Which tablet(s) to purchase?

[lineinthesand9]

Hello all!  DH and I are talking over the idea of purchasing (a/some) tablet(s) for next school year.  We have 5 kiddos who are "actively schooling," (youngest is 1st grade-ish, and oldest is 9th grade).  We would like to incorporate more e-book reading.  I am also looking at using some vintage textbooks which can be downloaded and read on the tablet (...and then our kiddos can do the work on paper or whiteboards), such as Serl's Intermediate Language Lessons and Van Wagenen's Dictation Day By Day.  Soooo, you tablet-aficionados, which tablet to purchase?  ...For the lowest cost possible, of course!  ;)

 

ETA:  Also, are there some tablets that can handle video better than others?

ETA2:  Also, we are not at all opposed to refurbished...any helpful links to see these??? 

 

Thanks in advance!

--Julie

[Hunter]

They all have their pros and cons. If you are going to buy more than one, buy different types.

 

Kindle Fire has immersion reading.

 

Kindle Paperwhite has vocabulary flashcards and is the most comfortable reader.

 

iPad has more apps.

[happypamama]

We have an iPad which we love. More apps, and the better PDF reader is only available for the iPad.

 

We also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab; we have the smaller one, and for a lot of writing, the larger one would probably be better. But the small one is good for a lot of stuff too, and the kids use it a lot. LectureNotes is not quite as easy to use as Notability is for the iPad, but it does the job. I would highly recommend either the iPad or the Galaxy.

[hjffkj]

I love my nexus 10

[SierraNevada]

I hate my Nexus. Have had two break on me also. But beyond that there are few good apps for it. Doing it a second time, I'd get an iPad or iPod.

[In2why]

I have a Kindle fire and my son (4th) has benefited from immersion reading.  We didn't use it until recently because I assumed it was only another audio book.  But instead it highlights each word as it is read and syncs itself.  He is much more likely to follow along.  I also appreciate that you can also read a chapter without the audio or the opposite listen while doing something else and when I want it to synch again, it does.  

[My3girls]

We have 4 kindle fires and love them. I have an iPad, and only use it when we are away from the house for the cellular data. If I had to do it over, I would not have gottent be iPad, but don't tell my husband!

[Lanny]

I would like to give you an alternative to consider. We bought an inexpensive Android Tablet at the end of November. It was wonderful, but now it needs repair, under warranty. One minute before I read the first post in this thread, I told my wife, "tomorrow morning, we should confirm the address where we need to send it and send it in to be repaired".  Here is my alternative idea for you: 4 weeks ago, on Amazon, we bought a Refurbished Dell Latitude E6400 Laptop, with a *legal* version of M$ Windows 7,  from Blair Technology Group (BlairTG on Amazon) for  $179 + $8.49 shipping in the USA. It has a one year warranty (in the USA ) and it is beautiful. I believe you will get a lot more "bang for your buck", buying Refurbished Laptops like that, than  Tablets.  GL with whatever you decide to buy!

[Um_2_4]

I have bought 3 refurbished tablets off ebay with no problems so far. (PM me if you want the name of the seller I used) DH JUST got the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1" and it is my next tablet. Right now I have a nook. Only thing about the nook is no camera, but otherwise it is great hardware and I got them for around $70-80 @(nook HD with 8gb).

I will move to samsung for any future tablets...full google play, plus lots of features. The cheap android tablets on ebay and amazon and walmart are NOT worth the headache. (lots go by the name A13 or iRulu.)

Get as many GB memory as you can and the best processor you can if  you want to do video (quad core would be preferred over a dual core these days).

If you want a Fire, I have seen the 8gb for around $70 refurbished on ebay.

[Allearia]

We all have iPads. They have generally been great but so easy for the kids to sneak on games. I had it on the kindle app so that they needed a password to get out of it, and let them read at night. But both of them figured out how to get out, and youngest admitted he had been playing for weeks whenever he said he was going to read. Of course I have now taken them away and recently allowed strictly supervised access. I still love the iPads but some thing like the kindle fire with more parental controls might be better.

[kiwik]

We can't get the kinds of prices you can. We have a fairly good kindle e-reader (we do WWE off it and some other stuff as well as reading) and cheapish (not quite the cheapest) android tablet bought at a very good discount. I was unsure about buying it but it is doing what I want. Better audio would be good though.

