what's better for the kids? tablets or laptops or a desktop....

[Tess in the Burbs]

so we keep going round and round about electronics and our kids.  

 

ds got a nano iPod for his 11th birthday.  dd wants a Itouch for her 11th birthday.  But I was thinking about getting them a Itouch for Christmas.  But for the price...I could get a low end iPhone 5 and more memory.  But we don't want them to have phones right now.  We will be changing the 'house' cell to my old iPhone in Feb.  ok, so guess we just get the touch and not think about Christmas lol. 

 

But then we start talking about iPad mini vs laptop vs other tablet vs desktop.  We do quite a few videos for school now.  Some are together, both do math alone but with a video.  Apparently many new computers don't have disk drives on them anymore(!) and we would end up on the tv to watch....and I don't like that idea.  So we price out tablets, laptops, and desktops of both windows and Mac and I just decide never mind, nobody gets anything. 

 

So help me out.  What is the best option for us?  Kids at Christmas will be 11 and 13.  The 13y/o has a nano iPod. I think the 11 year old will have a touch.  We have in the house an iPad, kindle, and old android phone(for the games) that they can freely play with.  We have an OLD mac they can play games and watch school videos on.  

 

Should we aim for a laptop?  or another desktop(to share?)

 

We hate to buy the Itouch if we are going to turn around and get iPad mini or laptop for her.  But I am not able or willing to just go all out today.  What's the best option for these kids?  dd is 6th grade and ds is 7th grade.  And like I said, we start small and end up discussing 3k+ in electronics every conversation...just a little more, just a little more....help me????!!!!!

[Angie in VA]

One word for you: refurbs!

 

We have gotten 2 refurbished products from Apple. Check their site, as you can really save some bucks, and they come w/ the full year warranty, and perhaps you can purchase Apple Care after that first year? I know you can for new products.

 

I have an ipad 2.0. My 2 dc and I are fighting over it, not in an ugly, selfish way, but dd needs to use 2 apps on it to practice violin hours each day; ds uses it for Spanish and for a few other things for school, and  I use it a ton (Kindle app, iTunes books, email, surf the net, etc). Both dc have their own classic iPods (as do I) b/c they have hours and hours of music and audiobooks on them. When dd started college last year, we got her an Apple laptop. 

 

All this is to say, our needs have changed as recently as this summer and we use them ALL. We just got dd a refurbished ipod touch and even DH said it will get her through for her violin needs at college, but we may get her mini iPad down the line. DD will keep the music and audiobooks on her classic. She'll check email and use the apps for the tuner and metronome for violin, as well as play w/ the other features of the ipod touch. And she'll write papers on her laptop. It sounds like we're rich and everyone has his own set of Apple goodies, but, believe me, it's been a slow accumulation as our needs have changed and as good deals or necessities have presented themselves. 

 

Did I even start talking about Apple TV yet? LOVE IT! We ditched the dish (and have no cable or antenna) 9 months ago. I do miss SportsCenter and The Pioneer Woman, and occasionally the ability to watch local news, but other than that, Apple TV takes care of us.

 

Costco just started carrying Apple products again. Mine has ipad airs, iPad minis and Apple TV. 

 

We love our Apple products, new and refurbished!

[Cindy in FL.]

Angie, what do you watch on your Apple TV? Trying to figure it out.

[Lanny]

I love big towers. We've had big towers, starting with the first PC I purchased, in March 1992. Since I am the person who does the repairs, when needed, they are much easier to work inside of.  If something dies, you do not need to replace everything. For example, if you purchase a Desktop/Tower PC and a Monitor, if the monitor dies, you can buy another monitor. Especially for younger users, I believe the ability to replace a Keyboard, if necessary, or a mouse, in a Desktop PC, is an advantage.  Laptop keyboards are very small and are harder to use.

