mama2cntrykids Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I know some of the features that we're looking for, so let's start there: Surfing the internet, including youtube and watching movies Playing Apps Touch screen (they're all touch screen, though, right?) Crisp picture At least a 8" screen Maybe a built-in camera or video recorder (?) Under $300 (used/referb is fine) eReader (?) That's all that I can think of right now. What could I be missing that we haven't thought of? Ideas of what kind to start looking at given our needs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Amazon just came out with a bigger version of the Kindle Fire. The 16GB is $299. It has a front-facing camera for Skypeing, but nothing for recording video or taking pictures, as far as I can see. HTH, Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I absolutely love my Vizio tablet. It's only known issue is that the charger port sometimes stops working. Mine did and they just sent me a new one. I use aldiko and my Kindle app on it though I rarely read on it. Netflix looks great on it and it has really good speaker which is important to me, I hate headphones. It takes an external sd card up to 32 mg so I have tons of audiobooks and movies on it. Great games for it, front camera for skype, I researched it a long time and am very pleased with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 apps.apps.apps. That's what they are all about unless you are imagining using it mainly as an e-reader. If so, then get the Kindle. If you want to blow your mind with the apps available that are totally applicable to homeschool, then pony up the extra bucks and go iPad. We tried an Android tablet first, thinking we'd save money and trying to stay off the Apple bandwagon. It stunk. The apps available were not at all what Apple has, and we eventually got an iPad. Guess what? I am now one of those Apple Fan Girls, and can't imagine why it took me so long to climb aboard. Truth is, the cost freaked me out and I always countered the Apple Arguments with that one, that it doesn't need to cost so much for electronic equipment. The App Store makes that argument moot. With 250,000+ Apps for the iPad alone, you just can't beat it. Right now, 2 weeks post iPad purchase, I have no less than 120 or so really, really good apps on the iPad which are ALL for homeschooling. Outliners, organizers, read and response apps, Nat. Geo.s wonderful FREE atlas, speech tutors, grammar apps with over 1800 questions...you name it, Apple has it. Android doesn't. Oh, of course there are apps for Android, but not of the quality and not even close to the number available in the app store. So, if you are going to e-read mostly, totally don't waste the money and get that new Kindle...it looks awesome! But if you want to use it for the apps, then I'd suggest you take a look at the kinds of apps available Apple versus Android and then decide if you still want to go Android, the difference is really astounding. Having blown money the wrong way once, I am 110% happy with having stepped into AppleLand,and I NEVER thought I'd say that! Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 (edited) apps.apps.apps. That's what they are all about unless you are imagining using it mainly as an e-reader. If so, then get the Kindle. If you want to blow your mind with the apps available that are totally applicable to homeschool, then pony up the extra bucks and go iPad. We tried an Android tablet first, thinking we'd save money and trying to stay off the Apple bandwagon. It stunk. The apps available were not at all what Apple has, and we eventually got an iPad. Guess what? I am now one of those Apple Fan Girls, and can't imagine why it took me so long to climb aboard. Truth is, the cost freaked me out and I always countered the Apple Arguments with that one, that it doesn't need to cost so much for electronic equipment. The App Store makes that argument moot. With 250,000+ Apps for the iPad alone, you just can't beat it. Right now, 2 weeks post iPad purchase, I have no less than 120 or so really, really good apps on the iPad which are ALL for homeschooling. Outliners, organizers, read and response apps, Nat. Geo.s wonderful FREE atlas, speech tutors, grammar apps with over 1800 questions...you name it, Apple has it. Android doesn't. Oh, of course there are apps for Android, but not of the quality and not even close to the number available in the app store. So, if you are going to e-read mostly, totally don't waste the money and get that new Kindle...it looks awesome! But if you want to use it for the apps, then I'd suggest you take a look at the kinds of apps available Apple versus Android and then decide if you still want to go Android, the difference is really astounding. Having blown money the wrong way once, I am 110% happy with having stepped into AppleLand,and I NEVER thought I'd say that! Cindy :iagree::iagree::iagree: iPad has the apps, so many, so cheap -- or free. But if you mainly want internet, e-reader -- other tablets should be fine. BTW, I notice that you used the phrase 'playing apps.' I probably wouldn't invest in an iPad if the only apps I wanted were games. We have a ton of educational and productivity apps. For example, ds can dictate class notes, move the transcript into a note taking app, add pix, type & write on the same page, then print the whole thing wirelessly. In another app, he keeps a school assignment schedule that updates to other devices. Dd uses a stylus to do Math Mammoth worksheets on the iPad. I made vocabulary flash cards for her -- they can be flipped, rearranged, done with or without sound.... We have an app that lets you make a drawing and turn it into music; we have most of Rembrandt's works in hd, etc, etc. There is just so much to choose from if you have an iPad. (Some of the stuff I mentioned is also Android/Fire, but not all.) I haven't done this yet -- but with the addition of an external keyboard, an iPad can function almost like a computer. For example, some apps I like that are apple only: Algebra Touch --- http://www.algebratouch.com iStudiez -- http://istudentpro.com Notes Plus -- http://notesplusapp.com Notability -- http://www.gingerlabs.com Edited September 23, 2012 by Alessandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redheadmom Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I have an android and am happy. However, Apple does have more. So...refurb is your best option. You can get a refurb iPad is under $300. Refurb iPad 2 is just a little over $300. If you want to go Android, buy a refurb Motorola Xoom for less than $300. They don't make them any more; a newer model replaced it. But it is 10" and I bought mine refurb. So far the new updates have rolled out faster for this tablet than for my much newer phone. My tablet has Jelly Bean. