Devices for Children: Tablets, Toys or Both?
By WARREN BUCKLEITNER
The boundary between toy tablets and real tablets keeps getting thinner. Cases in point: the LeapPad 2 from LeapFrog and the $100 Wi-Fi-enabled Innotab 2S.
The InnoTab 2S from Vtech
As the price and processing power of these types of toys begin to approach those of real tablets, more parents are finding themselves with a tricky choice. Is it better to invest in a toy that acts like a tablet, or a tablet that has been configured to impersonate a toy?
To help you plan your child’s digital path, consider recent history. Over the last 12 months, a variety of Android tablets for children have been released. They are often more similar than they are different; with a girl-or-boy themed silicone frame for protection, slots for adding more storage, 7-inch multitouch screens and a handful of preloaded $1 apps like Angry Birds. There’s also a key selling point: parental control features to keep a child from drifting into, say, YouTube.
Examples include LexiBook ($150), Kurio ($200), Nabi 2 ($200), Meep ($170) and Tabeo ($150). Each is trying to distract your child from Apple’s iPad and its new little brother, the iPad Mini ($330).
Throw into the mix three additional $200 tablets, each made for adults but also easy to configure for children. There is the Amazon Kindle Fire, Google’s Nexus 7 and Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD ($200).
This fall, toy rivals VTech and LeapFrog have updated their portable platforms, succeeding in offering the lowest price of entry to the world of apps and touch screens.
The cheapest option is VTech’s MobiGo 2 ($50), followed by the updated LeapsterGS ($70). Both are solid choices, despite having smaller screens that can process only one finger on the screen at a time. These editions come with faster processors and separate log-in accounts so multiple children can share the same device while saving their progress. Both also now have accelerometers, letting you tilt or lean in some of the games. MobiGo’s microphone and fold-out keyboard are noteworthy, and the back-facing camera on the LeapsterGS is the best yet, especially because of the improved photo and movie editor.
Designed to fool a child into thinking he or she has a real tablet, VTech’s InnoTab 2 ($80) comes with a new rotating camera. A second model, the InnoTab 2S ($100) has built in Wi-Fi that does nothing more than let your child browse apps, while generating e-mails telling you which ones you should buy. The InnoTab devices have less storage capacity than the LeapPad, but the storage can be expanded by way of an SD card. The LeapPad2 Explorer ($100) starts faster and comes with two better-quality cameras, in front and in back.
All four devices let you purchase new software the old-fashioned way: by driving to a store and paying $20 to $25 for a cartridge. Each also has an online option that involves downloading and installing an app store on your Mac or Windows computer and plugging in with a USB cable. If you forget to unplug, you can drain the AA batteries — just one of the many clunky steps to this process.
All of the devices share one consistent attribute. They are not shy about pestering a child to find a grown-up to help them download more apps.
The bottom line is that the differences between this year’s Leapster, InnoTab and LeapPad models are slim. Whichever you choose, remember that each is a platform that can lead to a significant investment in software. After you add up the $100 for, say, a LeapPad or an InnoTab, and then buy four $20 cartridges, you’ve already spent more than the price of the latest iPod Touch ($175), a device with a high-resolution display, parental controls and an app store with thousands of $1 treasures. Not to mention no need for AA batteries.
If you’ve somehow managed to raise children who have not yet touched an iPad or a Nexus 7, you might be able to sell them on the idea of one of these lesser tablets. But be warned: once they’ve sampled a good app on a glossy, responsive multitouch screen, it’s hard to go back.
The InnoTab 2S from VtechTo help you plan your child’s digital path, consider recent history. Over the last 12 months, a variety of Android tablets for children have been released. They are often more similar than they are different; with a girl-or-boy themed silicone frame for protection, slots for adding more storage, 7-inch multitouch screens and a handful of preloaded $1 apps like Angry Birds. There’s also a key selling point: parental control features to keep a child from drifting into, say, YouTube.
Examples include LexiBook ($150), Kurio ($200), Nabi 2 ($200), Meep ($170) and Tabeo ($150). Each is trying to distract your child from Apple’s iPad and its new little brother, the iPad Mini ($330).
Throw into the mix three additional $200 tablets, each made for adults but also easy to configure for children. There is the Amazon Kindle Fire, Google’s Nexus 7 and Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD ($200).
This fall, toy rivals VTech and LeapFrog have updated their portable platforms, succeeding in offering the lowest price of entry to the world of apps and touch screens.
The cheapest option is VTech’s MobiGo 2 ($50), followed by the updated LeapsterGS ($70). Both are solid choices, despite having smaller screens that can process only one finger on the screen at a time. These editions come with faster processors and separate log-in accounts so multiple children can share the same device while saving their progress. Both also now have accelerometers, letting you tilt or lean in some of the games. MobiGo’s microphone and fold-out keyboard are noteworthy, and the back-facing camera on the LeapsterGS is the best yet, especially because of the improved photo and movie editor.
Designed to fool a child into thinking he or she has a real tablet, VTech’s InnoTab 2 ($80) comes with a new rotating camera. A second model, the InnoTab 2S ($100) has built in Wi-Fi that does nothing more than let your child browse apps, while generating e-mails telling you which ones you should buy. The InnoTab devices have less storage capacity than the LeapPad, but the storage can be expanded by way of an SD card. The LeapPad2 Explorer ($100) starts faster and comes with two better-quality cameras, in front and in back.
All four devices let you purchase new software the old-fashioned way: by driving to a store and paying $20 to $25 for a cartridge. Each also has an online option that involves downloading and installing an app store on your Mac or Windows computer and plugging in with a USB cable. If you forget to unplug, you can drain the AA batteries — just one of the many clunky steps to this process.
All of the devices share one consistent attribute. They are not shy about pestering a child to find a grown-up to help them download more apps.
The bottom line is that the differences between this year’s Leapster, InnoTab and LeapPad models are slim. Whichever you choose, remember that each is a platform that can lead to a significant investment in software. After you add up the $100 for, say, a LeapPad or an InnoTab, and then buy four $20 cartridges, you’ve already spent more than the price of the latest iPod Touch ($175), a device with a high-resolution display, parental controls and an app store with thousands of $1 treasures. Not to mention no need for AA batteries.
If you’ve somehow managed to raise children who have not yet touched an iPad or a Nexus 7, you might be able to sell them on the idea of one of these lesser tablets. But be warned: once they’ve sampled a good app on a glossy, responsive multitouch screen, it’s hard to go back.