ipad or tablet???

carolwat

Hi

Just looking for some advice. Im looking to get my son either an ipad2 or a tablet for Xmas but not sure what would be best. I dont need 3g on it as he would only connect to the internet through wifi at home or friends and families houses. He would play games, use the net, record videos, take pictures. Cant think of anything else at the moment but some advice on which to get would be useful as ive no idea.

Thanks

victor2

ipad will probably give him more cred with his mates.
Tablet may work out more useful and cheaper.
Bear in mind the ipad has limited storage capacity and assumes you will use the "cloud" more. Also it cannot show any Flash code, which a lot of web sites and things like BBC iPlayer use.
I'm sure the pro Apple lobby will be along soon though to praise the ipad....

buglawton

BBC iPlayer and most TV catch-up services are available on iPad.

The iPad imitators have yet to catch up with the iPad's all round package & performance.

It budget is no limitation, go for iPad. Some really good educational & science apps to be had too.

jayme1

technically the iPad is a tablet.

so basically there are a few categories of tablets to choose from,
ipad is one and runs apples iOS
next is android honeycomb tablets,
last is the cheap and nasty android tablets, these are good for a little web browsing and not much else.

you will need to choose which of the first 2 options suits you best, because you say it will be used to take pictures most android honeycomb tablets have a 5MP camera and can record either 720p or 1080p video, whereas the ipad only has a 0.7MP camera but can record 720P video.

also with the android tablets you can view and use flash content on the web.

as for storage the ipad starts at 16GB it doesn't force you to rely on the 'cloud' at all for storage, but you would need a computer in order to add music and video to it (if you didn't buy the music from itunes)
whereas android tablets will vary the amount of storage most will be 16GB but have the option to use a microSD or USB stick to increase storage, but it may be worth noting that some apps have to use the internal memory to install so in reality you could find the ipad more flexable because it can use all of it's memory for apps.

the last thing to think about is future software updates to the device, the iPad gets it's updates (which add more features) from apple and you get the updates straight away as they are released.
for android tablets it takes time as the manufacturers have to adapt the software to the device and some devices never get the updates, at the moment all android tablets use 'honeycomb' the newer software called 'ice cream sandwich' is already out and some of todays tablets are getting updated, 2 that are are the moto xoom and the asus eee pad transformer, so I would personally look for a tablet that will get the update to ICS.

to be honest both an ipad or an android tablet would probably work just as good as each other, the better cameras on the android tablets may be a selling point for you, I personally wouldn't worry too much about ipads not having flash (unless your son specifically uses some websites that require flash) as most websites have been adapted for HTML5.

also android tablets can be 'hacked' so if your son is pretty computer savy and would enjoy that kind of stuff then perhaps that would be a selling point.

you may just have to ask your son which he would prefer,
as for cost an 16GB ipad is £399 an 16GB eee pad transformer is £349 and the 32GB wifi xoom is £329

carolwat

Thanks for all the advice. Im still unsure what to do and I dont want to ask him which he prefers. Peer pressure is not a problem for now thankfully. Its just the apple thing of not allowing certain stuff like the flash player. I had an iphone and loved it but hated the fact there were some things I couldnt do on it. As someone said though most sites use something else instead of flash now so may not be a problem anyway. I do like the idea of the updates being available though. Arghhhhhh its so confusing

Thanks for all the advice though. For the price difference im swayed to the ipad.

donny-gal

Why a tablet and not a laptop? DG

carolwat

Good question donny-gal. I was thinking that because he liked to play with my iphone so much where you tilted the phone to play the games that he could do this with the ipad/tablet. Im hoping im right in thinking this. Im assuming without actually checking. Ive never actually seen either so im not sure. I also wanted something a bit more portable/compact if you know what I mean.

victor2

Kids today eh? Keyboards and mice are so old fashioned.

carolwat

lol victor,in fairness though he has no idea and these are just my thoughts

clivejohnson

I'm using an iPad to post this, and basically I live on the thing! That said, if he plays games, bear in mind that although some games are free, they contain hidden charges. Bejewelled is one I think, as there are threads on here about it. Worth searching the forums for...

carolwat

Thanks Clive. The games would be internet based ones that he plays on my laptop and apps that I have checked and downloaded for him.