, and many more snazzy features that may well trump the resident adult's laptop. It comes with a spill-proof keyboard, power adaptor, User Manual and Quick Starter Guide, and a recovery disk. And it's light enough for kids to carry.

The Netpal is preloaded with Microsoft Windows XP, and the Netpal's default theme is--wait for it--Disney! Numerous Disney-themed widgets and applications include a calculator, Disney Pix, Radio Disney, and a number of fun and educational games.

Preloaded with white-list protection and customizable parental controls, the Netpal offers a Web safe browsing environment for kids. And that means one less source of stress for parents as kids begin to engage in the vast world that is the World Wide Web.

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First-graders and up will enjoy learning keyboard and typing skills, vocabulary, grammar, logic, numbers, telling time and other educational subjects while playing the 70 English games and 70 Spanish games on the Barbie™ B-Smart™ Laptop. See specs.  You can also read the user manual.

This educational toy laptop, complete with mouse and mouspad, can be carried around by its handle and comes with--for those parents who appreciate the occasional moments of quiet--earbuds.

Reviews of the Barbie™ B-Smart™ Learning Laptop

According to reviews on Amazon.com, this is a fun pink laptop for girls with a "real laptop" look that also succeeds in educating kids. A few people mentioned that the screen sometimes was hard to see.

One mother writes that her daughter, who finds math challenging, is motivated to learn the difficult subject on her Barbie B-Smart because it's fun. Another parent estimates that it's a perfect learning laptop for girls from kindergarten through the third grade.

The batteries are said to drain quickly. One reviewer mentioned that, according to an Oregon Scientific rep, an adaptor for the machine could be gotten from any electronics store, which a few reviewers had wondered about.

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Sometimes kids just want a cool toy with lots of options to entertain them at a stretch. A training laptop resembling a grown-ups' notebook is just the thing.

Relatively new on the market, the pink PC Trainer V (5) is a sleek little learning laptop without the character branding of Barbie or Disney. It also comes in white and black as well as pink, and so is suitable for both girls and boys. It's not for use for kids three years and under. See specs.  You can also read the user manual.

Stylishly thin and quite lightweight, this toy training computer delivers music, spelling, math and other activities to girls starting at age 5 via a whopping 92 English games and 10 Spanish games, which is terrific for introducing bilingual language skills to kids.

With hours and hours of programmed fun for kids, this laptop is made by Oregon Scientific, a rising star in educational electronics for kids.

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As an option for a grown-up looking laptop without the cutesy characters, the Nitro Web Notebook in metallic pink has everything that makes a learning laptop for kids age 5 and older special. See specs.

The Learning Nitro Web Notebook features a full QWERTY keyboard, black and white (gray-scale) LCD screen, a real plug-in mouse, a cursor pad, a USB cable, and capabilities for attaching to a PC so kids can access games at Planet VTech online.

With 50 inbuilt games, lessons and activities and 24 more to be played online or downloaded, the notebook helps kids learn spelling, reading, science and nature, social studies, and art in addition to language, math and music skills.

It also has--this is very cool--Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that can track your kids' achievements and raise the skill level of the activities as she progresses.

Reviews of the VTech Grade School Learning Nitro Web Notebook^TM

Out of over 70 reviewers on two websites, most are positive. On Toys R Us, over 80% would recommend it to a friend. Some reviews note room for improvement.

Overall, kids seem to rave about it as the most fun ever, giving it extra marks for the progress report feature, while positive reviews by parents and gifters hype its educational qualities and the fact that its pink color keeps nosy brothers away! Reviewers agree it's built sturdy and is good-looking. Kids seem to be able to entertain themselves for extended periods on the Learning Nitro Notebook.

Some things to note: Many parents recommend the Nitro laptop as a Christmas gift. One parent's 4-year-old was able to figure out how to do activities by herself. Another reviewer who takes modern technological toys with a grain of salt admits that it succeeds in entertaining girls to a surprising degree--the Learning Nitro being far more suitably matched to kids' skill levels and interests than many adult computers are to their respective owners. One parent advises one laptop per young child, since the toy engages kids so well it leaves no room to share with siblings.

As for the cons: One reviewer was disappointed by the small, non-backlit LCD screen, which means you can't use it easily in an unlit dark room. Another reviewer wished there were more inbuilt learning aids to teach young kids the basics of using a computer without adult help and that it were easier to figure out what level of activities were appropriate for what age.

