Gadgets and Children

I remember when I was a child we had every game system imaginable.  Nintendo: Check, Sega Master System: check. Super NES: check. Turbo-graphic 16: check.  Well you get the point we had a lot of the systems and we also had a computer when I was a child, I believe it was at first and Apple II E, or Apple II GS (its been a while).

As my daughters get older I have been thinking of what types of gadgets to introduce her to.  I know she uses the computer, but should she have her own (of course monitored and the likes).   I have a netbook that she cold probably use.  I remember when I was a child playing the old D&D games on the computer and learning how to copies entries in dos to make duplicate items in the game.  Even in games like Bards Tale if you edited the files you can make your characters better then just rolling the dice.   I want them to have the opportunities to try things like this to see the limits of what they can do and try to surpass these limits.

What about portable gaming systems.  They both have the Leapster II, and now there is the Leapster Explorer.  

Would anyone go for a Leapster Explorer for a five year old, or would a PSP or 3DS?  To many options.  I like the learning aspects of the Leapster, but I think the quality of the handhelds for Leapster are not that great.  The screens are small and the resolution is horrible.

At what age is a good age for cell phones?  Especially with what you can do with them these days.  Its just another entrance to the internet and would be harder to monitor, but I think that I have a few more years before I have to worry about cell phones for my daughters.

Altimeter

I have been searching for a while for a micro sized altimeter that I would be able to use on the compressed air rockets all the way to the real model rockets, and I believe that I may have found one that I like.  At 50$ its not to expensive, and I am not sure I could build one as small and nice as the one available.  My soldering skills are not something to write home about,

The AltimeterOne  from Apogee Rockets look like it fits the bill.  This model comes with an LCD screen so you can accurately tell how high the rocket went.  From other sites I see that most use a blinking light system which would work, but I like the simplicity of an LCD screen, and it looks like it did not make the device to much bigger either.  I hope to be ordering one of these when it comes out of back-order.  As of the other day it looks like the company was recalling the item due to a miscalculation at certain heights. 

I think that its outstanding customer service that is updating all the ones already sold, and working to get it fixed before sending out anymore.  Once I get one I will write up a little review of the altimeter.  If anyone has any experience with this model, or knows of another model that might be better please let me know.