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 What Cindy said. My kids won a kindle fire and it stinks compared to our iPad. I thought about jailbreaking it to be able to load non-Amazon Android apps, but even then the selection doesn't match the iPad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I also agree with the comment about "playing apps". Until you explore, you have no idea exactly how you can use an iPad, and just how darned interactive learning can actually be without it being for a game. We found an amazing interactive timeline, a Westward Expansion app designed by a teacher for our current studies. Punctuation apps, world history apps, mind mapping apps to help with brainstorming for writing. Pages, which is Apple's word processing app, needs almost not a minute of explanation to open and start using, it is that simple. All our kids opened it and used it within 5 minutes to create a one page report with formatting and photos, just to try it out. We use USA Today for current events, Brain Pop has an app with a free video every day, National Geographic has an AWESOME app called National Geographic Today with photos and world news, there are audio book apps with tons of free classics already loaded. There is Wordventure, which is a Mad Libs sort of things. And that is just us scratching the surface. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I also agree with the comment about "playing apps". Until you explore, you have no idea exactly how you can use an iPad, and just how darned interactive learning can actually be without it being for a game. We found an amazing interactive timeline, a Westward Expansion app designed by a teacher for our current studies. Punctuation apps, world history apps, mind mapping apps to help with brainstorming for writing. Pages, which is Apple's word processing app, needs almost not a minute of explanation to open and start using, it is that simple. All our kids opened it and used it within 5 minutes to create a one page report with formatting and photos, just to try it out. We use USA Today for current events, Brain Pop has an app with a free video every day, National Geographic has an AWESOME app called National Geographic Today with photos and world news, there are audio book apps with tons of free classics already loaded. There is Wordventure, which is a Mad Libs sort of things. And that is just us scratching the surface. Cindy Cindy, I added a few links of favorites to my original post. But your apps (bolded above) are making my mouth water -- can you jot down the names of those apps? Pretty please? Oh, I'll add another of my favorites -- AppShopper -- it tells you when apps go on sale or are free for a limited time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txmommyofboys Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 We have an iPad2, kindle fire, and htc flyer and I wish we just had 3 kindle fires. I LOVE it! Super durable too (iPad has broke 2 times already) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Cindy, I added a few links of favorites to my original post. But your apps (bolded above) are making my mouth water -- can you jot down the names of those apps? Pretty please? Oh, I'll add another of my favorites -- AppShopper -- it tells you when apps go on sale or are free for a limited time. Yes! Add links! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim.4dogs Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I also thought I would never spend so much money on an iPad, but now that I have one I *love* it! I bought a refurbished second generation ipad (right after the third generation came out) for about $350. I had thought they were always at least $500, so $350 seemed much more reasonable to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cara Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 apps.apps.apps. That's what they are all about unless you are imagining using it mainly as an e-reader. If so, then get the Kindle. If you want to blow your mind with the apps available that are totally applicable to homeschool, then pony up the extra bucks and go iPad. We tried an Android tablet first, thinking we'd save money and trying to stay off the Apple bandwagon. It stunk. The apps available were not at all what Apple has, and we eventually got an iPad. Guess what? I am now one of those Apple Fan Girls, and can't imagine why it took me so long to climb aboard. Truth is, the cost freaked me out and I always countered the Apple Arguments with that one, that it doesn't need to cost so much for electronic equipment. The App Store makes that argument moot. With 250,000+ Apps for the iPad alone, you just can't beat it. Right now, 2 weeks post iPad purchase, I have no less than 120 or so really, really good apps on the iPad which are ALL for homeschooling. Outliners, organizers, read and response apps, Nat. Geo.s wonderful FREE atlas, speech tutors, grammar apps with over 1800 questions...you name it, Apple has it. Android doesn't. Oh, of course there are apps for Android, but not of the quality and not even close to the number available in the app store. So, if you are going to e-read mostly, totally don't waste the money and get that new Kindle...it looks awesome! But if you want to use it for the apps, then I'd suggest you take a look at the kinds of apps available Apple versus Android and then decide if you still want to go Android, the difference is really astounding. Having blown money the wrong way once, I am 110% happy with having stepped into AppleLand,and I NEVER thought I'd say that! Cindy :iagree: I agree with everything Cindy said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Thanks for your input everyone. My dh and I are going to sit down and do some talking/looking. If you'd like to chime in, please do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooCow Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 my dh got me a nexxus7. I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 As maybe a side note, I want a tablet that will be able to load spreadsheets that are on my desktop. I use OpenOffice's spreadsheet for school planning -- can the iPad access Word/OpenOffice documents? I was looking at the iPad for the notability-type apps so I can write with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeLovePassion Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I have a refurb Acer a200 from Walmart for $200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 :iagree: I agree with everything Cindy said. :iagree: Me three! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAPeachie Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I made vocabulary flash cards for her -- they can be flipped, rearranged, done with or without sound.... Can you tell me which app does this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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