Ipad vs tablet vs kindle fire

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Any tablet will be useless for MS apps - QuickOffice is pretty rubbish, then there is the issue of using an onscreen Keyboard for writing said Docs.

For that money you can get a pretty decent Laptop.

SK is quite right about this - tablets (and smartphones) are not intended as input devices so are not very good at creating documents. You can get a dock for them of course, with a keyboard/mouse/monitor, but that adds a lot to the price.

Before I say anything else, yes I work for Dell.

Have you considered something like the Inspiron Duo? It has a flip-over touchscreen and can be used like a tablet. Flip the screen over and open it up and it becomes a small form laptop with a proper keyboard.

From the experiences of my own 14 year old daughter I can advise you're not likely to win here with common sense. They will always want what the others have and so such purchases are up to them with whatever money they can scrape together. Being a heartless dad I have so far refused to allow my employee discount to be used...!

I blame the parents

Originally Posted by wyrdness

Yes it does seem a bit mad, but kids these days grow up with technology. Luis could use an iPhone before he was 2, including unlocking it, discovering the folder of toddler apps (without being told where it was) and launching the apps he wanted to use. Now that he's 3, I'm wondering about getting either an iPad or a Kindle Fire for him to use. He's just made his first electrical circuit too, so I may need to start buying simple components for him to connect together.

My daughter is not quite 2 and she can unlock my sisters iphone and open the app she like to use called 'Talking Carl' she thinks it hilarious. I was still stacking wooden blocks at that age or playing with my train set! Scary.

On the other matter of kids running around with expensive toys, my son has an iphone but he is 14 and he bought it himself with money he saved up and it was second hand, I don't agree with kids just being given things, if they are made to work and save themselves for it, it makes it that little bit more theirs and they treat it with more respect. I always had to save up for things when i was a kid.

Originally Posted by wyrdness

GPS tagging of photos has been a feature of the iPhone for years. Nothing new about that.

It wasn't a shown feature on the (old) firmware I was running & wasn't an option to turn on or off. Just the idea that you are being monitored without your knowledge makes me wonder what else they are gathering without your consent or knowledge.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

My big question really is how has the world come to a point where 12 year olds are running around with £400+ "toys" in their pockets, and are likely to be shunned by their peers if they dont.

Its always been like that. Peer pressure / being shunned because others have something you dont has always been there, just when I was a child it was other things i.e. toys / action man / star wars figures / what model of Raleigh Burner you had... so the cost was alot less.

Technology moves so fast, those expensive £400+ toys wont be £400 in a few years time, but anyway I digress..

I think SK is right, Tablet isnt the way to go for creating office docs and such like...

[flymo]

If I were you I would not force any decision on her. Discuss them with her openly and allow her to make her own choice.

Bias aside, for a tablet you cannot go wrong with the iPad. It is superb at what it does and actually holds it price particularly well. If you bought one and decided it wasnt for you then you'll be able to get rid no problem.

The big issue to focus on in your decision is Office documents. There is no tablet around today that deals with document creation particularly well, especially for Office docs. Sharing and reading docs created elsewhere, no problem.

[SoulKiss]

I guess I am a bit biased - more than just my Anti-Apple stance.

I REALLY cannot see what use a tablet is.

Through work, because we are starting to look at developing for these, I have access to them, and apart from one night I have never borrowed it.

Its usless as an input device for more than SMS length messages.

As a remote web-browser its about useful - but my phone handles that just as well.

Apple's big marketing coup was to convince everyone that they needed one of these things. Well that and getting everyone to "Think Different" by buying the same Computer...

Aint read all this thread, but skim read and didn't notice this mentioned. Asus Trasformer. Its great because it is a netbook and tablet all in one. Asus are a good company that dominates much of the PC hardware sector so know what they are doing. It runs Android 3.x and will get upgrade to the new 4 so Asus say and quite soon.

The added keyboard means that you can use it for things like writing, it also lets you use the web a little better (much of the internet isnt very touch friendly) with the touch pad and keyboard. You also have USB support, so practically anything you can plug into a computer should work with this, including flash pens, mice, game pads etc etc.

There is the new one coming out soon so the prices might drop soon of the older one. Dont worry about the first one being out of date though as it wont be an issue for a good while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_pcK...eature=related

http://www.ebuyer.com/262116-asus-tr...edium=products

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

Aint read all this thread, but skim read and didn't notice this mentioned. Asus Trasformer. Its great because it is a netbook and tablet all in one. Asus are a good company that dominates much of the PC hardware sector so know what they are doing. It runs Android 3.x and will get upgrade to the new 4 so Asus say and quite soon.

The added keyboard means that you can use it for things like writing, it also lets you use the web a little better (much of the internet isnt very touch friendly) with the touch pad and keyboard. You also have USB support, so practically anything you can plug into a computer should work with this, including flash pens, mice, game pads etc etc.

There is the new one coming out soon so the prices might drop soon of the older one. Dont worry about the first one being out of date though as it wont be an issue for a good while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_pcK...eature=related

http://www.ebuyer.com/262116-asus-tr...edium=products

If she's going to use to show off to her mates, AND be useful for doing work on, get either the Asus eeePad Transformer above, or it's close cousin the 'Slider' (which I personally prefer):
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/ipad-and-t...view-50002175/

Wow, thanks guys.

She doesnt really want it just to show off, shes not that kind of girl, if she did then she wouldnt be getting it!! She is a good, hardworking kid (top of her year in SATs results) and will get a LOT of use out of it, for school work and for pleasure, which is why im happy for her to have one, and why I want to make sure she gets the one best suited to her needs.

Both Asus Transformer and Slider look like they may be a good compromise between the practicality she needs and the 'style' she wants. I'll take her to look at some and see what she thinks.

Thanks again for your input