Kindle or Nano for ds's 11 birthday?

[rafiki]

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[jelbe5]

I really love my Kindle . . . got it in early December. But I would not want to use it as an mp3 player.

 

If you put the music in the "music" folder you cannot easily select the music you want to listen too . . . it just plays the music in the order you put it in. You can skip to the next song, but that is about it.

 

You CAN put the music in the "audible" folder and then it will list each song individually for easier selection. But it is still not as practical as an mp3 player in my opinion.

 

The Kindle is fantastic as an ebook reader . . . but that is the primary function of the device. It pales in comparison as an mp3 player. I also have an iPod Touch. I have no desire to put music, or even audiobooks, on my Kindle.

 

An older iPod Nano may be a good choice. It is bigger than the newer Nano and you cannot go online with it. I looked at the Apple site to see if they are selling any refurbished ones, but it seems they no longer do. You might be able to find a used one for sale. I have several older iPods which are loaded up with educational songs and audiobooks that we do not want to keep on our personal iPods. They still work fine and sync to the computer just fine. I would NOT get an iPod shuffle since you cannot easily move through the music as there is no "screen" so you can't "see" all your choices or select your choice.

 

Editing to add: I only have iPods, so that is what I am most familiar with. I know there are other mp3 players out there, but I am not familiar with them.

 

Hope this helps in your decision.

 

Adrianne in IL

Edited February 13, 2011 by jelbe5

[KarenNC]

I'd tend toward the nano. It's much easier to carry a paperback around than a stereo system ;) (am I showing my age? At least I didn't say turntable:D). My daughter, 10.5, has an older ipod nano that she loves to use to listen to music, audiobooks and watch videos. It's an 8gb, and has served her well for 2.5 years. You can get individual songs for 99 cents, I believe (my husband does all that with her). My daughter is much more likely to listen to music she enjoys over and over than to re-read a book over and over, so her purchase of that song gives her more for her money, in the long run. You can also frequently get good deals on refurbished ipods from the Apple store.

 

 

I have a Kindle, but I think the ipod would be more versatile. If he likes graphic novels (my daughter loves them!), the Kindle is not a good format for those. I use my Kindle as a supplement to reading from the library or the used bookstore, which is how my daughter would use it. The ipod is her primary means of listening to music.

 

Most of our reading material comes from the library or the used bookstore, not new purchases. The Kindle doesn't handle the ebooks from most libraries, AFAIK (we have a 1st gen Kindle that was given to us--I don't know if the new ones are different). If you decide to go with an ereader, you may want to consider whether one of the other brands handles a wider variety of formats.

 

I would also check the prices of the Kindle versions of the books he likes. The free or cheap ones tend to be the public domain titles (usually classics). The Kindle versions of more current titles tend to be very close in price to the paper editions. The Kindle version of Rick Riordan's "Lost Hero," for example, is only 50 cents cheaper than the hardcover edition. How much is he (or you) going to have to pay to get access to the books he wants to read, especially if he reads voraciously (as I did)? How likely is he to re-read a given title? Is it going to get prohibitively expensive or be not as good a value for his money? The Kindle recently allowed lending of ebooks, but only once. Ebooks also can't be sold or traded to fund purchases of new books.

[JudoMom]

Could you go with the Kindle and a Sansa (we got these for around $30 on Amazon)?

 

I've listened to SWB's audio lectures on my Kindle, but I wouldn't want to really use it for music or audiobooks. When I'm listening to those, I like to be able to move around freely, and the Kindle doesn't allow for that, since I have to carry it.

[kim.4dogs]

Although I *love* my kindle, I don't think it's the best choice for my dd11. My parents suggested getting her one for Christmas, and I didn't think it was a good idea because most of the books she reads she gets at the library. We don't want to have to pay for all of her books!

 

We got my dd11 an itouch for Christmas instead. It has the kindle app on it, so she has read a book or two on there. Definitely a lot of things to be distracted by, though, you are right! I have put some controls on it for now (like a kid-safe internet browser instead of safari).

[Slartibartfast]

We bought dd a nano.

[lmrich]

I would look into getting a used one of each and see what that costs. My dd might want to sell her old ipod. She bought a i pod touch with her babysitting money.