Netbooks Carnival

In late August 2009, the highly anticipated Disney Netpals are expected to ship.  Parents of computer-curious children ought to get one before collectors of Disney memorabilia buy out the entire supply. 

The Disney Netpal is a fantastic gadget to have.  The look-and-feel simply captures the magic of Disney and packages it in a neat little netbook.  The Disney Netpal is available in two colors: Princess Pink and Magic Blue, both very Disney in their decor.  But then again, what can you expect from a perennial pop culture icon.

Disney Princess Wallpapers and friends

The software package comes fully loaded with custom Disney-themed application and programs.  Children can tailor their desktop theme using wallpapers and icons made exclusively for the Disney Netpal such as Disney Princess wallpapers.  The theme selection includes more recent favorites such as Cars, Toy Story, and WALL-E.  Classic Disney is, of course, available with vintage Mickey Mouse and other classic characters.  Club Penguin and Disney Fairies are also part of the selection along with Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers.

Disney Mix and Disney Pix

Fun learning is at the core of the Disney Netpal.  Hence, two applications for music and images are included in the software package, the Disney Mix and the Disney Pix.

The Disney Pix application has a bobblehead program which lets kids insert images of their faces on top of bodies and create their own scenes.  They can download these images to videos or postcards.  The Disney Mix allows kids to create their own musical play list and synch it with their own music players.  Along with other Disney-themed software, kids can spend hours and hours exploring their imagination.

It's a Disney laptop, not a toy

Despite all the fun things that kids can do, the Disney Netpal is not a toy.  It's a fully operational netbook built for use by young and curiously-minded 6-12 year old children.  While the trend for netbooks in late 2009 today is 10"+ screens, the 8.9 inch screen that made a splash in the netbook scene in 2008 is perfect for children.  The Disney Netpal's technical specs are also on par with current netbook offerings.  Specifically it has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB DDR-2 RAM (expandable to 2GB), 160 GB hard disk space, wireless capability, and Win XP.  With these specs, the Disney Netpal can also be a netbook for use by the young-at-heart because you'll be able to do what other netbook users can do.

Parental Control

But what's important for parents is safe web browsing and content access by their children.  In this regard, the Disney Netpal has plenty of tools and control that parents can use.  For example, email can be setup so that the address from which the child can receive and send is pre-selected.  This should prevent communication from unwanted strangers.  Parents can also set up which websites the child may browse, thus, keeping them away from accidentally surfing mature only sites.  Also, the time for use of the Disney Netpal can be scheduled, such as weekend only, 4PM-6PM only, etc.

When it comes to the Netpal, Asus and Disney really did their homework so that both parents and children are happy and safe.  It also retails just for $350, making the Disney Netpal by Asus a worthwhile and affordable gift for kids.