 

We are overseas and we have recently purchased our first laptops (Used, Refurbished, Dell Latitude E6400 models (those were sold to "Enterprise" corporations so they have better components and are easier to work on than a model sold to "Consumers"), because we needed U.S. English. They have Legal versions of M$ Windows 7 and a one year warranty (except on the batteries) in the USA. We have 2 of them and hope to buy 1 or 2 more. The service manual is available online (I downloaded it and it is on my hard drive) and it is my belief they are easier to work on than most Consumer laptops would be, and parts are readily available (on eBay, etc.).  We paid $179 for the first one and $191 for the second one, plus shipping, from BlairTG on Amazon.

 

If you buy a Desktop or Tower, there is  probably room for "expansion", especially in a Tower. That means having slots available to install more cards, and possibly the space where another hard drive can be installed.

 

For DD, in the future, we will try to keep her equipped with a Tower  with the Operating System in U.S. English and a nice Monitor, and a keyboard in U.S. English. Should that not be possible, financially, we will need to have her use a Laptop.  

 

The huge advantage to laptops is their portability. I can take my laptop with me, when we travel, and work on our web sites each morning, as I do at home. With a Desktop/Tower, that's impossible.

 

ETA: BlairTG also sells Desktops and Towers and complete systems (with a monitor, keyboard and mouse). The systems they are shipping have M$ Windows 7. Our first one has Windows 7 Home and the second one has Windows 7 Professional. I read that Microsoft will support Windows 7 Professional longer, so that alone is reason enough to spend a few extra dollars to get Professional and not the Home edition, IMHO. BlairTG is a "Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher"

[Pippen]

When my 16 yo daughter's ipod touch died we priced them out and at the time the ipad mini was only $30 more at Sam's Club. She's hasn't once regretted the decision and really has no desire for a ipod touch now that she has this. She can do so much more on this and uses it for school, music, and social needs--pretty much everything except for typing.

 

She did get a good Otterbox case for it for Christmas.

 

If I went that route I would still want one laptop or desktop for family use.

 

 

[ocelotmom]

I feel that laptop or desktop is preferable if you're planning to do anything serious with it (unless you can find a decent external keyboard for the tablet, making it essentially a 2-piece laptop). On-screen keyboards tend not to be ideal for serious typing. Desktop is going to give you the most power and drive space for your money, and will be less fragile. Laptop is portable, which could be good or bad depending on your needs and circumstances - the ability to take it to work in a bedroom might be good for someone who wants more quiet to be able to concentrate, or bad for someone who is easily distracted and needs accountability.

 

You could probably get both a desktop and cheap netbook or tablet for similar cost to a laptop with the same specs as the desktop.

[Angie in VA]

Angie, what do you watch on your Apple TV? Trying to figure it out.

 

We stream Netflix, watch ESPN and MLB highlights. No commercials. Love that.

 

We have Amazon Prime that I watch using my iPad through Apple TV using AirPlay. We used AirPlay to watch the Super Bowl b/c a free app allowed us to last year. Not sure that will be offered again, but it made my men happy to watch the game.

 

I will also put on a podcast and listen to that through the tv. I could probably play my iTunes music through it too, just haven't yet. There's a YouTube channel too. PBS, History Channel (I think) highlights, mini/docs, etc. I get confused b/c b/t Netflix, Amazon Prime and the channels on Apple TV, we have more than our fill of things to watch.

 

Instead of cable/dish/antenna, that's what we watch. It's a streaming device, like a Roku or that Chrome thing (I think, never had either).

 

ETA: When our dc got their iPod classics, we paid for half. They paid the other half. 

 

 

[msrift]

We have a desktop for our oldest and laptops for the youngers. We also have a couple of ipods and kindles floating around, though they are kind of community property. Our reasoning on the desktop for the oldest was that he is getting into serious gaming and programming and we just don't have the kind of money to purchase a laptop with those capabilities. Since laptops have a relatively short lifespan, we'll most likely replace them with desktops as those kids' needs change. Right now cheapie laptops suit them just fine.