 

What I am trying to say is work out exactly what you want to do and maybe get different tablets for different tasks. E-ink is much nicer to read than backlit but things with an illustrated component are nicer in colour. The apps are supposed to be better on ipads.

[Erin]

DS has a Nook

DD has a Fire

DH has a Galaxy

 

(I have nothing :( ... But I'm next in line and plan on an iPad mini!)

 

 

The Galaxy is definitely the "best" of the three.  Trap uses it for everything from his work computer when he's out on oil pads or catching up on paperwork, to his TV for streaming Netflix/Amazon, to his "surfing the web" computer, chatting with friends etc.  It's basically a small netbook type of computer.

 

The Kindle is my second favorite for the simple fact that as an eReader it just can't be beat.  Having a kid with reading issues (DS, actually, not its actual owner), the immersion reader, as well as just the "read to me" feature are SOOOO handy.

 

The Nook?  Eh.  As an eReader, it's second-best, so Buck put a root card in it for what is basically an Android tab.  He likes it OK, but it's not as stable, of course, as his dad's...

[lifesadream83]

I have a nook tablet hd+ $179 I believe and I am extremely happy with it....I don't use many but it coordinates with google apps so it think it is perfect...and no camera ....I think you can also set up multiple uses and safety controls but I haven't done that either. I use it for surfing the web, discovery streaming & techbook, fb and such.

[IsabelC]

Pendopad does everything an iPad does at a fraction of the cost. Apparently (so say my son and my partner, who know about Technical Stuff that is beyond my understanding).

[PeterPan]

If you're *only* wanting to read, the brand will matter less.  It's when you want apps that the differences are more apparent.  If you're only going to buy *1* tablet and it's going to be *yours* that you hand to someone to use for a bit and then you take back to use for e versions of tms, etc., then try them all at Best Buy and buy the one *you* like.  

 

Catch is, once you have this in the house you might find a billion more uses for it, hehe.  My ds has all his audio stuff on the iPad and takes it to bed.  We have pass codes on everything now, but he has favorite apps he gets to play at times.  We ended up getting a 2nd tablet so dd would have one to use for her school work, Bible study, etc.  There are terrific e-bible versions, and she uses a variety of apps like Inspiration for mapping (instead of outlining) her compositions, the word processor, list making, etc. etc.  It's basically the device that's always there.  She composes on it late at night, sketches, listens to music while she works, etc.  You can load videos onto it.  Your rising high schooler might like it for watch TC courses without hogging the tv.  

 

So you're buying one, but I would think you're going to need more with a family of that size as you realize all the uses.  If you have a bottleneck at your computer with people waiting to do their work, you can free that up with tablets.

 

PS.  If I were buying refurb today, I'd buy refurb iPad 4.  There was a big jump in wifi speed from iPad 3 to 4.  My iPhone 4 is MUCH faster than my ipad3.  

 

PPS.  This will sound lazy, but one of the nice things about having all the tablets the same (all iPad, whatever) is all the apps you own are shared.

[blondeviolin]

We have two Kindle Fires, an iPad mini, and two iPad 2s. If I were buying a tablet for my kids (which we don't do), I'd buy a Kindle Fire. Most of the apps my kids love are on the Fire, they can read, hear stories, do the immersive reading, etc. For me, though, I would buy an iPad for sure. At my house, Kindle Fires are e-readers with the bonus of occasionally watching a show or playing a game. Whereas, the iPad is a full tablet with full benefit of apps, web surfing, videos, etc.

[linguistmama]

We have a full size ipad and 2 ipad minis that we love. I love that they can all share the same apps and icloud. My kids haven't figured out how to get around the guided access yet so I can lock them in a librivox app to listen to audiobooks to fall asleep. Or to read in the car. If you can afford it I highly recommend Apple. All of our ipads were gifts :)

[Nemom]

We have a full size iPad and an iPad mini.  I love that the devices are synced together so that everything shows up on either one no matter which I purchase it on.  But beyond that-I'm over the whole "gotta have an apple product" thing. 

