My daughter will be 7 next month. We are thinking about getting her a multi media device for a lot of reasons.
1. she loves taking pictures
2. she loves listening to music at bedtime (her CD player just broke).
3. She is getting more and more into music.
4. she loves playing games on our phones (we limit computer time to less than 1 hour per week)...
Question is...do we buy a camera and an MP3 player? Do we get a non-Apple device and perhaps have issues trying to download music, etc...or do we go with the expense of an Ipod (that we know and trust)...with the Ipod she could have games/camera/music...etc but they are a lot of money...
My mom got her an Ipod shuffle (with touch screen) for her birthday. We also got a docking station for her. It stays on the docking station and she uses it a lot.
We got the kids Ematic Twigs for Christmas. They are on sale at Walmart. The only thing it does not have is a camera and it is not a phone. Otherwise it's the same screen size and has the same ability to download all the free android games from the market.
The kids here and 5 and 8. My grand-kids that are 2 and 4 are getting Kindle Fires.
We have never owned an I-anything and my kids get along just fine. My daughter (now 10) does have an MP3 player but we got her a low-priced one b/c of the concern of losing/breaking, etc. It works just fine and you can most definitely download music in that format (and many times it's a lot cheaper than Itunes). My kids borrow our pocket digital camera and that is just fine--mostly they just like the snapping of pictures and never really want to do anything with the pics. There are lots of other good products on the market--Apple's just done a great job with marketing and so everyone thinks that's all there is but it's not (IMO!)
Ipod. Check craigslist, great deals on there.
a cheaper option is to get an iPhone 3gs or 4 ($50-$100)
Has ipod, camera, calendar, GPS tracking, all that jazz... just don't hook up the phone line :) !!
Or, alternatively, DO hook up the phone line. It's $10 a month to add onto your plan. Our son pays his phone bill ($10) every month out of his allowance.
Depends on how responsible your 7-year old is. My SD got an iPod when she was 6 and at age 7 she lost it. She was carrying it around and she set it down and walked away.
Also, it was very scratched because she didn't like the case it was in so she took it out. The whole things was very bad condition anyway because she didn't take care of it.
She got an iTouch last year and she has taken good care of it. So if your daughter responsible an iTouch will take pictures and do all of that stuff.
Just know that there aren't any internet filters on the iTouch so if it's hooked up to the internet she can see whatever she wants on YouTube and surf any page. Right now my daughter is not allowed on the internet on her iTouch and we have it turned off. We have the thing locked so she can't add games or download things on their own.
You can often get the iTouches refurbished for less! We did!
Well, obviously if you have a lot of disposable income and don't care whether your child looses or breaks a $200+ device...I know preschoolers with their own IPads, but they are kids in families where money is not an issue.
Personally I would not buy such an expensive device for a child that age. Get her a new CD player ($20) and a little camera (the camera on the ipod sucks anyways).
That would be my choice.
you wont' have trouble putting music or movies on a non apple device , you use the software already on your computer ( windows media player) or what it comes with.
No way I would buy a 7 yr old an ipod. You can get cheeper players that work just as well and aren't as proprietary as Apple. Our kids both have Sansa Fuzes. They are great.
We got for our 7 yo ipod touch (bday gift). All the purchased games can be downloaded on his ipod too (no double fee, ipod is registered under my apple id- of course I didn't set up my email to be downloaded on ipod).
There is great face time feature which only requires wireless network connection (not a phone number and line) and she will be able to "call" and see anyone who has iphone or ipod touch. My kiddos were using it a lot while visiting grandparents last summer (their first time away without mom and dad! They were missing us and were happy to see us on the screen :) not to mention that zero minutes were used for the "calls").
Also she will be able to email, text any cousin, friend or you :) Take pictures and movies too.
She will be able to play games, listen to the music, check the weather ;-) (my kids like doing it) and what not. Endless possibilities!
Your daughter would be very happy to have ipod touch. I don't think older versions have camera- if not then no face time.
Good luck with the decision! And happy birthday to your daughter :)
Both my kids have ipod touches; ages 8 & 9, and have had them for about a year. They also had inexpensive mp3 players and cameras before they got the touches and they never used either. They use their touches all the time. We have to ok them leaving the house with it, and there have been a couple close calls where they left it at a friends, but overall they have been very responsible. Just yesterday while waiting for 2 hours at the dr office my son completed his 40 minutes of reading assignments and 20 minutes of math assignments. My 8 yo loves to use the camera and the camera related apps. My 9 yo will take it out and videotape he and his friends doing skateboard moves or playing nerf wars. It was worth the money for both. FWIW my kids saved 1/2 the money on their own and we matched the other half.
p.s. if you buy the iPhone as someone just mentioned, you would have to hook up the phone line in order to get the low subsidized price. otherwise, you would be paying like $600+ for that phone with no contract.