Several reviewers mentioned that the graphics and/or software wasn't very up-to-date. Others noted that the screen was small (though many kids don't seem to mind, and the same seems true of most learning laptops for kids these days). One mentioned the lack of a headphone jack.

One disgruntled father who hoped to lure his child away from his own computer found its pink allure didn't match up to the grownup version. Another parent, however, noted the opposite--a four-year-old girl who played on her parents' computer nevertheless was thrilled to have her very own.

The conclusion to take away? If you're looking for a "real" laptop for kids, with state-of-the-art graphics and bells and whistles, this probably isn't the answer. If you're looking for a trainer laptop to teach kids general computer skills, the VTech Grade School Learning Nitro is plenty glamourous and sophisticated enough for most kids--a winner, in fact.

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A preschool girl's laptop should be more than, well, pink. The Pink Toe & Go Laptop Plus (see specs) for 3 to 6-year-olds has an edge over other toy laptops: It has a detachable mouse that can be used by left-handed kids as well as right-handed. The laptop has a convenient carrying handle and--a plus for battery life--shuts off after three minutes of inactivity as a power-save feature.

While gazing at an LCD laptop screen, your 3 to 7-year-old girl or boy can enjoy thirty programmed activities teaching music, math, letters and language skills. Even if your child hasn't learned to read or even the ABCs, there are still fun programs she can navigate.

Reviews of the VTech Tote 'N Go

Reviews are pretty darn positive for the Tote & Go. Some 3-year-olds really enjoy this learning laptop--even if they're not ready for the educational stuff, they're engaged by the music and visuals. Other 3-year-old children and toddlers, however, are still not ready to play with it more than cursorily, and may need parental assistance when they play with it.

Reviewers found this laptop to be very durable, holding up to preschooler abuse. Many parents got them as Christmas gifts for their kids, nieces or nephews. A homeschooling mom said it helped her 3-year-old learn numbers and letters. One parent expressed surprise that a pink laptop so "cheesy" and chintzy looking turned out to be such a great toy.

Another reviewer lamented that the laptop didn't have a normal adult keyboard layout (called a QWERTY keyboard) because she wanted her kid to start learning it now--and it's true, some other toy laptops do feature the keyboard we're all familiar with, but not the Tote 'N Go.

Does it play music that can grate on a mom's or dad's nerves? Sometimes, parents say. Some have indicated that the machine is loud, overall, featuring a monkey that's, well, vocal. (Welcome to the world of modern toys for young kids! After having a child, I learned to give up on the idea of a quiet household. All sound toys seem to sing and talk to kids, say bye-bye, and try to lure them back with fun-sounding noises. Although I must admit, some toys offer better sounds than others, by the time you've listened to them a few hundred hours, it's all the same.)

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VTech's Disney Princess Magic Wand Laptop^TM is packed full of features and fun. See specs.  See user manual.

With music, 12 different activities ranging in skill level, and Cinderella guiding, preschoolers starting at age 4 can learn early language and number skills and keep learning as they master old activities. There are letters laid out as on a real keyboard, and number keys in two rows at the top.

And with a magic wand stylus a girl can touch to the screen (as an option to the cursor mouse), this toy laptop is in the delightful shape of a Cinderella carriage. It has a convenient carrying handle.

Reviews of the VTech Disney Princess Magic Wand Laptop™

One parent's overall assessment was: Fab! Reviewers on the Toys R Us website said that the machine was sturdier than expected and that the battery life was impressive. Reviewers on Amazon.com mentioned that there were kids younger than four years of age who enjoyed the toy, and at least one parent found it helped her preschool age child learn the alphabet. One mom who purchased the Disney Princess Magic Wand Laptop as a Christmas present for her daughter recommends it as a gift for kids ages 3 to 6. The stylus was a hit with at least one girl mentioned in the reviews.

All in all, the laptop looks like a winner for any girl whose imagination is captured by Cinderella.

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Here's a delightfully fashioned Disney Princess Laptop by VTech for 4- to 5-year old girls. See specs. Also you can view the user manual.

The Carriage laptop model has some unique cute features, including a 3D slipper mode selector, a holographic-like light-up Cinderella that appears on the mirror, and a set of 12 piano keys.

Sister to the Magic Wand laptop, a similar model, this one is comparable in most respects.

