iPad Air or iPad Mini?

sweetdaisy

Our Son's school are working in partnership with an IT company looking into a scheme whereby parents have an opportunity to buy an iPad Air or iPad Mini for the children to use to enhance their learning and complete homework. Our Son is 6 years old and they use iPads in his class.

We have been given two options:
iPad Air 16GB WiFi Space Grey for £302.50 or
iPad Mini 16GB WiFi Space Grey for £250.50

The intention of the school is so that pupils will use the iPads in lessons at school and then will be able to bring them home at the end of each school day. The school will be paying for specific apps so that it can be used at home for the children's homework.

I have not used an iPad before, so have no idea which one would be best for our 6 year old. Included in the price is 2 years insurance and a safety case.

Any suggestions would be welcome as to which one would be the one to go for .

jbainbridge

I think I would ask the school for guidance - the difference is the screen size so it depends if the apps will benefit from the larger screen of the Air. For a 6yr old the smaller size of the Mini might be easier to handle.

I can't imagine our 6 year old taking it backwards and forwards to school everyday ... good luck with that one!

sweetdaisy

jbainbridge wrote: »

I think I would ask the school for guidance - the difference is the screen size so it depends if the apps will benefit from the larger screen of the Air. For a 6yr old the smaller size of the Mini might be easier to handle.

Thanks. The school haven't specified which one is better, just giving us two options with a difference of £52 between the two.

jbainbridge wrote: »

I can't imagine our 6 year old taking it backwards and forwards to school everyday ... good luck with that one!

Nor can I :rotfl:! I suppose the iPad Mini would be easier to handle and I can only assume that it would be a little more sturdier than the iPad Air (but I could be wrong).

The other thing that I am not sure of, is how long do iPads last i.e. are they robust, do they scratch easily, break if dropped on the floor (even if they do have a case). It's just that I have visions of it falling onto the school yard a few times or being dropped a lot.

macman

One drop can kill it, or at the very least break the display, so I can't imagine it withstanding the treatment the average six year old is going to deal out. If a 'safety case' is shockproof that may protect it, but not when it's in use or not secured inside the case.

Fightsback

Lazy teaching !

Nothing wrong with pencils, crayons and paper. Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Shakespeare and may others did perfectly well without an Ipad.

shortchanged_2

Another example of schools thinking parents are made of money!

Between this and the ridiculously over the top school trips you get these days it's no wonder people are so skint and don't get the feel good factor that the tories think we should be feeling.

rockin_plumber

I would say the price for the iPad air is probably about £20
cheaper than you can get one for, unless its the iPad air 2? Which is £399 rrp


The mini again it depends if its the 1,2 or 3?
The mini 1 can be purchased for £199 John Lewis with 2 year warranty.
The mini 2 can be purchased from John Lewis for £239 with
a 2 year warranty.
And £249.99 is the general price for the mini 3, again from John Lewis with 2 year warranty.


In reality it seems you are just getting a free case, and saving the school the cost buying the iPad themselves.


EDIT... I just noticed they use them in class anyway, so its just a case of the school don't want the children to bring the school iPad's home.
Really you need to weigh up the deal, and the breaking thing, the iPad air is somewhat thinner so breaking it may be easier.

Fightsback

rockin_plumber wrote: »

I would say the price for the iPad air is probably about £20
cheaper than you can get one for, unless its the iPad air 2? Which is £399 rrp


The mini again it depends if its the 1,2 or 3?
The mini 1 can be purchased for £199 John Lewis with 2 year warranty.
The mini 2 can be purchased from John Lewis for £239 with
a 2 year warranty.
And £249.99 is the general price for the mini 3, again from John Lewis with 2 year warranty.


In reality it seems you are just getting a free case, and saving the school the cost buying the iPad themselves.

Avoid the Mini 1 as it's A5 processor and 512MB of RAM performs poorly with IOS 8. The Mini 2 is the A7 processor and has a much better 1gb of RAM. However this is a moot point as I don't give an Ipad much of a lifespan in the hands of a six year old.

jbainbridge

Fightsback wrote: »

Avoid the Mini 1 as it's A5 processor and 512MB of RAM performs poorly with IOS 8. The Mini 2 is the A7 processor and has a much better 1gb of RAM. However this is a moot point as I don't give an Ipad much of a lifespan in the hands of a six year old.

I thought that ... but we got a Mini 1 for our 9 year old at Christmas. It is played with everyday for hours with not a single complaint, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking to save a few quid. (And it is upto date).

InsideInsurance

Fightsback wrote: »

Lazy teaching !

Nothing wrong with pencils, crayons and paper. Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Shakespeare and may others did perfectly well without an Ipad.

And there is nothing to say that they wouldnt have done better with an iPad/tablet

There is nothing lazy in using modern tools in teaching, do you think when they go into the work place everything is going to be done with pen and paper? Just dumping a kid infront of an iPad or TV etc rather than teaching them (or being involved with them) is lazy teaching (and parenting)

Fightsback

InsideInsurance wrote: »

And there is nothing to say that they wouldnt have done better with an iPad/tablet

There is nothing lazy in using modern tools in teaching, do you think when they go into the work place everything is going to be done with pen and paper? Just dumping a kid infront of an iPad or TV etc rather than teaching them (or being involved with them) is lazy teaching (and parenting)

Kids need to be able to learn to write by hand and pushing buttons at age six is no substitute; you have to use a pen and paper in an exam.