Android tablet for 10 y/o boy

[4boyzmum]

Hi - hoping for a nudge in right direction here!! My 10 y/o DS wants a tablet for Xmas. He's not as clued up with technology as some of his friends are but is wanting to be more so. What tablet is best for a beginner? Obviously he's only 10 so dont want to be spending a stupid amount on one. Was thinking around the £100 mark def not over £150. He wants to play games, music, films etc, good range of Apps, camera. Are some of the brands i've not heard of good makes or should i stick to well known ones such as Blackberry or Kindle?? Help!

Well first, blackberry and kindle aren't android tablets so you're barking up the wrong tree there

I wouldn't go for a totally unknown brand as they tend to be shit, they have problems with the wireless, the touch screens are crap and they often don't have access to the google play store unless you hack them. I wouldn't go for anything cheaper than an Archos Arnova (and even they're not that great)

For that price range you'll get a lot more for your money by going for a 7 inch tablet. You can pick up a Google Nexus 7 for just over £150 used, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.

For around £100-150 you're really looking at an Archos tablet or a Dell Streak, neither are particularly great TBH. You might be able to pick up an older Galaxy Tab or an Acer Iconia, maybe have a look at the older HTC 7 inch tablet, which are alright, but you'll probably find are slow compared to other tablets either because the build quality is lacking or because they're now outdated.

Sorry that sounded very abrupt! IMO I would go for the Nexus 7 or Galaxy Tab 2 if you can possibly stretch to them, but it's worth looking around for any good deals on the others that I mentioned, you might find they're fine. The problem with older/low spec tablets is that they won't run the latest games etc as well as newer ones so your DS might end up getting frustrated that his technology can't keep up with the new games that are available on the google play store, and updates etc for games which don't always take older devices into account.

I would really try to stretch to a nexus if poss. Very easy to use.

Same for the galaxy tab. Im sure argos had them on offer for around £150.

Agree about the non branded ones. Ive never known one to last more than a few weeks.

Nexus is worth the extra £10 imo. I have one and we have an iPad in the house too but use the nexus over that.

I got a kindle fire hd at the weekend (kids broke my 3g keyboard one that was insured so pc world swapped for the fire) and it's much better as a tablet than an e reader. It's too heavy to be comfortable for ling periods of reading in bed. It has plenty of apps on it and plenty of free ones. The internet screens load speedily and the screen size means it doesn't hurt your eyes as much as say the iPod touch.

The apple products generally look nicer e.g. they are slimmer but with regards to functionality they all pretty much do the same thing.

Thanks for the help!! Have already had my fingers burned with an Archos tab - thankfully very understanding sales assistant gave me a credit note to the value of purchase which we put towards a Galaxy tablet for older son. The problem with Archos was shocking wifi connection - have heard this is a really common problem with that make. Have been on Amazon checking out all the tablets on there that are VERY appealing in price but a gut feeling is saying not to buy them! Trying to get hold of another Galaxy tho is a major nightmare now - luckily have located one in nearby town so off to collect tomorrow!! Was advised to go for Nexus also but my ds loves to do the apps like Fatbooth etc on my phone so a camera was quite an important feature and the Nexus doesn't have that?? Anyway, hopefully Christmas crisis is averted and sibling squabbling avoided!! Happy days!

My 8 year old dd has a natpc from Wendy Lou on amazon it was £59.99 and works perfectly and connects to play store. You can also download a free app zoodles and put it in kid mode to restrict access to Internet etc

H

The galaxy tab starts at £158 in CeX stores too if there's one in stock near you. If you pay cash they might give you a small discount too :)