Are I-Pads all they're cracked up to be??

[moonblushtomato]

They look rather gorgeous but not sure how they differ from an ordinary computer/laptop?

The DCs use one at their childminders. Are the apps any good for DCs aged 4,5 and 14?

I love mine the main difference for me is speed no turning on logging in open the cover and your good to go. It also has my music, recent photos-the camera in my experience is pretty good, tv shows and about a million apps. I have a 14 and 4 year old who argue over it all the time. Apps like starwalk are great too as they help us do something fun together, I would never have got my 14 year old outside in the cold without it but now we have regular star gazing nights. Another difference for me is that they are more robust in my experience my iPad has been dropped, trodden on and had drink spilt on it and it's fine. I really like mine can you tell.....

I love mine, as does my 4 year old. We've found plenty of apps and games to keep him amused and he now knows how to find Cbeebies stuff on iplayer too.

I love the fact that photos I take on my iPhone go onto my iPad and vice versa. The iPad camera takes fantastic pics and has an edit function to make them even better. Loads of apps. We too use the star ones and love the plane ones. Kids play loads of games. I have a gizmo I can plug it into which has a built in beefy speaker and even a remote. Takes a while to charge but takes a while to run out of battery too.

Love mine ! Makes my tortuous commute bearable. Agree that best feature is quick start-up. Couldn't live without it.

Yes! Warning though they are addictive!

Are there any educational apps? Have seen the Timmy Time number and Year 1 Phonic apps advertised on MN. Both look good.

Hi yes I have a couple of good phonics ones, the reading eggs site words app is really good too. Also thinks like solar system and moon globe are great for the science basics (ds is 4) there are loads of books you can download as well ds is working through them, the ladybird app is good for that. Hth

My DS has one called abc lite which has flash cards with animals etc on and you click on lower case and capital letters and it speaks them etc. there is play 123 and counting fun, which have number stuff, drawing letters etc.

Ooohh, it all sounds wonderful and I saw the new ipad in asda today, with very gorgeous covers....

It's life-changing, and can be a great educational tool for the kids. Being able to sit in the garden or in front of the tv with it and surf the web is great.