To not buy dd1 the "ONLY thing in the world" she wants for xmas/birthday?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

She will even "sell me her Kindle Fire, 3DS, ipod nano, ipig and her soul" if I buy her one. She tried to sell me her Xbox, until I pointed out that it was not hers to sell and already belonged to me She won't sell me her bike, she loves it too much.

She wants an ipad air. I do not want to buy her one. Not because we cannot afford one, it would be a big chunk of our christmas budget and she'd have to not do any big birthday celebrations, but we could afford one just.

The reason I do not want to buy her one is that a) I begrudge paying Apple's prices which I believe are massively inflated simply because it is an Apple product and people blindly believe they are best (although admittedly upon looking further into it ipad air is very impressive, but then so is the new Google Nexus) and b) Going on what she is wanting to use it for, there are more suitable, cheaper tablets out there for her, that do the job just as well but without Apple's price tag.

She is wanting it primarily for taking photos and videos, watching movies on the go and playing minecraft. The Galaxy Tab 2 is just as suitable for her. It's processor is slower, but as she is not as massive gamer, she'll hardly notice this and it's camera is not as good, but she is not a photographer, she wants it simply to take photos of her dogs to edit in photo editor/whatever it is she uses, a 3MP camera will do the job adequately. When it comes to watching movies, the ipad air has a much better display, however once you get past 1080p, the difference is hardly noticeable, imo, the Tab 2 has a bigger screen (something which she would notice) and plays a higher number of file types, meaning less pestering me to convert files for her and the Tab 2 has expandable memory, which she will need.

She also wants Skype/Facetime etc. to keep in touch with her Aunt. Both devices have HD web cams.

And the biggest bonus is that the Tab 2 is significantly cheaper. I do not believe the Air is £200+ better than the Tab 2. Plus 2 weeks after she gets it, she'll be moaning she's run out of space on it and asking me where her memory card is so she can swap it for a bigger one, just like she did with her ipod and kindle fire.

I've spoken to her about this and she is adamant that it is ONLY the ipad air she wants, although she is unable to tell me why beyond "It's the best because it's ipad and all my friends have one and Mr. X (her new teacher) has one because it's the best and if he says it's the best, it must be the best, btw we also need to buy a Mac because they are better than Windows PCs"

If she can't have the ipad Air, she'd rather have the cash to save towards the ipad, than the Tab 2.

She's a bit of a sheep and easily sold to.

[WeileWeileWaile]

2tired - here is a story about suicide netting

[zipzap]

If her aunt is moving away from apple then get her to explain to your dd why. It might help if another adult she trusts who isn't a parent puts forth an opposing view!

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Yes, she might listen to her Aunt, she does look upto her. I'll talk to her later and ask her to explain why she is moving from Apple.

As of this morning she was going in to school to ask her teacher why and how ipad Air is the best and why she needs one. I'm hoping he will be sensible enough to advise her that does not, in fact, need an ipad.

What galls me the most is not the price, more that I know that spec for spec I can get a lot more for my £400 if the product didn't have a piece of fruit stuck on the back of it. If she actually needed £400 worth of tech for what she wants to do with it, Apple would most likely be the last place I would be looking to spend my money. And the memory is a big issue, for storing films and making videos, she'll need a lot more than 16g. From Samsung I can get a 16g product for half the price Apple charge and then buy a memory card for a fiver. It's a no brainer to me.

[2tiredtoScare]

Thanks Weile that's pretty shocking

[DidoTheDodo]

Good Lord. She's 10.
The answer is a big fat no. That sort of stuff can wait until she is earning her own money!

[CambridgeBlue]

The thing with Apple stuff is, if you use a Mac anyway then it all syncs together so smoothly and just works in a way Android/PC stuff doesn't tend to in my experience. It's so intuitive and beautiful. But if you are generally a PC household then an Apple product doesn't actually make that much sense - tell that to the brainwashed muppets who hang round the Apple store every weekend though!

I've been an Apple user all my life (work in the creative industry) so it's a no-brainer for me to have an iPhone and and iPad. But DH is PC based so he has an Android phone and a Kindle Fire. Both of our set-ups work well for us personally because they are what we're used to and familiar with.

I still stand by what I said upthread though, a £700+ gadget for a 10 year old would not be on my list of priorities however well it suited her needs. I agree that it sucks all the joy out of Christmas to have a kid saving up and selling their other stuff just to get the next 'must have' item and I don't think backing down on this would benefit her in the longterm.

I agree with what noblegiraffe said: Teaching "I want = I get" is the route to maxed out credit cards, debt and Brighthouse.

