I am buying my youngest daughter a iPad Air 2. (probably tomorrow for her birthday)
She has her hart set on it. But I think its overpriced fashion accessory.
She already has a ipod touch.
Its going to cost 509 euro. Is it worth it, I know virtually nothing about apple products other then there very Expensive in comparison to similar products. I could get her a half decent lap top for very little extra.
More powerful then a ipad (I think) it will have windows 8 more memory bigger hard drive.
If any of you guys have a ipad air is it any good, And is there much of a difference between the ipad and ipod.

I have an iPad Air and it goes everywhere with me.

And, yes, it could be described as a giant iPod touch, but the fact that the screen is so much bigger makes it suitable for most of the things I use my desktop PC for. Days go by without my PC being switched on, as most of the things I do on my PC, I can do just as, or more, quickly on the iPad.

I don't have an iPad Air, but I do have an iPad, as well as Android and Windows 8/RT tablets.

From my experience, the iPad is smoother than most, and of course more supported. I've only used cheap Android tablets, but I haven't used one that I really liked - they always seemed slow and clunky. Apple doesn't allow Flash to run on the iPads, so that may limit how some sites work, but many recognize the iPad browser and provide an alternative site automatically.

My Windows RT tablet is OK, but not as smooth as the iPad. The Asus Transformer T1000 that I have is the best tablet for my uses. It runs full Windows 8.1, so I can install any normal Windows program on it. I got the 32GB version, which was about US$350, but they make a 64GB version for a little more. It has a micro-SD slot, so I added 64GB of storage there, and it shows up as a D: drive to the system, and works just like any other drive.

That price also includes a keyboard, which has a USB 3.0 port on it, which is very useful and something the iPad doesn't have. The tablet also has a mini-HDMI connector on it, so with a standard adapter cable you can connect it to TVs or external monitors. I've actually connected mine to a Kensington USB universal dock, that not only connected a full-sized keyboard and mouse, but also a 24" monitor, and it drove that as an extended display with no problem.

The Asus has a wide screen, so it's not as convenient for using it in portrait mode, and it's not as light and thin as an iPad Air, so that may limit its usability. I find it handy because of all the connectivity and application compatibility with Windows, and I can even browse network shares, but that's probably because I'm a nerd One thing I think is a real advantage is it includes the basic MS Office apps, like Word, Excel and PowerPoint (full versions).

The Asus is not built as well as the iPads, being all plastic, and is probably more likely to have issues, especially with the keyboard, so if it's going to be carried and bounced around, it might be more prone to having problems. Plus, it's running Windows 8, which a lot of people don't like. The iPad Air's screen is probably noticeably better as well.

I'm sure the ipad is a essential tool for many.
My main concern. Is it worth buying a ipad when she has a ipod.

I think it depends on what she's going to use it for. The iPod has such a small screen, it is difficult (at least for me) to really look up info from the Internet, or create any documents. If she's just going to listen to music, send a few short emails, look up an occasional bit of info, the iPad may not be worth it. However, if she's going to look up information for school, perhaps type up large emails or other documents, watch long videos/movies, then the iPad will make that much easier.

I believe they are still selling the original iPad Air at a reduce price, and there's also the iPad Mini, so unless you think she needs specific features of the newest iPad Air 2, you might be able to provide most of the benefits of an iPad without spending as much money.

Yeah, my suggestion was going to be NOT to buy the latest one but buy a previous gen model for less. My wife has an iPad 2 32GB (not Air 2, I mean the 2nd gen) and it still runs everything fine. She also has an iPad Mini 16GB (original) because it was on sale for $200.
The reason Apple's iPad sales are slowing is because despite the little improvements here and there, after the iPad 2 came out they were really more nice-to-have than necessary. My mother-in-law has the original iPad and it's almost useless at this point as it can't take iOS 8, but most apps have been updated to work with it and the compatibility problems with its old hardware increase.

So if you can get a pre-Air iPad, do it. It's better to get an older one with more RAM than a newer one with less IMO. The Mini we have is always short on RAM, validating the decision she made in 2011 to get the 32GB iPad 2.



The Jedi Master

How old is she?

Thanks guys
Took your advice on board but all I have to do now is convince my daughter.
I agree she will need the 32bit version.

