IPods For Kids?

[carj]

My husband and I both have iphones that the kids are always playing with. They are 8 and 5. They can install and play games and they know that they can only download free games.

Our old van had a DVD player built in which was great entertainment for long car trips. We just bought a new vehicle without a built in DVD player. I looked into having one installed and it was going to be about $700-800 for a decent player.

Instead, my husband suggested that we buy them each an Itouch. I was kind of against the idea because of the cost. It just seems almost obscene to buy a kid that age, a $300 toy. After weighing the pros and cons, we bought each kid a 16gig Itouch. (We wanted enough memory to put at least 8 movies on each one since we are making a 20 hour road trip to California later this month.

We bought them rubber cases and protective film for the screen. They play with ours all the time so I know that they can operate them.

They don't actually have them yet, we are giving them to them after their awards day at school. I know that they are both going to be very excited. They would NEVER think that we would buy these for them. We made them each buy their own Nintendo DS with money they earned from garage sales or from birthdays. They are going to be shocked! Our son wanted one of the smaller ipods last summer and I bought him a $15 MP3 player from Staples because I told him that he didn't need an ipod.

We decided that they might get more use out of the Itouch than they would from a car DVD player. Since we already had the money set aside for the DVD player, we bought the Itouch instead.

Now, I just need to keep working on converting all of our DVDs!

 

[Mrsdennison]

I realize shuffles are not as popular. However they are offering a gold color one in the avon book for 29 dollars.

I thought that was a great price considering they are 49 in the store.

mrsdennison

 

[tracylynn]

we can't live without them

 

[aussietravellers]

My DS got an ipod touch for his 9th birthday last year. He loves it.

 

[Princess Roo]

DH's old Touch (he got an iPhone) is basically DS's now. But, since he's only 4, he has limited use of it. So, he has to ask to use it, and then give it back to us when he is done. That way we limit his exposure to tv/games AND it's less likely to get damaged if it is always put away by us, we figure. DS *loves* it and can easily use it.

 

[santa's surpriz]

Santa brought DD6 an Ipod for Christmas. The best investment I ever made! I got her the 16g nano.She can read very well and toggles thru mine like a pro. So I thought what the heck! She listens to songs, I downloaded some videos and her favorite shows. It now has some of the Disney movies digital downloads, (BOLT, HSM) keeps her occuppied and has lasted longer than the 3 portable DVD players I went thru. 1 component and hours of entertainement. Bonus: keeps her occuppied on long trips and in long lines at WDW!

There is one drawback, every once in a while she gets it stuck on another language...usually some sort of arabic or chinese. It's a bear to figure out how to get ot back to english!

 

[scouthawkk]

With DD she got the IPOD Shuffle when she was 5. I bought it refurbished from Apple before our trip so she had her own music for the plane and I could sleep in peace. She kept wanting to "share" mine. Might be a "Safer" choice for the 5yr old.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod?mco=MTE3Njc
Looks like they have them for $39.

I second the refurbished ones. We (well, Easter Bunny) got DS the 1st gen Shuffle a couple years ago that way. I had to ride the train with him everyday to get him to and from pre-school, and he kept wanting to use mine. So, we borke down and got him a refurbished one so I could take mine back. He loved it. And still does. We just keep updating the music as his tastes change. His doesn't have video, obviously, but has lasted very well. DH got a 2nd gen Shuffle at the same time. Uses it all the time still. The refurbished ones work just as well as the one DH bought me brand new. Had we known about refurbs fist, they all would have been. Saves a little money for sure!

 

[chabs]

For those of you who have bought the refurbished Ipods from the Apple website-can you tell that they are not brand new? I want to buy one for my DD's birthday (11th) but I don't want it to look "used".

 

[scouthawkk]

For those of you who have bought the refurbished Ipods from the Apple website-can you tell that they are not brand new? I want to buy one for my DD's birthday (11th) but I don't want it to look "used".

The ones for DS (1st gen Shuffle) and DH (2nd gen Shuffle) came, if I remember correctly, in the same packaging as new ones. There may have been a sticker on it that said refurbished, but I can't remember. I couldn't tell the difference. They looked new to me. They have been very happy with them. In fact, I told DH that the 8g and 16g refurbished ones are on sale now and he told me I should get one as an upgrade for my 1st gen nano. I may have to take him up on that!

