celticmom Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I am thinking about buying a tablet for dd8 for Easter. Does anyone have any experience with this one: http://www.walmart.c...Colors/21152158 Does anyone want to suggest another tablet that is not outrageously expensive (less than about $150)? Are there any pitfalls to buying a tablet for a child this age other than the obvious internet access? How do those who allow their children to have their own tablet at this age handle these issues? As you can see I have several questions and would appreciate a variety of input. If it makes any difference we are a pretty techy household and dd has had very closely supervised computer access from a young age but this would be her first device of her own. Edited to correct spelling error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I'm not sure about that one since I've never heard of it. But I do know that a lot of people were buying the Nabi tablet for their children around Christmas time since they were offering deals on them. I've read that they are pretty good. My girls each have an iPod Touch, so they really have no need for a tablet at this point. But we do restrict their time on their iPod Touches. I don't worry about internet access too much at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 In our Christmas experience with inexpensive tablets, they needed to be returned within a week of purchase :glare: . One didn't work out of the box and the other started glitching out within the week. We thought we were "upgrading" the kids to tablets from their iPod Touches. Turns out, they preferred the smaller size of the iPods. We bought the iPods used for about $75 each. We will probably be buying them new iPods for Christmas this year. As for internet access, we allow them to have it with monitoring. My son watches Minecraft videos on Youtube and dd watches cooking and doll hunting shows. We haven't had any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 The Nabi has potential... but I returned ours due to issues with the company, and the kids picked 4th gen Touches. If it isn't google play certified, i'd probably opt for the cheaper Kindle Fire. At least you get access to the amazon stuff that way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 We thought we were "upgrading" the kids to tablets from their iPod Touches. Turns out, they preferred the smaller size of the iPods. We bought the iPods used for about $75 each. We will probably be buying them new iPods for Christmas this year. That was my thought too - and when they had the choice of what to get they chose the Touches instead of sharing 1 iPad mini or a 5th gen iPod Touch. I did get the refurb Touches at an awesome price though - they went up $30 after I bought them!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 My dd has been enjoying her Nabi thoroughly although I've heard some people have had issues. She has been reading books on it like crazy, and watching educational clips on a couple sites that I have allowed on it. It's been great. I got it in hopes of putting off getting anything more expensive for a few years yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I'd spend the extra $50 and get a Nexus 7. If you have a GameStop in your town, you can go in and take a look. My girls have had theirs since last July, and we've been very happy with the purchase. Bargain basement tablets have inferior displays, less responsive touchscreens, less powerful graphics processors, and often buggier software interfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Wanted to add that one of my favorite features on the Nabi is that, while in mommy mode it can do anything I would ask for out of a tablet, in the kid mode, it will only go to the sites I have on the approved list. That way she isn't getting any nasty pop-ups or accidentally going to a site that I would not be ok with. I feel much better letting her do her thing unsupervised on it than I do with most internet capable things. We still have the family computer for the kids to do research on, but it's always under supervision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 We've been extremely pleased with the kindle fires we got our kids. I love that you can have 5 devices on an account so all the books and apps are shared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flyeagle Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 My son 9 has a kindle fire (we block web which just blocks his browser and amazon prime videos are password protected). We haven't had any problems with it. My girls 2 and 4 have Nabi 2s. If they had been on sale before I bought Alex's fire I would have probably bought one for him as well. I find they are very durable. We haven't had any problems with them either. They are in the process of getting google play certified and are waiting on google. My kids primarily read, watch movies (netflix and ones I have loaded on there), and play games on them. My son will have several school books uploaded on his kindle this year. We allow them to have them on Friday night (take them to bed) and in the van on trips out of town (several a week). Other than that we try to keep them limited to an hour or so a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 Update: Thanks for the ideas. I looked at the Nabis and purchased an xd for dd yesterday. Unfortunately, I am having trouble with the wifi. It won't pick up my router even 2 feet away. I know that it is not my router because my nook's wifi is working fine. Has anyone else had similiar problems? Edited to add: I have already sent a message to their tech support and am awaiting a response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Update: Thanks for the ideas. I looked at the Nabis and purchased an xd for dd yesterday. Unfortunately, I am having trouble with the wifi. It won't pick up my router even 2 feet away. I know that it is not my router because my nook's wifi is working fine. Has anyone else had similiar problems? Edited to add: I have already sent a message to their tech support and am awaiting a response. I don't have a Nabi, so someone else might be able to give more specific advice, but are you signed into an account for which you can access the internet? Is wifi turned on? If yes, does it "see" your router at all (i.e. is it on the list of wifi spots?). If no, sounds like a lemon (it happens). Can you exchange it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 I have a wireless router and I can access the internet using my nook. The nabi could not see my router but I entered the name manually. I think that this one may be a lemon. I purchased it from walmart and I know where the reciept is so exchanging it for another xd or something different such as a nook or kindle should be easy enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelAR05 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 We love the Nabi here. There were a few glitches in the beginning but I found their customer service on Facebook to be very helpful. I got mine at Walmart too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I got my 9 year old a Nexus 7 for his birthday. As I understand it, the Kindle Fire isn't really an android device in that you can't download android apps, you need to get apps from Amazon. He wanted an ipad mini but that was double the cost almost. We got him a 32gb and an Otterbox so the cost was higher, but with the games and apps he uses, I felt the higher memory was necessary. He really likes it and is very careful with it, but we still insisted on the Otter box (he wanted something else) to protect the investment. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I got my 9 year old a Nexus 7 for his birthday. As I understand it, the Kindle Fire isn't really an android device in that you can't download android apps, you need to get apps from Amazon. The Kindle uses a forked version of Android, but Amazon has chosen not to be part of the Open Handset Alliance -- i.e. they take but don't give back -- and don't want Kindle owners to be free to purchase apps elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 The kids have kindle fires, while dh has a fire and I have a nexus. The kids love the kindles. I can password protect the internet and purchasing, and they have some subscription options available for the kids. We're pleased with them. We didn't get the name brand cases for protection. Instead I got some knock-off cases from China made in two layers (inner one is hard plastic and outer one is thick silicone) that have worked out well. Ours are the 7" fires with no hd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Update: Thanks for the ideas. I looked at the Nabis and purchased an xd for dd yesterday. Unfortunately, I am having trouble with the wifi. It won't pick up my router even 2 feet away. I know that it is not my router because my nook's wifi is working fine. Has anyone else had similiar problems? Edited to add: I have already sent a message to their tech support and am awaiting a response. You can try Facebook for support - they have people there, and parent helpers.... ETA: They EXPECT you to be able to go to FB for support for it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 Update - I exchanged the first nabi for another identical one and turned broadcasting on on the wireless router and the wireless is working fine now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delighted3 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 We have several of the Samsung Galaxy 7 tab and love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Update - I exchanged the first nabi for another identical one and turned broadcasting on on the wireless router and the wireless is working fine now. Yay! Does she have to wait until Easter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 Yes, I am making her wait. I have been using the time to load some content so she should be happy about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 dd watches cooking and doll hunting shows. We haven't had any issues. I'm sorry, I know its off topic, but what is Doll Hunting?... :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I'm sorry, I know its off topic, but what is Doll Hunting?... :huh: Sounds like the only doll game my kids might play. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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