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All iPads iPad for kids?
- Thread starter rlu929s
- Start date
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For educational purpose for kids? I would think Noble & Barnes Nook HD+ or Amazon Fire HD would be great for them to read books, watch movies, and games. I am not comfortable giving kids iPad or mini they could break easily. They are cheap than iPad/Mini. 
My children are 6 and 7. They have had ipad mini's for over a year now with no problems. I did put them both in lifeproof fre cases. They are holding up well.
If your kids break stuff, otter box an iPad 2. After market iPads with more data may be the way to go.
I'd say a pair of Minis, even first gen would be fine. My boyfriend and I have first gen minis and play Clash of Clans on them. Mine is a 16gb, and I have 32 apps and 4 movies with just under 4gb available. I also have a Survivor case since it goes in and out of my backpack for school. I have yet to use mine on a trip, but I imagine that it'd serve my needs. It was very useful for college classes with Notability and Google Drive.
iPad 2 at this point is too outdated and no longer sold new. 4th gen is okay, but I feel like the side bezels aren't ideal for gaming. The mini and Air are better designed for that.
I'd keep an eye on the refurb store for minis, especially closer to October when we can probably expect an update.
iPad 2 at this point is too outdated and no longer sold new. 4th gen is okay, but I feel like the side bezels aren't ideal for gaming. The mini and Air are better designed for that.
I'd keep an eye on the refurb store for minis, especially closer to October when we can probably expect an update.
My grandkids 7 and 4 have the first gen mini. They have held up well. They are in substantial cases. There are many educational apps and their mom uses them for that purpose, and then there is mine craft for the 7yo too.
You will not go wrong with any of the iPads.
You will not go wrong with any of the iPads.
The Mini 1 is just as outdated as the iPad 2. Same exact platform.
They're apparently getting iOS 8, but I wouldn't count on them past that. They also only have 512MB which is a huge bottleneck even on 7.
The 4 by contrast has 1GB, will be supported at least 1 more year, has quite a bit more CPU power, and 4x the GPU power (sort of...it also has 4x the pixels to push, but then programs don't have to render at 4x the resolution, so it's still effectively more powerful).
Especially for the price Best Buy has the 4 for this week, I think it seems like a reasonable purchase. The mini, no way...although I'd still get one over an android tablet :-O
The mini 1st gen and the iPad 2 may have the same specs, but the mini is still sold new while the 2 is not. The 4th gen has better specs, but I find that the mini can still handle current games. Kids don't care too much about RAM or retina (trust me, I work with them daily; only the original iPad is limiting). OP was also concerned about price, and the higher capacity full size iPads are more expensive.
It was until very recently. That means nothing anyway. The iPod touch 4 was sold until just months before its support ended.
If they're not curious about hardware they may not care, but they'll care when you can't use it online anymore or run newer programs, or even just have to wait as things keep getting loaded back in to RAM.
By $100. The iPad 4 seems like a good choice at least while on sale for something relatively cheap but still with support. Mini 1 you're virtually guaranteeing it's not safe to use online past next fall.
You say that like $100 is nothing when it's half what the Mini costs and as if the Mini will suddenly stop functioning come fall next year.
I gifted my godchild an iPad Mini for Christmas and her mom was actually happy to get my godchild's 4th gen iPod Touch to use for some casual games and light web surfing. I do agree about the original Mini and iPad 2 sharing the same outdated hardware. However, they can still be worth buying for certain scenarios if there's significant enough savings to be had.
as if the Mini will suddenly stop functioning come fall next year.
It won't "stop functioning", but you obviously can't use it online past next year, at least not for email or browsing the web. (Hulu or the like are probably fine, for as long as they support the OS). Beyond that, software support will dry up, if you care about that.
For certain situations, the original iPad1 may be worth a look too.
I have a 64gb version so it is good to load up on movies and music, and even some (casual!) games. Attach it to the back of a car seat, and let the young ones watch it.
If you can pick up one for a steal, they will entertain a child for many an hour.
What? Why wouldn't you be able to use it online? Even the original first gen iPad, which is no longer updated, can still browse the web and do email.
Do please explain why you won't be able to use it for email and web browsing come next year. I have an original iPhone 16GB kept for nostalgia that still works for email and web browsing. It's slow sure, but the Mail app and Safari app still functions.
Software support will dry up, sure. But that actually seems to be pretty slow to happen. Plenty of the apps I use still support iOS 5 and for the ones that don't anymore, it's not like the version I now have will suddenly stop working.
It won't be supported, thus won't be secure.
Surely you don't actually use it for that
LOL
This is not a PC. On iOS all apps are sandboxed, so viruses can't execute. It doesn't need to be supported for it to be secure.
Actually it is a PC, and it doesn't matter what OS it is, it is never safe to use software connected to the internet that isn't supported.
Sandboxing is 100% irrelevant, as malware can just bypass it. That's how "jailbreaking" works, and that's the entire reason you need to be running on a secure OS. It's like you're saying "well this security feature that can now be bypassed will protect me because if it worked it would protect me!"
This security myth is horrifying...you're just asking to be taken over, and you don't even understand the risks.
Well, there was a jailbreaking method that worked by visiting a website, but that's been patched. If another such exploit is found, I think it's likely that Apple would release a patch even for older iOS devices that no longer receive normal updates.
Regardless, sandboxing does provide an extra level of security not available on desktop/laptop computers, and it takes jailbreaking to defeat it. If you pay attention and keep up to date on internet security issues, you can safely use older iOS devices online. No need to be so paranoid about it.
There would already be dozens if not hundreds such exploits. Nothing fixed in the stream of iOS updates since the last one it got has been fixed.
They haven't and won't. While I think companies should support OSes longer than they do, they can't support them forever and at least are massively beating Android's support.
Actually it is available on 'big' OSes too, but regardless it only helps if the OS itself hasn't been compromised, which obviously any OS is if left unpatched.
I actually do. It's part of my job, and I listen to a number of security reports/pros weekly. That's why I know the idea of using an unsupported OS on the internet is a horrific, almost comically horrific idea.
It isn't paranoia at all. Organized crime (and governments for that matter) are constantly evolving attacks on the public. If you're not running a patched up OS and Internet-facing programs, it's guaranteed that anyone who wants to can take over your system.
You can't go a week without critical flaws found in some major piece of software or OS. Heck, it was recently found that the new improved iOS random number generator wasn't actually random at all, is completely broken...as just an example or a recent major flaw discovered with iOS specifically.
Not to mention, an old OS/browser will have out of date security certificates. Even if THAT was the only problem, that alone would be reason not to use it. And iOS doesn't do certificate revocation checks, not even 'soft fail'.
If there are ways to jailbreak older versions of iOS by just surfing the web or downloading emails, why haven't they gotten more publicity?
My soon to be 2 year old and 4 year old each have their own full size iPads (iPad 3 and iPad Air).
Since they are very young I have griffin military cases on both.
I try to limit them to one hour a day.
My 4 year old watches way too much YouTube. He'll blow through 20 gb lte data in 4 days on a recent trip (we have unlimited verizon lte data I use on iPad with unlimited hotspot)
So yes. iPads are especially great for road trips especially if you have cellular data.
Since they are very young I have griffin military cases on both.
I try to limit them to one hour a day.
My 4 year old watches way too much YouTube. He'll blow through 20 gb lte data in 4 days on a recent trip (we have unlimited verizon lte data I use on iPad with unlimited hotspot)
So yes. iPads are especially great for road trips especially if you have cellular data.