 

[RekkahBekkah]

For those of you who have bought the refurbished Ipods from the Apple website-can you tell that they are not brand new? I want to buy one for my DD's birthday (11th) but I don't want it to look "used".

We just bought my husband a 1st gen Ipod touch, refurbished from the Apple Store. They put the internal unit into a new case, brand new box, earbuds, and instructions, and new packaging. I think the bar code/sticker said refurbed on it, but that's all I remember seeing. Same great warranty, way less cost.

FWIW, you may want to look into the differences between Gen 1 and Gen 2 Ipod touches. Different people report more freezing issues with Gen 2. If you're sold on the extra features though (Nike thingy, external speaker), go with gen 2.

 

[chabs]

We just bought my husband a 1st gen Ipod touch, refurbished from the Apple Store. They put the internal unit into a new case, brand new box, earbuds, and instructions, and new packaging. I think the bar code/sticker said refurbed on it, but that's all I remember seeing. Same great warranty, way less cost.

FWIW, you may want to look into the differences between Gen 1 and Gen 2 Ipod touches. Different people report more freezing issues with Gen 2. If you're sold on the extra features though (Nike thingy, external speaker), go with gen 2.

I didn't even know that there were 2 different generations! Can you elaborate on the extra features? My DD might not care about those so I may be able to get the older one at a better price. Thanks for the info!

 

[whenuwishuponastarr]

My oldest daughter 16 & I both have the classic IPod. It seems like everywhere we go lately, we are always letting my younger daughter 10 & my son 5 borrow our IPods. It is just so handy to keep them loaded with entertainment for the little ones, a lot more convenient than bringing along portable DVD players with all their DVD's.

So my question is ..... would any of you recommend the IPod Nano for younger children (10 & 5)? They come in really cool colors, which would be nice to tell theirs apart from each other. I would want the ones with more memory, so it would be $200 each. You can buy the IPod classic for $250. Do you think the Nano would hold up just as well? They both have FP3 players, but rarely use them (they mainly like watching movies on our IPod, but they are starting to get into music more now that they are older).

I'm really considering getting them the IPod Nanos as a surprise right before our trip to Disney (both of my young ones are scared to fly - DS has never flown, DD was 3 when she last flew). Just wanted some opinions on what IPod works best for young kids. They haven't asked for these or even let on like they wanted one, it is just something that I thought that they might use a lot, especially for travel. They all three have Nintendo DS's, and use them all the time.

Also hubby has his eye on the IPod touch - it has less memory than the classic but costs more? Any thoughts? Is it worth the extra money? His birthday is in June, so this would be a great idea for him.

We got nanos for our 6dd and 8ds for xmas. They love them. I have the Itouch and they were very good about handling it so we decided to get them their own ipods. If ur kids r responsible, I say yes! The problem now is dd (2yo) likes to look at the videos and argues with her big sis to keep the ipod! lol Now I have sworn I m not getting her an ipod at 2.(but I do keep the videos on my Itouch so she can look at mine) I m a real push over
10days til vacation!!!!

 

[Order66]

My husband had an iPod Classic 80g and I have a nano 16g. Basically the differences are that his has a slightly larger screen, more memory but it is rather large and heavy (compared to other models). My nano has the smaller memory, smaller screen but it's got a much clearer picture than the classic. It's also so small and light to carry around. So you should weigh the pros and cons of more/less memory and bulky to carry vs. smaller and lighter and see what appeals to you. I have about 8 full movies and 3 or 4 30 minute shows as well as about 300 songs and it's not even half full. So 16g is really plenty of room. My husband likes that he can keep everything he wants on his and doesn't mind the size. He really only uses it when he's traveling or going somewhere that requires sitting and waiting for something. I prefer to have the smaller size to carry around more often and I don't mind changing movies and/or music when I'm in the mood for something different.

