Ipad vs tablet vs kindle fire

My daughter will be 12 next month (I know, I dont look old enough!!) and wants cash for her birthday and xmas because she wants to buy a tablet of some description.
TBH i've tried to talk her out of an ipad because I cant afford the constant downloading from itunes, id rather she had something to download mp3s on because I tend to download via Easynews. She also needs to be able to create and use MS Office docs for her schoolwork so I was tending towards a Galaxy tablet which comes with Quick Office.
However, theres now lots of talk about Amazons Kindle Fire which will be much cheaper.
Apart from needing MS office she just wants the usual stuff - wifi, apps, internet...

Ive done quite a lot of reading but end up getting a bit overloaded with info so wondered what were the opinions of anyone here who uses any of the above.

She'll have up to £400. Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions, KJ xx

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by kellyjo

My daughter will be 12 next month (I know, I dont look old enough!!) and wants cash for her birthday and xmas because she wants to buy a tablet of some description.
TBH i've tried to talk her out of an ipad because I cant afford the constant downloading from itunes, id rather she had something to download mp3s on because I tend to download via Easynews. She also needs to be able to create and use MS Office docs for her schoolwork so I was tending towards a Galaxy tablet which comes with Quick Office.
However, theres now lots of talk about Amazons Kindle Fire which will be much cheaper.
Apart from needing MS office she just wants the usual stuff - wifi, apps, internet...

Ive done quite a lot of reading but end up getting a bit overloaded with info so wondered what were the opinions of anyone here who uses any of the above.

She'll have up to £400. Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions, KJ xx

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.

Shes got a laptop, all her friends are getting ipads which is probably why she wants one!! Im happy for her to spend her money on one because it'll be her money, just want to make sure she gets the one most suited to her needs. Thanks for the reply SK.

The Amazon Kindle Fire looks interesting, but it's basically a device for consuming content bought from Amazon. So if you don't want her to be purchasing downloads, then the Fire probably isn't the best bet either.

If you need MS Office then you ought to be looking at a laptop, rather than a tablet. Edit: didn't see your comment about her already having a laptop. There's no point in buying a tablet just for the sake of owning one. iPads can play any mp3s btw, not just ones downloaded from iTunes.

[Stuuk1]

If you can hold off (unlikely) Microsoft are releasing 'windows 8' tablet which looks very good!

Which will have all you need for creating documents.

Google it, think its being released some time next year.

Other than that, but a tablet that will retain some value and keep it in good condition so you could sell it.


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[maviczap]

On a similar vien KJ my 13 year old wants an Iphone4s, no chance of that, previous to that it was an Ipod, previous to that it was a Blackberry. Its all what her friends have got or want and we haven't bowed to her wishes yet.

Over my dead body do I want any Apple products, I would rather she has an Android phone that can play Mp3's bought from Amazon or elsewhere. Plus all our music is ripped to MP3's already & I don't want I Tunes

[Stuuk1]

Originally Posted by maviczap

On a similar vien KJ my 13 year old wants an Iphone4s, no chance of that, previous to that it was an Ipod, previous to that it was a Blackberry. Its all what her friends have got or want and we haven't bowed to her wishes yet.

Over my dead body do I want any Apple products, I would rather she has an Android phone that can play Mp3's bought from Amazon or elsewhere. Plus all our music is ripped to MP3's already & I don't want I Tunes

Apple products don't just play .aac files... They do play .mp3 files! You add them through iTunes meaning you can buy music from wherever..


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.217358,0.244606
Member of the 1 litre club...

Originally Posted by maviczap

Over my dead body do I want any Apple products, I would rather she has an Android phone that can play Mp3's bought from Amazon or elsewhere. Plus all our music is ripped to MP3's already & I don't want I Tunes

It's good to see that you've checked all of the facts before arriving at that conclusion </sarcasm>

As has been mentioned, iPods can play mp3s bought from elsewhere or ripped yourself. You don't even have to use iTunes as there are alternatives. If you use Spotify then that will sync to iPod too.

Originally Posted by maviczap

On a similar vien KJ my 13 year old wants an Iphone4s, no chance of that, previous to that it was an Ipod, previous to that it was a Blackberry. Its all what her friends have got or want and we haven't bowed to her wishes yet.

Over my dead body do I want any Apple products, I would rather she has an Android phone that can play Mp3's bought from Amazon or elsewhere. Plus all our music is ripped to MP3's already & I don't want I Tunes

She has had an itouch for a couple of years which she has mainly used for free apps and then had itunes vouchers for occasional gifts, and she has got her moneysworth out of it. I'l also let her 'earn' downloads for helping out, good reports etc. but they dont get pocket money on a regular basis. She wanted an iphone but got told no. In September when she started to walk to school on her own I added a smartphone onto my contract for £10 a month but she only has it so she can contact me if she wants to go to a friends or needs to contact me for whatever reason. I decided that it was worth £2.50 a week for my peace of mind that she can contact me if she needs to.

I dont really want her to get an ipad, id rather she got a galaxy tab, but im probably biased because I have a galaxy phone and love it.
The Windows 8 tablet sounds ideal but wont be out in time and shes a typical kid and will want to spend the money before its even in her purse!!

I know she should wait, but its the only thing she wants, and I dont want to spend money on stuff she doesnt want and wont use. Shes happy to forego any other presents from all family members to get enough cash together so I feel she should be allowed to spend it on what she wants.

Doesnt seem fair though when my laptops one step up from my old zx spectrum!!

I appreciate your replies, thanks guys

I suppose I've got this pleasure to come in eight or nine years

I took my two girls (three and half and twenty one months) to the park this afternoon and as usual it was full of thirteen year olds either sporting the latest Blackberrys or discussing the merits of the 4s vs. the latest Galaxy offering; it was all very depressing. I can understand a laptop or even a tablet but the only reason I can see kids that age needing a smartphone is because all their mates have them! Pity the parents I must be getting old.

Back on track, gotta admit being a bit of a Apple fanboy of late but I'm getting cheesed of with having to wait for jailbreaks to make MY phone do what I want. A jail broken iPad 2 looks even further in the future and at this stage I'd be inclined to go for an Android tablet, looks to me like to have more control over it. Only reason I'm staying with iPhone is because there's a load of apps I use regularly that don't seem to be available under Android and in any case it would cost a couple of hundred quid to replace them anyway. Mind you if the likes of BNF and MIMS are available under Android I could be persuaded.

I agree with Wyrdness re the Kindle although it's about time they came out with their own colour device.