 

We do not have a Mac computer so I have no way of printing off the iPads.  I have to email myself a link to whatever I want and then go to my laptop and print.  After purchasing a separate keyboard case for the iPad, I feel like I'm carrying around a very heavy mini laptop that does not have the functionality of a laptop.  I miss Word & Excel.  I don't have the time right now to learn how to use all the fancy apps that are available even though I have a lot of them downloaded already (Evernote, Documents, etc...). 

 

Once you buy an Apple product-you are stuck buying everything Apple.  Even my 14yr old who has had an iPod for the last several years is ready to move on to Samsung products.  Problem is-we cannot transfer all that music or the apps that we have purchased.  It feels like a trap.    :001_unsure:

[PeterPan]

We have a full size ipad and 2 ipad minis that we love. I love that they can all share the same apps and icloud. My kids haven't figured out how to get around the guided access yet so I can lock them in a librivox app to listen to audiobooks to fall asleep. Or to read in the car. If you can afford it I highly recommend Apple. All of our ipads were gifts :)

With the passcode, I open the iPad, turn on the audiobook (or Audible app), shut the lid, and he can't get back in to play apps.  That's how he goes to sleep every night.  They can still adjust the volume, and if it's in iTunes they should be able to hit pause if they want when they open the lid.  They just won't be able to get in to the apps.

[PeterPan]

We have a full size iPad and an iPad mini.  I love that the devices are synced together so that everything shows up on either one no matter which I purchase it on.  But beyond that-I'm over the whole "gotta have an apple product" thing. 

 

We do not have a Mac computer so I have no way of printing off the iPads.  I have to email myself a link to whatever I want and then go to my laptop and print.  After purchasing a separate keyboard case for the iPad, I feel like I'm carrying around a very heavy mini laptop that does not have the functionality of a laptop.  I miss Word & Excel.  I don't have the time right now to learn how to use all the fancy apps that are available even though I have a lot of them downloaded already (Evernote, Documents, etc...). 

 

Once you buy an Apple product-you are stuck buying everything Apple.  Even my 14yr old who has had an iPod for the last several years is ready to move on to Samsung products.  Problem is-we cannot transfer all that music or the apps that we have purchased.  It feels like a trap.    :001_unsure:

Most new printers are wireless, and you can print directly from the iPad.  Also, Microsoft is releasing the whole Office suite for the iPad.  One Note is out, and I think the rest is coming out very, very soon or already is.  You can go over to Macrumors and see.  I'm not sure if there's a price or if the apps are free and then when you sync to your pc you use the paid cloud account thing.  Dunno about that.  Just know I read they're coming.

[ajfries]

I hate my Nexus. Have had two break on me also. But beyond that there are few good apps for it. Doing it a second time, I'd get an iPad or iPod.

 

I was under the impression that the Nexus had the most apps, second to the iPad, maybe. Just thought I'd ask since that's kind of what I've been hoping to get eventually.

[nmoira]

I was under the impression that the Nexus had the most apps, second to the iPad, maybe. Just thought I'd ask since that's kind of what I've been hoping to get eventually.

 

My kids each have a Nexus 7 (2012) and we don't have an issue with the number of apps.

[Nemom]

Most new printers are wireless, and you can print directly from the iPad. Also, Microsoft is releasing the whole Office suite for the iPad. One Note is out, and I think the rest is coming out very, very soon or already is. You can go over to Macrumors and see. I'm not sure if there's a price or if the apps are free and then when you sync to your pc you use the paid cloud account thing. Dunno about that. Just know I read they're coming.

I have two wireless printers-one I've had for less than a month. I believe (and I may be wrong) that the printers must have AirPrint capabilities. Without AirPrint, the iPad connects to your Mac to print on wireless printers.

 

Both of our printers and iPads are all connected to the same wireless network and we are unable to print directly from the iPads.

 

If anyone knows a way to make it work-I'm all ears!!

 

Office for iPad---exciting & about time! :)

[Kuovonne]

Both of our printers and iPads are all connected to the same wireless network and we are unable to print directly from the iPads.

 

If anyone knows a way to make it work-I'm all ears!!

Our Brother printer is not AirPrint compatible either.

I downloaded an app for it, and can now print to it from my iPad.

[SierraNevada]

I was under the impression that the Nexus had the most apps, second to the iPad, maybe. Just thought I'd ask since that's kind of what I've been hoping to get eventually.

