I went back to that PCMag article to see some other the other comments. Of course, the consensus is that $900 is too much to spend for a kid's computer. Here's another comment from there that I liked. This actually describes a PC that someone could build for under $400.
$900 for a slow computer for the kids?!? $230 for a motherboard - are you nuts?
How about an Athlon II X3 435 for $75 with a $65 785G motherboard? 4GB of DDR3-1333 Ram would be $95. A basic case with 80% efficient power supply for $65. A 500GB hard drive for $50. The Lite-on drive you suggest at $39. If you don't have an old keybaord/mouse that's another $25. I'd use an old copy of XP or Vista, but if you need to buy an OS, Windows 7 OEM Home Premium can be found for under $100.
So, I'm at $350 for the computer plus $100 if you need an operating system. This is about half of what you came up with for a much faster computer with twice the storage space. When an upgrade is needed, I'd go with a graphic card and/or a faster quad core Athlon or Phenom.
