Help selecting tab for 8yo bday gift

[jerseygirl]

Today's my daughter's 8th birthday and I want to get her a tablet for under $200. So far, I've narrowed it down to the Coby MID8042 and the Visual Land Prestige 7. Both have ICS, but what I need help with is the specs...

Coby has 1 Ghz Cortex A8 processor, 1GB DDR2 system memory and 4gb onboard storarge.

VL7 has 1.2 Ghz Cortex A8 processor, 512mb system memory and 8gb onboard storage.

Can someone translate that to me as to what that means as far as speed and app space?

Seems Coby is a little slower processor...but than the VL has such little system memory. Does the 8gb onboard compensate to make it better overall? Please help. She's mostly going to play free games from the app store, watch netflix movies and youtube videos, listen to music, and maybe surf the net a little.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[bdfull3r]

Give her an IOU for the Nexus 7. Anything else besides a Kindle Fire is a waste of money. Cheaper tablets are weaker laggy, bad touchscreens, poor experience all around. The Nexus 7 is where its at, if it can't wait then the Kindle Fire or Nook tablet

 

[bdfull3r]

If you are stupidly deadset on those choices I would consider the Coby. They are a bigger name the increase RAM is more important then memory, you can get a microUSB card real cheap to add Memory, you can NOT upgrade RAM in Android.

 

[area223]

Nexus 7. Others are a disappointment.

 

[jerseygirl]

Well, I ended up getting her the Galaxy Tab2...the cheaper alternatives were just that...CHEAP!! You all were right, the touch screens were laggy, poor quality and it just was not worth the money. The Kindle was a close alternative, but I chose not to get the Kindle because it did not have an option for additonal storage, or a camera/video recorder. While the quality of the cam/video isn't the greatest, for my daughter it is fine and much better than her DSI. She can edit her photos and videos with any photo editing app for fun, which she likes to do. I figure she can get a lot more use out the Galaxy, even though it has more features than she will need to use at this point...it's something that will be useful for a few years. Nexus was a nice alternative too...but again, it didn't have the front/back camera...so I just dished out the extra 49 bucks since I went over my price limit anyway .

 

[bdfull3r]

Glad some one listened to our advice lol, almost never happens on these forums. Someone asks if chinese tablet a is better then b and we say they both suck no one listens.

I understand the camera, i am really hope she enjoys her new Android tablet. Any questions feel free to ask again

 

[Flinn]

Well, I ended up getting her the Galaxy Tab2...the cheaper alternatives were just that...CHEAP!! You all were right, the touch screens were laggy, poor quality and it just was not worth the money. The Kindle was a close alternative, but I chose not to get the Kindle because it did not have an option for additonal storage, or a camera/video recorder. While the quality of the cam/video isn't the greatest, for my daughter it is fine and much better than her DSI. She can edit her photos and videos with any photo editing app for fun, which she likes to do. I figure she can get a lot more use out the Galaxy, even though it has more features than she will need to use at this point...it's something that will be useful for a few years. Nexus was a nice alternative too...but again, it didn't have the front/back camera...so I just dished out the extra 49 bucks since I went over my price limit anyway .

I have seen demos of a number of sub $100 chinese tablets using ICS and the capacitive touch screens were no more laggy than any other tablet with a single core processor. These would have all been fine options for an 8 year old. I saw one Allwinner with ICS and a front face camera for $60 with free shipping. That would have been perfect for her. Heck, I'll take that!

 

[The dood]

Tablet on a budget... No way around it! The nexus 7 IS the only option!!! But, if you can afford to throw cash around the galaxy tab is a solid unit. I just can't wrap my brain around buying a tablet like that for an 8yo!
VERY lucky girl!!!

Sent from my PH44100 using Android Central Forums

 

[jerseygirl]

I have seen demos of a number of sub $100 chinese tablets using ICS and the capacitive touch screens were no more laggy than any other tablet with a single core processor. These would have all been fine options for an 8 year old. I saw one Allwinner with ICS and a front face camera for $60 with free shipping. That would have been perfect for her. Heck, I'll take that!

I, too looked at demos online that looked good, but I recently had the opportunity to play around with my little cousins tablet (I think it was a Coby) and it sucked compared to the Galaxy as far as smoothness and touch sensitivity. And for my daughter, the front facing camera is only useful for Tangoing me or her sister...she's not video-chatting with anyone, lol. I needed that rear camera with video...for her needs that's more useful as she's been making videos, practicing editing, etc. To me, it's a valuable skill that my 8 year old is learning and also increasing her creativity.

 

[jerseygirl]

Tablet on a budget... No way around it! The nexus 7 IS the only option!!! But, if you can afford to throw cash around the galaxy tab is a solid unit. I just can't wrap my brain around buying a tablet like that for an 8yo!
VERY lucky girl!!!

Sent from my PH44100 using Android Central Forums

I've laid some pretty strict ground rules on using the tablet and on when she can and can't take it out of the house. She doesn't have her own email account set up just yet, so I can monitor her youtube, googleplay, etc usage. Most importantly, I did let her know that she would be using her own birthday money to purchase the tablet...I supplemented the remainder. To me, when a child has to put forth their own cash they better understand and respect these type of purchases and the responsibility that comes with it.

It's been almost a month...so far so good!!

 

[carracerz14]

I think the most important question here is why in the hell does an 8 year old need a tablet for? What has this world come to:thumbdown:

Sent from my RAZR MAXXIMUS

 

[jerseygirl]

This world has evolved. Even homework assignments nowadays require use of a computer. Yes, even at her age. Many supplemental materials are on the computer, as well. So I see more than entertainment value in a tablet. I'm just thankful I'm blessed enough to be able to provide it for my child. To each his own, I suppose....and further more I don't know what's so abnormal about it. When doing my research I found child specific tablets. So, seems to me with technology evolving and all, particularly in education, there's going to be more kids her age with tablets.

I think the most important question here is why in the hell does an 8 year old need a tablet for? What has this world come to:thumbdown:

Sent from my RAZR MAXXIMUS

 

[Flinn]

I, too looked at demos online that looked good, but I recently had the opportunity to play around with my little cousins tablet (I think it was a Coby) and it sucked compared to the Galaxy as far as smoothness and touch sensitivity. And for my daughter, the front facing camera is only useful for Tangoing me or her sister...she's not video-chatting with anyone, lol. I needed that rear camera with video...for her needs that's more useful as she's been making videos, practicing editing, etc. To me, it's a valuable skill that my 8 year old is learning and also increasing her creativity.

I think Coby uses resistive touch screens so they would suck. If you purchased the tablet for the camera, then a used camera phone like the HTC 4G Evo might have been a cheaper option. That phone has a 4 inch screen. They go for around $35 or so.

 

[jerseygirl]

Going through my old posts and came across this one. My daughter is now eleven and still has her same tablet in good condition. I'm glad I didn't let the naysayers discourage me from what has proven to be a great investment.