Help a non-techie navigate tablet specs please!

[tomandlorih]

So my dd9 wants a tablet (or IPad, IPod laptop) for Christmas and I have NO idea what to look for! Heck, I still have a pay-as-you-go cell phone! I'm hoping to get something that she can do educational stuff on.. I even read about doing workbook pages with a stylus? Anyway, what do I look for?

 

Are Kindles and Nooks tablets or just e-readers??

How many GB?

How much memory?

Does it really need Google Play?

Does it have to say it has Wi-Fi in order to be able to get on the internet at Starbucks or wherever?

 

Anything else I really, really should know?

 

I saw this one mentioned on another thread.. http://www.walmart.com/ip/HKC-7-Capacitive-Touchscreen-Tablet-Featuring-Google-Mobile-Services-and-Android-4.0-with-8GB-Memory-Assorted-Colors/20976849#Item+Description

 

but what is the difference between that one and this one. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coby-MID8042-4-with-WiFi-8-Touchscreen-Tablet-PC-Featuring-Android-4.0-Ice-Cream-Sandwich-Operating-System-Black/20575027

 

Thanks! And my dd thanks you too=D

 

Lori

[Pippen]

Kindle and Nook both come as tablet or e-readers. You can read ebooks on the tablets but it's not as easy on your eyes. I actually have been reading on my kindle fire and it hasn't been as bad for me as some people describe.

 

If she's wanting to do a lot of educational stuff, an ipad is the way to go. I've been a total non-techy type pay-as-you-go-cell-phone type myself. Last spring I bought a Kindle Fire when they went on sale. It wasn't too hard for me to learn since I was already familiar with amazon, but I quickly found myself wanting an ipad as there is far more available in terms of apps.

 

I'm really wanting to ditch my cell phone for a smart phone now too!

 

What else you need to know is a good cover is essential, especially with kids, from the minute it comes out of the box. We didn't know that when my son got his first Zune and it broke inside his pocket three weeks after he bought it. It was heartbreaking as it was an entire summer of mowing lawns down the drain.

[tomandlorih]

Kindle and Nook both come as tablet or e-readers. You can read ebooks on the tablets but it's not as easy on your eyes. I actually have been reading on my kindle fire and it hasn't been as bad for me as some people describe.

 

If she's wanting to do a lot of educational stuff, an ipad is the way to go. I've been a total non-techy type pay-as-you-go-cell-phone type myself. Last spring I bought a Kindle Fire when they went on sale. It wasn't too hard for me to learn since I was already familiar with amazon, but I quickly found myself wanting an ipad as there is far more available in terms of apps.

 

I'm really wanting to ditch my cell phone for a smart phone now too!

 

What else you need to know is a good cover is essential, especially with kids, from the minute it comes out of the box. We didn't know that when my son got his first Zune and it broke inside his pocket three weeks after he bought it. It was heartbreaking as it was an entire summer of mowing lawns down the drain.

 

Thanks! We'll certainly be buying a cover then.. Yikes!

[Pippen]

I was at a technology conference and saw someone drop an ipad from head level onto the concrete floor without damaging it.

http://www.amazon.com/M-Edge-Supershell-Cover-iPad-Blue/dp/B008S4RX32/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1353586649&sr=8-3&keywords=m+edge+ipad+case

 

Also, do you already have a wireless internet connection at home?

[tomandlorih]

I was at a technology conference and saw someone drop an ipad from head level onto the concrete floor without damaging it.

http://www.amazon.co... edge ipad case

 

Also, do you already have a wireless internet connection at home?

 

 

WOW.. No, we don't already have a wireless connection.. that is something we really need to look into too.. Is that necessary for downloading apps and things? or is there a cord you can use? Oh goodness.. there is just so many things I don't know about! I feel totally clueless!

 

Do you recommend the IPad?? I was leaning away from it.

[GWOB]

I, at the ripe old age of 32, happily admit that I am a tech idiot. I still think all tech stuff is basically voodoo magic.

 

That being said, I cannot recommend the iPad more vehemently. My kids love all the educational apps available. The iPad is just so darn easy to figure out. I had an Android phone and I could never find as many cool kid apps as I can in the Apple store. I have briefly considered purchasing an iPad mini so my kids will not beg for the iPad while I am reading on my Kindle app.

