One more thing to think about. The Nexus 7 is fragile! I had a nexus 7 and now a nook HD (thanks to the ultra cheap father's day pricing which, apparently, they are continuing for a while.) Anyway, I took my nexus 7 off the charger and it fell a short distance to the carpeted floor. The screen cracked from corner to corner and the digitizer only works in small portions of the screen. It would cost nearly as much as a new Nexus 7 to replace the screen. I have dropped the nook HD in similar circumstances (perhaps I should be less clumsy!), anyway, it survived just fine. The wrap-around plastic of the nook absorbs most of the shock instead of transferring it to the brittle edge-to-edge glass of the nexus. I only bring this up because you are mentioning that you want something for kids. Also, the multi-user interface is good on both the nook and the Nexus. There is no option for this on IOS. Lastly, with the nook's current pricing, and the opening it up to the play store, that is the direction I would go.