I have 2 boys that are now 9. And since I've gotten my nano my one son asked for one as well. He has a cheap MP3 player that he loves to listen to, but it's music only. I got them for their 7th birthday. They've lasted a while. Now he really wants one that plays video. So I will probably buy him the nano later this year. He prefers it to my husband's classic. He has a DS that he plays but he's easily bored by games on a long trip.

His brother asked for a PSP for his birthday last year. He's not exactly the most responsible kid, but he loves his PSP and takes excellent care of it. He's the gamer of the family and will play for hours if I'd let him (and on trips I usually do) but with the PSP he also can watch movies and listen to music as well as store pictures. The PSP works with pro-duo memory cards so space isn't a problem. He has 2 memory cards and plenty of space to save the movies on. The PSP had a huge screen for a portable devise, great picture and works with or without headphones as it has a small build in speaker. Sometimes they will watch a movie on it together. I just convert the movies with the PSP version of the program I use to make our iPod movies. You can also purchase UMD movies made for the PSP. He also has the same MP3 player his brother has, but only listens to it occasionally. He isn't as big of a music fan as his brother. He took his few favorite songs and put them on his PSP so he has them if he wants to hear them.

If you decide on an iPod surf and watch for sales. They ARE out there. I bought my nano as my mother's day present to myself. I found one, new not refurbed, online at JR music for only 159, free shipping, no tax (outside of NY). They had 20% off yellow, pink and orange (overstocked I guess) and 10% off other colors. Just as cheap as a refurb direct from apple.

regards

 

[AngelBabyJana]

Original poster here, I just want to thank you all for your replies. You've given me alot to think about.

After all of the postive feedback, I have decided to go ahead and get hubby an IPod Touch for his birthday next week. He will be surprised since he definitely isn't expecting one. It is something that I know he will like, and get alot of use out of.

Have any of you bought your IPod Touch from Walmart? Is it any different than buying from Apple? Is there a better warranty though Apple? The only reason I ask, my nephew works at Walmart (he lives with us) so I could give him the money and have him buy it for me, with the employee discount that is about $30 off. If Apple offers more buyer protection then I will just go there and get it.

Still trying to decide on the right IPod for my youngest two. I will either buy them new Nanos (it has to have the video feature), or just give them our classics and upgrade to the Ipod touch. I like how the Nanos are more compact so right now that is what I'm leaning towards. I plan to surprise them with it right before our trip, so that they will have it to keep them entertained on the flight.

Thank you all for your replies!

 

[aussietravellers]

I didn't even know that there were 2 different generations! Can you elaborate on the extra features? My DD might not care about those so I may be able to get the older one at a better price. Thanks for the info!

My DS has the 1st generation as that was all that was available when he got his. A friend of mine just got one for her son for his birthday and it is 2nd generation (which I didn't know existed until she got it for him). I do not know all of the differences but one major one is that with Gen 1 you can only listen to it with headphones on,without headphones you can not hear sound, where as Gen 2 you can have sound with the headphones off, sound will come out of the ipod, like a phone on loudspeaker, which is very handy, my ds goes to use his from time to time to use an app and there isn't any sound. Another difference that I know of is that we had to purchase additional software through itunes to play many of the apps that are being made for the iphone, it was only about $12 (australian dollars) so not expensive, but the 2nd generation already has this on it I believe.

There are probably more differences but they are two that I know of.

 

[kldmom2000]

My older DD (8) bought a Nano with her First Communion money. It was a lifesaver on our Disney trip! We dowloaded episodes of icarly and Hannah Montana so she could watch on the plane and downloaded her Hannah Montana, HS Musical, and Jonas Bros. CD's to it My 6 yr old DD wants one now too so I'm thinking that'll be here bday present in Sept.

 

[Britgirlus]

Have any of you bought your IPod Touch from Walmart? Is it any different than buying from Apple? Is there a better warranty though Apple? The only reason I ask, my nephew works at Walmart (he lives with us) so I could give him the money and have him buy it for me, with the employee discount that is about $30 off. If Apple offers more buyer protection then I will just go there and get it.