 

Wireless? My dh set up some wireless router thing in our house (voodoo magic). Our iPad just has wifi and we are completely satisfied. So, I would recommend the iPad.

[Alessandra]

Edited -- I did a long post on the glories of the iPad, before realizing that your dd was only 8 and your budget was in the $100 range....

I hope you get some answers from someone who is familiar with the products you are considering.

[tntgoodwin]

http://www.mnn.com/money/personal-finance/stories/should-you-buy-a-kid-friendly-tablet

[nmoira]

It's a bit more money than you're looking at, but I'd get a 16 GB Nexus 7. It has a good display, solid hardware and good graphics processor, and Google will keep upgrading the OS as long as the hardware can support it. The Fires run a forked version of Android, limited and heavily skinned, and Amazon doesn't do major OS upgrades, preferring to release them with the next tablet. Also, the Play Store has a much bigger app selection than Amazon's store, and a Nexus 7 won't lock you into one system like a Fire or Nook tablet.

[tomandlorih]

I, at the ripe old age of 32, happily admit that I am a tech idiot. I still think all tech stuff is basically voodoo magic. That being said, I cannot recommend the iPad more vehemently. My kids love all the educational apps available. The iPad is just so darn easy to figure out. I had an Android phone and I could never find as many cool kid apps as I can in the Apple store. I have briefly considered purchasing an iPad mini so my kids will not beg for the iPad while I am reading on my Kindle app. Wireless? My dh set up some wireless router thing in our house (voodoo magic). Our iPad just has wifi and we are completely satisfied. So, I would recommend the iPad.

Edited -- I did a long post on the glories of the iPad, before realizing that your dd was only 8 and your budget was in the $100 range.... I hope you get some answers from someone who is familiar with the products you are considering.

 

LOL Thank you for your review anyway! I *can* afford an IPad.. I just didn't really want to pay that kind of money for her just to play Angry Birds. KWIM? =D Do your dc use it for school at all?? I'm wondering because I read here on the forums about converting .pdf's and using a stylus or finger to do their worksheets on the Ipad.

[Alessandra]

Oh, looking at your last post, I see that an iPad is a possibility, in terms of cost. There are some threads on WTM from people who have bought Android devices and than converted to an iPad -- felt the Android $ were wasted. My only experience is with the iPad, and I can truly say that I have never been in love with an electronic device until the iPad. Everything works easily. The selection of apps is gargantuan, with lots of educational apps -- and many, many apps are free or 99¢.

 

All the iPads come with wi-fi. The extra is iPads that come with cellular. With wi-fi, you can connect anyplace that there is wi-fi, such as Starbucks. With models that have cellular & wi-fi, you can connect anywhere by using the same system a cell phone uses. Convenient. BUT you would need a cellular plan for the iPad -- I didn't choose this option, as we use the iPad mainly at home.

 

It sounds as though you do not have wi-fi in your home. It would be worth exploring. There is a learning curve in setting up a system, but it doesn't require special expertise. Usually costs around $100, I think. With wi-fi, your iPad can be used for movies, web browsing, etc. A lot of educational stuff is available this way -- BrainPop comes to mind. But you can still get apps on a computer and transfer them to your iPad using the cable that comes with the iPad.

 

To answer you question about pdfs, it is a snap to put them on an iPad and then use a stylus or finger to highlight or annotate. There are a number of apps for this. Like a lot of people here, I use Notability as my pdf reader. To move the documents, I use Dropbox -- not sure if you need wi-fi for this or if you can do it with a cable.

 

Size/capacity. I asked about this before buying and took the advice to get the biggest, so I have the 64 GB. I am glad I did -- I already have about 16 GB of apps (in just a few months). No photos, music or movies yet, but I am glad that I will have room for them. In your budget, you might want to allow for the AppleCare protection plan, as well as a case and a stylus. An iPad can also be used with an optional keyboard; the Mac word processing programs are available in iPad format.

 

Oh, don't ignore games. There are a lot of games that sharpen logic skills. Plus many iPad games are 'casual games' that just take a few minutes, as opposed to the time consuming game console type of game.

 

 

One WARNING: You will probably want to use the iPad too, lol!