[Bearbehind]

The bit I don't get is that this 'must have' present wasn't released until Friday. Given the teacher probably didn't receive/ get his until Saturday, your daughter has had a maximum of 2 school days exposure to this fanastic object.

She couldn't have even researched it much earlier as it was only launched 10 days before that so it's clearly just the latest whim.

I think your daughter sounds a bit spoilt tbh, the list of things she has been given/ bought but then changed her mind about is quite staggering for a 10 year old.

I'd be pretty pissed off with the teacher for encouraging his pupils to aspire to things that their parents probably can't afford or don't want them to have.

[YouTheCat]

Does she realise she can play Minecraft on the XBox?

She probably already has all the tech she needs really.

[diddl]

Really, all this angst & talking to an Aunt is ridiculous.

It's a no because it's not worth it for a 10yr old & that's it!

[Bakingtins]

I'd give her the money you would be willing to spend on the tablet you think is suitable, and she can decide whether to get that now or to earn/save money towards the ipad.

A 3MP camera is completely crap by the way - about the level of the kiddie ones.

[YouTheCat]

When I was 10 all I wanted for Christmas was a lovely shiny new desk. It was all I asked for. My mum had to explain to me that it was just too much. I was quite disappointed but got over it pretty quickly.

[LoopaDaLoopa]

10

[D0oinMeCleanin]

She has the demo version of Minecraft on the Xbox. She's currently deciding which version she wants vouchers to buy the full version of between the PC/Xbox. Her Aunt is getting her the vouchers for her birthday.

She hasn't changed her mind about her Netbook, she still loves her netbook in all it's blue, shiny glory, she just now realises that had she bought a laptop instead, like I advised, she would be able to do more with it instead of having to pester me for access to my PC when she wants to play Sims 3 or whatever her latest obsession is that her Netbook is incapable of playing. It's only the Kindle she's changed her mind on.

The rest of the stuff she is willing to sell, she still uses and likes, just not as much as she'd like an ipad Air.

[CoffeeTea103]

You are making this a bigger issue by pandering back and forth with your dd. What's wrong with a no? You're the adult. Setting yourself up for all the more expensive things to come that you will have build cases for. She should appreciate what she already has.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

The expense is not the issue I have with the ipad, CoffeeTea. It's that she needs it simply because it is Apple's latest device so must the best.

Had she come to me and said "I need the new Note 3 tablet because it does X,Y and Z and is better than my Kindle because of A,B and C" I'd have happily said yes.

My issue is that she doesn't even know what exactly the ipad Air does that the tablets I am suggesting don't and that £1 per spec, it's not even the best on the market. She's just being an Apple sheep.

[Ragwort]

Either say no or offer her the cost of whatever it is you are prepared to buy towards the ipad and she can then use her own savings/pocket money/Christmas cash gifts to make up the balance - is that a reasonable compromise?

I can't imagine this much pandering to a child over such an expensive gift.

[Pennyacrossthehall]

What Ragwort said - the conversation should be much shorter:

DD: "I want an iPad Air."
You: "Hahahahahahahha. No."

[Bearbehind]

PMSL at 'she's just being an Apple sheep'

FFS she's 10, she's just being a sheep full stop and it just happens to be an Apple product she wants!

[CambridgeBlue]

Imagine being asked what you want for Xmas and asking for a much coveted jo Malone candle then the buyer decides its just a candle and a cheaper one will do and you end up with an asda candle ? It burns and smells nice right ?

When you say it like that it sounds very reasonable until you remember that we're talking about a 10 year old!

[HaroldLloyd]

Is she me. I had a kindle fire last Christmas and I hate the bloody thing.

I want an I pad! My 11 year old nephew is getting one for Christmas. I am 38 and I can't afford one.

It's not faaaaaaaaaaair.

I agree the solution is offering money towards it.

[2tiredtoScare]

Have you looked into getting a reconditioned one Harold they are around £150 cheaper

[FairPhyllis]

I think she sounds extremely susceptible to advertising and peer pressure, and working on that would be my priority, not bargaining with her over tablets.

How much time does she spend on all of these devices if she is still using most of them?

[EvaBeaversProtege]

No way to a £700 one, thanks for that dooin.

We're looking at the Microsoft surface RT now for dd - cheaper & can add the keyboard. I know she'd be happy with that!!

[Pawprint]

Just say no to her. I would love an iPad but can't afford one. They cost hundreds of pounds and are not, in my opinion, worth the expense. It's just the latest gadget still want one though