Mumsnet Talk

I've won a £500 John Lewis voucher otherwise dd wouldn't be getting either.

She's 11 in a couple of months and I was thinking of getting her one of these.

I know a laptop would be more useful for schoolwork, word processing, powerpoint, etc. But I have a perfectly good laptop that she can use when she wants.

I think she'd love her own ipad for all the apps and games. Plus if she needs to look stuff up on the internet for homework she can do, check her emails, etc.

I'm just wondering if at secondary school she'd be needing to do so much homework/word processing on a laptop that she'd be better off having a laptop in her room? Parental controls, etc obviously.

Which raises a point, can you put parental controls on an ipad?

Hmmm, tough one. I'd say if you have a desktop that you can use in case she needs to be on your laptop for an extended period of time for schoolwork then go for the iPad.

get her a laptop, around the £350/400 mark, then perhaps save the rest of the voucher to get and iPod touch (basically a miniature iPad!) for her next birthday?

but especially as it's a one off big purchase- i'd definitely prioritise a laptop over an ipad. i can see why they'd be useful for university students, business people...ect. - but i can't see a reason for an 11 year old to need one!

Laptop, no question about it.

Laptop.....or iPod touch....I say this writing from an iPad.....but I honestly think it would be wasted on an 11 year old, whereas if she had her own laptop she could play games and do school work. When I say wasted I mean it would be used as an iPod touch just much bigger and more expensive. She could utilise a laptop for the money so much more

Right, sounds like a laptop is the way to go. Thanks.

Laptop, she'll waste all day playing crappy games on the iPad like me

Agree with every one else, lap top and iPod touch at a future date.
iPads are just too incompatible with the rest of the world.
DD1 often emails HW to school or puts it on USB sticks. Generally in word or power point.
Also both DDs like plating SIMs and Spore, which are larger scale than iPad aps.

iPad!! You can always get a keyboard and a case for both effectively turning it into a laptop. She would probably prefer something Apple too. I guess it's a fashion statement!
Lucky girl!! And congrats on your win!!

Xx

Congratulations on your win!

I'd go for the ipad, given that a laptops life expectancy is about 3-4 years before the system is out of date and and ipad gets all the new updates over the years.

What about a MacBook Air? A little more expensive than the cheap laptops but far better in terms of build quality and operating system than any Windows equivalent. The iPad is a toy, a laptop of some description would be far more beneficial to her for schoolwork etc. We have the full set of Apple products but dd always reverts to her cheap Dell Inspiron laptop for ease of use when doing homework etc. Although is inheriting a free MacBook Air from her dad in the summer and I'm guessing that will take over from the Dell.

Congrats on the win!

I would say a laptop as she will need to do lots of stuff for homework using all the usual software like word, publisher, powerpoint, etc and will have to print off.

DH hasn't managed to work out how to use his ipad for any of this kind of stuff