tablets for children...can anyone talk me through them?!

clearingout

I am considering buying tablets for my children for Xmas - ages 3, 5, and 8. My 8 year old is diagnosed as both dyspraxic and dyslexic and is struggling with literacy - I suspect the 5 year old will soon also be diagnosed with the same. Jury's out on the little one!

They are technology obsessed and like to use the computer to play games and have been begging me for an ipad. I can't afford 3 ipads and buying one will only cause problems so....

I am assuming the best option for the 3 year old would be the Vtech innotab and am looking for the best deal on that.

For the other two, I have no idea. There are so many. My budget would be £200 maximum each but would prefer to get something cheaper than this with a max budget of £200 to include a carrying case and some apps - have looked at the new Kindle Fire and was wondering if this would work?

Can anyone talk me through what to look for in terms of future proofing, value for money, availability of apps which may be of educational value given my children's educaitonal needs and robustness (assume dyspraxic child who regularly manages to fall off the floor and will drop it regularly!). I am not particularly tech-jargon literate so assume you're dealing with a 5 year old and talk in simple terms, please. This forum helped me buy a laptop and I've been very pleased with it so your help is not only appreciated but also acted upon!

many thanks!

BigRonW

I'll probably get criticised (again) by the "hate everything" crowd, but my answer would be "import it yourself from China". There are literally dozens of Chinese on-line stores offering an eyewateringly wide range of Chinese tablets (FAR wider than you're offered here in the UK) If you already have a good idea of what you want in terms of specification (How big a screen? How fast a processor? How much RAM? What version of Android?) £200 each is quite a BIG budget as far as most of these retailers are concerned, and most appear to offer very similar discounts on what would be "RRP"( if China had such a thing.) Again opening myself up to criticism, my own personal choice of brand would be Ainol - because I've owned several of their tablets, and was impressed by them. Some of the other brands are probably just as good, but I can't speak from personal hands-on experience of them. A well-known international retailer (like Merimobiles.com) offers a degree of security at a slightly higher price.

So I'll give you a list of Chinese retaliers' URLs. See what's out there. See what it costs. (Many of these sites can quote their prices in GBP£) At the bottom of the list I'll add a link that compares and explains what most of the terms and the numbers actually MEAN. Note that almost every Chinese retailer offers "Free Delivery" using China Mail. China Mail on the one hand is dirt cheap, but on the other is dead S-L-O-W. If you're in a hurry to get your goods in days rather than weeks, you'll need to pay an "upgrade premium". If you're patient, and two or three weeks ois not a problem... China Mail helps keep prices VERY low. Note also that some of the retailers offer a 25% price reduction on peripherals bought at the same time as the tablet. So, here goes with the list....
http://www.szprice.com
http://android-sale.com/
http://www.merimobiles.com
http://www.androidinabox.com
http://ipadalternative.com
http://www.chinaeshops.com
http://www.ankaka.com

http://androidinabox.com/blog/who-has-the-best-performance-a-cross-cpus-comparasion-among-7-popular-dual-core-arm-cpu/

And lastly "Colonel Zap", the German hobbyist who produces hands-on reviews (in English) of a wide range of Android gadgets on YouTube. The reviews seem to be fairly objective and unbiased.
(Note that I am NOT Colonel Zap!)
http://colonelzap.blogspot.co.uk/


There you go. You now have the tools to familiarize yourself with what's out there, and can make a better-informed choice between a much wider range of products. And, what's more, you'll probably save money along the way!

Cisco001

ipad mini/ microsoft surface will out at the end of oct
nexus 7 at £180 after code and cashback at comet.
if u still want something cheaper, look for motorola xoom 8.2, i think hukd some one post it at £150.

clearingout

thanks - honestly no idea what I might need in terms of RAM and speed of processors or version of Android (does it matter?!!!). I'm guessing 'average' would cover it and the latest version of Android (is that jellybean?) would be the most sensible? is that reasonable?!

I have just been reading about the ipad mini - had no idea. The price guesstimates are quite variable - cheapest at £160 which could be good... I will keep looking. I guess if anyone could say 'that works for my 8 year old', that would be really helpful? As I say, we're 'average' people with 'average' internet use and interest in this kind of thing..... (clear as mud!)

Ms_Chocaholic

I have no idea about tablets so can't offer u any techie advice but what I would say is you should consider getting the 3 year old the same as the others; it might cause some friction otherwise

Guardsman

I will probably be chastised for this,, But at that age would they not be better off spending supervised time with you on your computer.
Computers ruined my eyesight

clearingout

yes, probably better spending time with me directly, I agree. The reality of my life however makes that pretty much impossible - I am a single parent and am also a secondary school teacher so my time is squeezed about as much as it can be. If I'm lucky, we might find 10 minutes each a week on the computer once we've done reading and cornet practise and spellings and homework and handwriting practise and balancing practice (for the dyspraxia) etc.etc.etc.....and I would like to encourage the older ones to start to use the technology more educationally with me around rather than with me supervising. At some point I have to do the housework and feed us! They both use ipads and the ipod touch in school, particularly the 5 year old. They have access to an old PC but it's in a different room and my reasoning behind tablets was we could all be in the same room so it would be easier to keep an eye on things. They are becomming obsessed with the PS2 and I want to steer away from that before it's become a firm habit. They are also with dad this Xmas so I wanted to take the opportunity to just buy them one big thing from me and a few smaller bits rather than the usual sackful that they're fed up with by New Year....dad can be Santa!

Ms Chocaholic - point understood. I shall have to think about it. You're right, it might cause a problem but he's just not developmentally far enough along to have the same as the other two...then again, he'll be using ipads at school this time next year so maybe I should go with it....hmmm....

diable

3 year old + £200 tablet = lots of tears and frustrated parent.

clearingout

diable wrote: »

3 year old + £200 tablet = lots of tears and frustrated parent.

yep! that's the other side.....

gazza975526570

Get something like this - get it from a company in britain though in case of any issues

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ployer-Momo8-Bird-Tablet-Capacitive/dp/B0081HFPSG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

donny-gal

If dropping is at all likely stay clear of I-Pads. The screens crack very easily. DG