It's not the number if apps--it's the quality compared to apple apps. Everything that I love from my iPod is not available on my nexus. There are lots of games for the Nexus-- but as for now, they're just arnt anywhere the number of good educational apps. I'd happily give it up. In fact it is out of batteries now and it is hidden away not getting recharged because DS will only play video type games on it, where he gravitates to educational games on the iPod, even though it is tiny, old, and runs out of batteries fast.

[Delighted3]

We love our Samsung Galaxy tablets here.  We have 3-7in tablets that we are very happy with.  My daughter uses hers for all kinds of school related things.  She even got a keyboard for hers and writes papers,etc.  My sil has the 10in galaxy and is very happy with it too.

We love Samsung products here.

Joy

[Gratia271]

We have had a great experience with our Samsung Galaxy 10 inch tablets.  No problems whatsoever.

[happypamama]

Our Brother printer is not AirPrint compatible either.

I downloaded an app for it, and can now print to it from my iPad.

What app did you get? I have one, and it will print from the iPad, but the quality isn't great.

 

Re: another poster saying it matters what you want to do with the tablet. Yes, it does. For reading only, I prefer the e-ink, so we have a basic Kindle for that. DD reads much more now that she has the Kindle, and I like that she's not staring at a regular computer screen all the time. However, there is one drawback with it: diagrams get messed up. I bought WWS1 in PDF form, and it works fine on the Kindle for most things, but occasionally, DD needs to look at it on my iPad because of the picture or diagram. Not really a big deal, though. I really love that we can have a book on multiple sources, and it's very seamless to download books through amazon (going through our libraries first) to whichever device we want.

 

I use my iPad for 95% of everything -- shopping online, networking/email, schoolwork planning, grocery lists, controlling my DVD player when someone's made off with the remote, games, skype (in theory -- haven't tried it yet), Google Earth for geography, reading, looking up library books, spreadsheets, language apps, Netflix/Hulu/youtube/Amazon videos, filling out forms, word processing, you name it. Seriously, no piece of technology has ever been more *me* than the iPad has been thus far. A keyboard/stand/case has taken it from "cool toy" to "super useful integral part of my life." I can imagine that an Android tablet would be very similar, and in some ways, even more useful, because the iPad's biggest drawback is that it doesn't multitask very well.

 

What I don't use the iPad for: photos, most of the time. Takes up too much space, although I *can* download the camera temporarily until I can get to my desktop. Printing, as already noted, but I *can* do it in a pinch. I also don't have a lot of music or movies stored on the iPad, again for space reasons -- but it's awfully nice in a pinch to pull up a movie for the kids! And it won't run the version of Quicken I like for managing the budget. Otherwise, it suits me super well. :)

[Kuovonne]

What app did you get? I have one, and it will print from the iPad, but the quality isn't great.

 

I have the app iPrint&Scan.

Some apps print with better quality than others. I don't know why.

 

On the other hand, having the iPad and each of my kids having her own iPad

has reduced the amount of printing that I do.

[lineinthesand9]

They all have their pros and cons. If you are going to buy more than one, buy different types.

 

Kindle Fire has immersion reading.

 

Kindle Paperwhite has vocabulary flashcards and is the most comfortable reader.

 

iPad has more apps.

This is in the category of "There Are No Dumb Questions" -- What is immersion reading???

[lineinthesand9]

DS has a Nook

DD has a Fire

DH has a Galaxy

 

(I have nothing :( ... But I'm next in line and plan on an iPad mini!)

 

 

The Galaxy is definitely the "best" of the three.  Trap uses it for everything from his work computer when he's out on oil pads or catching up on paperwork, to his TV for streaming Netflix/Amazon, to his "surfing the web" computer, chatting with friends etc.  It's basically a small netbook type of computer.

 

The Kindle is my second favorite for the simple fact that as an eReader it just can't be beat.  Having a kid with reading issues (DS, actually, not its actual owner), the immersion reader, as well as just the "read to me" feature are SOOOO handy.

 

The Nook?  Eh.  As an eReader, it's second-best, so Buck put a root card in it for what is basically an Android tab.  He likes it OK, but it's not as stable, of course, as his dad's...

Immersion reader?...I'm clueless!