Bought the wife an iPad Air for her birthday last year. A highly successful gift! As toys go, it is a very nice toy for Apple enthusiasts.

For my part I detest Apple products. I much prefer Android.

So, what happened?

Did you meet her expectations with an iPad Air 2, or become the worst father in history by getting her something else?

The thread title is a bit misleading as it doesn't really have anything to do with tech.

Long story short.NO
Turns out when she starts secondary school next year its now a requirement from the school to purchase a tablet supplied by them and them only. It comes with preloaded software (no more books) cost 700 euro but that includes Insurance for the tablet. I managed to convince her that a ipad would not really benefit her because she has The ipod. So I took her to smyths toy store. bought her vouchers and let her pick her own stuff.
Just to add I really don't mind buying my kids high tech stuff if it will benefit them I encourage them
To embrace technology. but what I wont do is buy then overpriced tech just because its cool to have.

A �700 purchase required for entry to high school?
Yipes.

(Weird, the browser or the site really has a hard
time with the euro symbol - kept resetting the
page, but I persisted until it surrendered.)

Be very careful about that. There have been cases of schools and companies installing spyware on computers that students and employees bring home that activates the camera and microphone without your knowledge. One school in the US did just that and collected tens of thousands of photos of the kids in their rooms, getting dressed, sleeping, whatever. For security reasons of course.... but certainly not the student's security.

Tape over the camera and keep the thing in a drawer when not in use. You can never overestimate the threat that modern devices and the web pose to your kids' privacy.

Ah, school fundraising at its best!



The Jedi Master

Make that fourteen hundred euro. Her older sister goes to the same school.
Its not compulsory for my older daughter to purchase a tablet
But I know she will want one and I wont deny her one
There's nothing free about the Irish education system.
From the day they start you have to purchase books uniforms pay for art supplies
Sport gear school day trips etc. I would say about a thousand a year per child would not be a exaggeration.

Thanks for the tip off Cold_Flying.
I will raise this matter with the board of governors in the next meeting.
And I will want assurances in relation to privacy.
Personally I am in favour of introducing tablets.
My only issue is do they really think one tablet per teenager will last five years (Never going to happen)

How can a school mandate such an expensive toy as a requirement. If it is required they should furnish it for free. Guess that is just a difference in culture.

Over here you do pay some fees for public school but the majority of the price comes from taxes and government programs. Book and etc are all provided free and you pay a fee if the item is destroyed by the end of the year.

Believe it or not most parents will welcome the introduction of tablets
In theory anyway it should lead to a eventual saving.
You can also purchase it by the monthly payments scheme arranged by the school with a credit union.
Compared to buying the school books which can set you back anything up to 800 euro starting off
And between 4/5 hundred every year after that some schools do have book rental schemes which really do help
But other schools use it as a way of keeping underprivileged kids who tend to under achieve out of there schools
They will never admit that though. they also make you buy the school uniform from only one source and make sure you do by placing the school emblem on part of the uniform so a school jumper that would cost say twenty euro in A supermarket will actually cost you fifty or even seventy euro/I agree with uniforms but that pissess me off Big time. But on the whole the Irish school system is a good one the standards match favourable with much wealthier country's who spend a hell of lot more per student.

Yes, but just look at the difference in philosophy. In Europe, while everyone pays taxes for basic education costs, many of the specific costs are borne by the parents whose children are actually using it. In the US, everyone's taxes that go to education must be a bit higher so that the parents pay less.

It strikes me that the US way is more "European" and the European way sounds more like you'd expect it done here.

That said, less and less is being covered by the schools now. My daughter is in kindergarten and we've had to buy books for her already.




The Jedi Master

That's what happens when public schools rely on property taxes for the vast majority of their funding and as you know, Florida's real estate market was one of the most inflated during the boom years and municipal governments throughout the State got used to that.

My youngest is in Grade 11 now, but when she was in elementary school, we had to supply, amongst other thing, several rolls of paper towel, and four tennis balls. The tennis balls were fitted onto the feet of their chairs at school in order to reduce scuffing on the floor and lower cleaning costs. Now they actually sell tennis balls for just this purpose in the school supply sections of many stores.

As for books, wait until your little darling is in college. My eldest is in health sciences and some of her chemistry books are $200 a pop. If we're lucky we can get some of them used at the college book exchange. I think this semester it was about $700 for her textbooks.