I bought my iTouch at Walmart - and honestly don't know if it makes a difference - I can't see why it would, though. My nephew bought an iPod on eBay - which didn't work - so he contacted Apple, gave the serial number, and they picked up the iPod from the house and shipped him a brand new one, free of charge !
My ds6 loves my iPod - he plays games on it downloaded from iTunes, and takes very good care of it

 

[AngelBabyJana]

My 10 year old has the ipod nano and its great. We even bought her itunes gift cards at christmas time so she could load it with music, movies and disney channel shows. Also, now a days when you buy a blue-ray movie, especially those made by disney, a lot of them come with the blue-ray version, a DVD version, and in this case most importantly, a digital version. You then take the digital version of the movie and can put it on the ipod. Perfect for long trips or flights! I ended up getting all my girls a video mp3 player of some sort so that I could load them with the disney movies and music....keeps them nice and entertained in the car or plane.

We don't have a blue-ray so I had no clue that some of them come with the digital version of the movie. How cool is that! We have soo many DVD's that I hated to upgrade, but it may be worth it in the future. Lately, we have been buying alot of our movies on ITunes.

I bought my iTouch at Walmart - and honestly don't know if it makes a difference - I can't see why it would, though. My nephew bought an iPod on eBay - which didn't work - so he contacted Apple, gave the serial number, and they picked up the iPod from the house and shipped him a brand new one, free of charge !
My ds6 loves my iPod - he plays games on it downloaded from iTunes, and takes very good care of it

Thanks for your reply! I will probably just go to Walmart and buy it then. Our nearest Apple store is about 45 minutes away, so it would save me the drive, plus I could get the employee discount (not much, but every little bit helps out).

That is awesome that Apple just replaced your nephews IPod like that! I buy alot of things on ebay, but wouldn't trust buying an IPod on there ..... I'm glad that it worked out for him.

I've decided to order the Nanos for my youngest two, but will be ordering them online from Apple. I want them engraved, and they can only do that online. I doubt that DH would want his ITouch engraved, and his birthday party is this Saturday, so no way I could get it mailed in time.

 

[kpipkin]

My husband and I both have iPod classics. We've had them for years. We wanted lots of memory to load all of our music onto and my dh loads lots of movies for when he's away with the military. I'm not sold on the iTouch. It has such limited memory and seems to fragile for the rough conditions my husband uses his in. For now, we both love our classics.

My 11 year old son has the video Nano. It's perfect for him! Enough memory for his music and room for videos and movies. He is rarely without it. It's gotten tons of use!

My 6 year old son has a shuffle - the kind that clips on your shirt. It's worked well so far, but we really have to keep it an eye on it so it doesn't get lost. It stays on my desk until he's ready to use it. It's so small! He'll probably get a Nano for Christmas this year, because the video feature is so nice to have.

We made the commitment to just get Apple mp3 players for all of us because it makes it much simpler to share music and other downloads.

 

[AngelBabyJana]

My husband and I both have iPod classics. We've had them for years. We wanted lots of memory to load all of our music onto and my dh loads lots of movies for when he's away with the military. I'm not sold on the iTouch. It has such limited memory and seems to fragile for the rough conditions my husband uses his in. For now, we both love our classics.

My 11 year old son has the video Nano. It's perfect for him! Enough memory for his music and room for videos and movies. He is rarely without it. It's gotten tons of use!

My 6 year old son has a shuffle - the kind that clips on your shirt. It's worked well so far, but we really have to keep it an eye on it so it doesn't get lost. It stays on my desk until he's ready to use it. It's so small! He'll probably get a Nano for Christmas this year, because the video feature is so nice to have.

We made the commitment to just get Apple mp3 players for all of us because it makes it much simpler to share music and other downloads.

I agree, I love the memory that the classics have, my DD16, DNephew, & I have been very happy with the ones that we have. My DH has one of the older IPods (size of a Nano but only has the music), he is always complaining that he can't see the words very well, so I think the bigger screen on the Touch is what he needs. I'm just not happy about paying more money to get less memory, but maybe all the extra features will make up for it. (He started a new job not long ago, our new insurance kicks in next week, he is definitely off for an eye exam, lol).

I also love everyone's music being combined in the ITunes library. I thought that it would be a pain since our tastes differ so much, but it really is simple since everyone has their own "folder" to keep their music in.