Reviews of the VTech Disney Princess Carriage Laptop™

The single review I found was very positive, mentioning it's fun-factor, the fact that it was sturdy, and its popularity with the reviewer's 7-year-old boy as well. The reviewer says it's suitable for kids no younger than 3 years old and better for age 4.

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This pink and lavender machine for preschool girls age 3 to 6 is a basic toy laptop, easily portable, with a black and white LCD, a keyboard with letters and numbers in alpha-numeric order, and 8 Barbie-themed English-language learning activities to teach numbers and letters, colors, and shapes. See specs.

Reviews of the Barbie Diamond Castle Learning Laptop by Oregon Scientific

Reviews are generally positive, noting its durability (it stands up to being dropped), convenient small size (for some--for others the tiny size is a negative) and pleasant sound level, as well as its ability to drag interested kids away from adults' more delicate computing systems.

Some parents like the positive teaching "attitude" of the toy--such as the fact that when the child isn't able to answer a question in one of the activities, the answer is given. 90 percent of 7 reviewers on the Toys R Us website would recommend the Barbie Diamond Castle Learning Laptop to others.

One parent says she loves the toy because it's educational, while her girl loves it because it's all about Barbie.

As with many other toy laptops, reviewers made note of the small screen, though one parent says the young girl who uses it doesn't seem to mind. Some reviewers cited the laptop as too quiet; others as too loud. It boils down to: they wished there was a volume control.

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The pink and green learning laptop for 3-year-old-and-up children is truly bilingual--it offers 22 activities in English and 22 in Spanish. An unusual feature: the keyboard and screen becomes strawberry-scented at the press of a button. With volume controls and LCD contrast controls, its video and sound capabilities are more adjustable than that of some other kids' laptops.  See specs.

Reviews of the Winfun Bilingual Laptop

Reviews, though few and far between, are overwhelmingly positive. No negatives were mentioned in the three reviews this author found. Not many toy stores carry this model at this writing.

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A small, lightweight portable laptop for girls, the pink Barbie Little Learner Jr. Laptop boasts 8 educational games designed to encourage curiosity and imagination in kids 3 and up. See specs and read the user manual.

This preschooler's laptop teaches skills in counting, arithmetic, the alphabet, shapes, logic, music, and memory. And with a keyboard of letters ordered alphabetically, as well as a black-and-white LCD screen, it's designed to be easy to use.

Reviews of the Barbie Little Learner Junior Laptop by Oregon Scientific

This is a well-liked laptop for kids, for the range of activities featured and for the fact that it teaches both upper case and lower case letters. Its portability is also a plus--like many of these laptops, it's an easy on-the-go toy. One reviewer likes the slimness of the toy and the security of its latch. Some reviewers remarked that Barbie's voice is not always easy to distinguish, especially when she recites certain letters. Another reviewer cautions readers about the lack of a volume control. Yet another comments on the small size of the screen.

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The VTech Baby's Learning Laptop starts babies as early as six months of age on learning their way around technology. The pink and purple pastels of the case and the nine brightly colored picture buttons invite babies to press and see what happens in 3 different play modes. See specs.

What happens is that music plays, lights flash on the pictorial screen, and the baby learns shapes, objects, and new words. The baby can even shift the mouse in different directions.

Review of the VTech Infant Learning Baby's Learning Laptop

Author's review: My own child loved using this laptop model (in a different color) as a baby and still plays with it sometimes as a toddler. Admittedly the way the laptop opened and closed was just as exciting to the baby as the way the buttons lit up and the music played. What's nifty is that as a kid gets older and has more experience of real objects, more and more of the words and pictures start to have meaning. I did notice that the mode control goes wonky when the batteries get low. Other reviewers also like the laptop, except for one who remarked that her son never got into it, somehow.

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Pink laptop covers are designed to cover up the neutral colored laptops and notebook computers. Some are designed as sleeves. Other types you conveniently stick across the back with an adhesive.

A decorative pink laptop cover can instantly turn a utilitarian machine into a visually fun and cheery--well, not accessory, exactly. It's still a seriously state-of-the-art educational tool.

But a hot pink or polka-dot pink laptop cover can definitely brighten the learning environment to help get children excited by learning.

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Copyright 2009 Chris Telden. All Rights Reserved. No portion of the text of this article, including the tables, may be copied in any media without explicit permission from the author or owner of the copyright.