To buy my DS an iPad for his birthday?

[ziggiestardust]

He's going to be 4, and I think it's be a great idea for him to have his own. He watches movies on mine at the weekend, we take it in the car for long trips, and it's got some games and stories on there too. I'd love to be able to free up space on my iPad by giving him his own.

It's just a posh LeapPad isn't it really?

My mum is getting all incredulous and puffy cheeked about it, but I had a Sega Megadrive when I was about his age and played on it after school with my friends. At least this would get more use! She seems to have forgotten that bit though

AIBU?

No I said I wasn't bothered about him dropping it BECAUSE I will buy a lifeproof case (which I linked to!) and he only uses it sitting down at his table.

Please read my comments before you spurt out with anything

I personally would go with an iPad rather than mini as they seem much smaller... ermmmm that would be why they're called a mini

curiousgeorge - Yes, Aga at 16:56

A 4 yo will care if it's not what he's used to and if you can afford to buy what he's used to so you can use your own one without them whinging about wanting it - then personally, I think it's money well spent (IF you can afford it easily enough).

Mariposa - did you even read the thread? He hasn't ASKED for it. Basically the OP wants to buy it so she can use hers at the same time and if she can afford it, why shouldn't she?

Yes, some people have more disposable income than others - I suggest some people get over it.

inculkate For some people, 100 and 350 aren't significantly different enough that it's worth getting something that's not quite as good for their purposes. If you look at OP's use case, preferences and priorities, she's best served by an iPad. It's not what I would choose, but for her purposes and in her price range it's the best option

^^ that.

Pictish - it's not like you to be so cutting?!

No it wouldn't. It would be like having some perspective, and not losing your head over incredibly expensive gear that your 4 yr old doesn't need.

I guess I'm just old fashioned, and think items like top end tablets that cost hundreds are for grown ups, and not four year olds.

It'll be quietly put aside and ignored for the rest of time

Really? If you told a 4 year old that they now have a tablet of their own and they can no longer use mummy's, they're going to prefer to use nothing rather than the lower-spec tablet? I don't think it would hurt a child to learn that they don't get something just because their parent has one!

Caring that their film takes longer to buffer?! Tough shit!

I think the best suggestion is for OP to upgrade and pass her old one on to her DS.

And movies taking ages to download etc is a pain so if you don't have to have that why would you?

The skateboard analogy made me laugh. It's a standing joke in our house. I wanted a skateboard as it was the in thing one year. My dad got a plank of wood and an old pair of roller skates and made me one. All went well until I used it in the hill outside my friends house which went around a bend. Proper skateboards were manoeuvrable and went around the bend. Not mine. I ended up in the road. I'm now 50. I'm still bitter.

"My four year old would definitely care if it made the films slower by constantly buffering, or apps took ages to load."

That's not necessarily the case though.

We have a 2012 Nexus (£100 - 7") and an iPad 4 (£300 -10"), the iPad has better hardware but the Android has more games so the kids use that.

If you are talking about hardware, the best tablet is definitely NOT the iPad, it's like Microsoft Surface Pro 3, which starts at £639, but the maxed out one is £1649, plus £110 for the keyboard/cover. It's many times faster than the iPad.

Android has the majority of the market with 62%, so if you are concerned about software, then Android is definitely the way to go, because it has more apps than iOs.

There are a lot of cheap Android tablets with basic hardware, whereas all the IOS tablets are good, but on the other hand if you compare the best Android tablets, e.g., the Samsung Galaxy S 10.5, it's a better device (longer battery life, better camera, better screen) than the Ipad Air.

The difference is Apple ONLY sell high-end devices, but if you compare the £500 Ipad Air with the £430 Galaxy S 10.5 (and not an £80 cheapy), the Ipad comes up short.

The best Android tablets are better than iPads, because:

• Android is as good as Ios,
• because it has so much more marketshare, there is more software available.
• the hardware is better (currently, this may change when the new iPad comes out, but then there will be new Android tablets after that, and so on)

It's actually convenient for me to buy another iPad, since I can transfer the films and apps I have already purchased onto it.

I have mentioned that before, as my reasoning.

In other words, the choice is not between a £400 Ipad (more like £600 if you get one with a proper amount of storage) and a £100 Android, but a £400 ipad and a £350 Android. And the £350 Android is just better.

pictish please don't mock my son. He is 4. Mock me if you want, but mocking my little boy is unfair.

If you can afford an ipad OP then get one. My daughter has one. We originally bought her a cheap android tablet that was slow and unresponsive and the graffics we're rubbish. I know its personal preference apple vs android but I would choose apple every time. It does everything she needs it to quickly and never freezes or buffers like the android and in my opinion are a lot easier to use. It's one of the best presents we have ever bought her, she never gets bored as there is always some new art app or jigsaw or game to download.

Oh and hey - just so we're clear here, you can throw your money away in whatever manner you choose to.
But you did ask.

No, you said twice 'poor little princey' in a mocking tone. Who was it aimed at then? It wasn't nice at all.

So mock me then, don't say cruel things about my LO.

I said it twice to other people. As a general poke.

Oops OP. You've broken a cardinal MN sin of wanting to spend more than pennies on your children.

It's seems ok to buy millions of prams for one baby, a nice designer handbag or wine every week but god forbid you want to buy a child a decent coat to a tablet.

It's an early start on the competitive frugality threads re Christmas and children.

We bought ds1 13 an iPad and ds2 4 a cheap tablet last Christmas, when the tablet is playing up ds2 uses the iPad, really wish I had got 2 iPads (except I couldn't afford it)

It wasn't intention to be specific about who Princey is...he's just every four year old in the country with his own sodding ipad.

And with that, I'll leave you to your orgy of spending. Enjoy yourself. x