[Erin]

It's where the audio can be played simultaneously as the eBook.  It's pretty slick.   
Most Kindle ebooks also have a "read to me" option where the system will read it to you.  It's a computer voice, but it's not too bad, most of the time.  I wish this were an option in the Kindle app, too, but it's proprietary to Kindle devices.

[Nemom]

Our Brother printer is not AirPrint compatible either.

I downloaded an app for it, and can now print to it from my iPad.

 

:hurray:  Which app???

 

Never mind-I see where you posted it.

[Erin]

Re printing from iPads:  If you have a Mac computer also, you can "share" any printer you want, through your computer. 

System Prefs>Sharing>Printer Sharing

 

 

[Korrale]

Pendopad does everything an iPad does at a fraction of the cost. Apparently (so say my son and my partner, who know about Technical Stuff that is beyond my understanding).

Can this be true? What sets an iPad apart is the apps that are available.

[Korrale]

We have a full size iPad and an iPad mini. I love that the devices are synced together so that everything shows up on either one no matter which I purchase it on. But beyond that-I'm over the whole "gotta have an apple product" thing.

 

We do not have a Mac computer so I have no way of printing off the iPads. I have to email myself a link to whatever I want and then go to my laptop and print. After purchasing a separate keyboard case for the iPad, I feel like I'm carrying around a very heavy mini laptop that does not have the functionality of a laptop. I miss Word & Excel. I don't have the time right now to learn how to use all the fancy apps that are available even though I have a lot of them downloaded already (Evernote, Documents, etc...).

 

Once you buy an Apple product-you are stuck buying everything Apple. Even my 14yr old who has had an iPod for the last several years is ready to move on to Samsung products. Problem is-we cannot transfer all that music or the apps that we have purchased. It feels like a trap. :001_unsure:

I print off my iPad all the time! I have a cheap $50 wifi printer with an app that allows me to do this.

There is a word app for iPad, but it is super expensive. I don't even use word on my PC due to cost. On my iPad I use Pages. I got it free. It is a very good word processing app.

 

iPad is the only thing I own that is apple. We use a PC, because I prefer them. My phone is an android. But I am switching as soon as I can afford to. And the MP3 player we have is generic and about 6 years old! I can transfer everything between them all. I use Dropbox mostly to do it. Or I just plug the iPad into my computer and then plug the phone or mp3 into the computer.

[Korrale]

With the passcode, I open the iPad, turn on the audiobook (or Audible app), shut the lid, and he can't get back in to play apps. That's how he goes to sleep every night. They can still adjust the volume, and if it's in iTunes they should be able to hit pause if they want when they open the lid. They just won't be able to get in to the apps.

 

This is how my son goes to sleep every night. Except we use the overdrive app to get free library audio books. :)

[Korrale]

Personally... I only ever recommend iPads for tablets. Simply on the basis of apps alone. I have friends bring me their kindle fires, and android tablets and ask me to find good quality educational android apps. And frankly I am still struggling to find some cream of the crop ones to recommend. The ones that I would recommend like Dragobox and Splash Math are available on androids, kindles and iPad. So iPad still gets my points from me.

I have an android phone, and it is a spiffy little phone. But I can't wait until I can give it up because I am only going with iPhone from now on out.

[SemiSweet]

We have a Samsung Galaxy tab 2, a first generation kindle fire, an iPad Air, ordinary kindle readers and a kindle paper whites for reading, paper white, hands down, I love that thing. My iPad is new and my very first apple product (diehard android user previously), seriously I would sell my kids before getting rid of my iPad ;) , I love this thing. I also now have an iPhone because I was so happy with it. Dh says I'm a traitor.

[Hunter]

Immersion reading is professionally read audiobooks, not a computerized voice. The text is highlighted as the book is read.

 

 

[Erin]

Yes, immersion reader coordinates with audibles.

Its the "read to me" feature in most Kindle books thats computer generated.

Two different things. :)

[MyLittleBears]

Immersion reading is professionally read audiobooks, not a computerized voice. The text is highlighted as the book is read.

 

 

 

 

Is kindle the only one that does this?  I just got my iPad Air this week and I was previously torn between the two.  I wanted to have the Barton tiles, but immersion reading would be a great thing for my dyslexic.. ugg...