All 3 of the DCs new Tablet PCs have now been smashed.......

[TeenTwinsToddlerandTiaras]

I mean ffs can't they make them bloody bounce. One bigtiny fall on wooden floor and they are buggered.

DD's lasted about 3 days until the toddler threw it. DS2's lasted about a week longer until it was sat on and DS1 is now in tears as his has just smashed on the floor when I grabbed it out of his hand cos he was'nt listening to me as usual.

I bought them so they would'nt keep arguing over the laptop. SHIT!

I dropped a very expensive 2 month old laptop end-on onto some concrete paving a year or two back - because I hadn't closed the carrying case properly. (And I'm certainly no teen.)

If you're not prepared for items to be broken, either don't buy them, insure them properly - or buy cheap 'starter' models.

One is bad luck, three is carelessness.
After the first accident, you would have thought they and you would have been extra careful.

Xpost on the case thing.

My ds (12yo) has managed to crack his xmas laptop, he wont be getting it back until he gets some sort of skin or case for it.

Is this one of those stealth boasts? Because I'm not really seeing anything amusing about spending so much money on children, who are then careless with their possessions?

I have dropped my phone twice accidently- but the rest of the time I look after it because I can't afford another one.

I think the problem is with your family's carelessness, not the gadgets. I have DC's aged 14 and 10, and our iPad is still in one piece after a year.

DS did kill one of his phones after a fortnight when he was 11, because a water bottle leaked in his backpack, but since then he has been incredibly careful about putting lids tightly back on bottles, and keeping his phone away from anything wet. The phone was replaced with a much more basic model which I told him had to last at least two years, to reinforce the idea that breaking things/being careless is a bad idea. Don't you encourage your DCs to learn from their mistakes?

If they refused to use the protective covers then I wouldn't be replacing them.
I would make them save their pocket money and replace them themselves.

My 4 and 5 yr olds got tablets for christmas. In cases. No walking when using them, and when you aren't using it, it goes in a drawer. We have hardwood floors too and they simply wouldn't survive a drop. So far, so good, but really you do need to be able to trust your kids to follow simple safety rules, not complain about the equipment.

Maybe you should replace DS1's, seeing as you broke it.

I think Janey has a point. Breaking one is unlucky. Breaking three in less than a month is bloody careless. Don't leave them on floors, sofas, beds and they won't get sat on for a start.

My two year old has never dropped or sat on or spilled anything on her iPad and she carries it around the house. (It has a tough case just in case)

I think your children need to learn to be more careful. Do not replace them!

glad i'm not the only one who think's you have all been really careless with them.

my 3 and 7 year old share one and the know to be really carefull with it and put it in the drawer even if they get up to go to the toilet.

in your shoes the only one i would replace would be the one you broke by grabbing it out of his hands.

the toddler shouldn't have had access to throw one and the other one shouldn't have been left where people sit down!

Oh for the love of pete.
Lay off with the carelessness, out of control kids etc
Accidents happen and things get broken, as I found out myself when I knocked my own iPad off the top of the bookcase the other day. It was in a protective case and I'm certainly not too young to have one.

Stealth boast? Over tablets? Do keep up! Our sons one cost £70, I spent more on Lego this Christmas.

"Still thinking about replacements. Probably would'nt claim on insurance as premium will go up. DC are 11, 11 and 16 and the toddler is 2. They were all provided with cases that they could keep them in when using them and which would have protected them but they never kept them in them. DD previously had a laptop which lasted 3 months and a blackberry which lasted one month (luckily we took insurance with the contract)."

You're not exactly teaching them to be careful or responsible, though, are you?
Instant replacement is hardly a consequence for carelessness.

perhaps something designed more for kids like this may be worth considering as a replacement or look for something with Gorilla glass (I think some samsung tabs have this - its much stronger than ordinary glass)

If the dcs were given cases that they chose not to use, have a history of not looking after their things very well (laptop and blackberry previously broken quite quickly) and presumably leave them lying around (if they've been thrown and sat on), could it worth getting them to contribute to the cost of any replacements - do you think they might look after them a bit better then? (and save you some stress? )

The OP's children have basically between them trashed £1000 of electrical equipment- which is more than a lot of people have to live on for a month.

They really don't break that easily, you know. My ipod has taken many a tumble and it's still fine. But, unsurprisingly, screens break when they are dropped. That's because they are made of glass. Unless they develop some sort of see-through concrete, screens will always break when they're dropped.

You all sound a bit slapdash and careless to me, but if you are wealthy enough to be considering replacements less than three weeks after Christmas then it's more of an irritation than a disaster to you.
So they have covers but don't bother using them, they leave them in places where others can sit on them and where toddlers can grab them. How long do you reckon the next set will last?
We have a houseful of musical instruments, and we know how to take care of them. They are portable too.

Have you broken 3 in 3 weeks though Terra?

There is no way on earth i would be buying them new ones.

Why are people getting so sweaty about a teenager having a tablet?

When I was a teenager I had a ZX spectrum. Great it was.

Gorilla glass isnt stronger than normal glass.

Gorilla glass is harder than normal glass, so it scratches much less easily, however this extra hardness makes the glass more likely to shatter.

But no I wouldn't replace them, that all three have been broken does indicate to me they are not looking after them well.

Lesson learned for them and all that.

I'm just at the thought of a monthly request to the PTA to replace laptops, ipads and general technology that the children broke in class by dropping, wandering and sitting on it.
School technology survives multiple users because of the rules about care.

Agree with booy - replace the one which you broke by snatching it from your child. But the one that got thrown and the one that got sat on - well that's the kids fault

Terra - one broken iPad is unlucky, could happen to anyone, though I assume if you replace it you'll be keeping it somewhere safer in future, because most of us learn from our mistakes.

Three broken tablets in a month (plus the other gadgets the OP mentioned later) looks symptomatic of a bigger problem with carelessness/behaviour.