Is a Kindle suitable for children?

cazatrel

Hi,

My daughter is 9 years old and really wants a kindle for Christmas.
Ive had a look and there are a number of different types I'm not sure which 1 to purchase if any!! I'm not quiet sure will it keep her entertained yes she loves to read books but also loves playing games listening to music and watching movies. Is there anything out there that has all of these?I have been looking at the kindle Fire but it can only be purchased in the US!
Please help

DjFlin

I wouldnt get a Kindle Fire, they've been getting terrible reviews, and are said to be riddled with problems.

Personally, I'd go for the Kindle Keyboard. Its the cheapest, and has the best battery life. They're also quite sturdy.

You cant play games or anything like that on them, but if she reads a lot, she'll definitely get value out of it. There are hundreds of free books in the Kindle marketplace.

dory

It's great if she knows how to get free books. You'd just have to be aware that your credit card would be associated with it and she could pretty much go online from the device and download 500 expensive books. You'd really have to trust her! I don't get asked for a password or anything, but I'm sure if you turned off One Click Buying she may have to put in a password.

Lolabear

you could get her an ipod touch,
she can play games listen to music and read books on that. and its not a phone so you dont have to worry about her getting expensive bills!!

kirving

An iPod Touch, although it has a lovely, screen is not suitable for reading books. The screen is too small, and too bright compared to a Kindle. iPad if anything, but they're very expensive.

As far as I know, the Kindle has an MP3 player which is handy. A Kindle Fire would add movie playback, but as a previous poster said, theyre not getting good reviews.

If a Kindle is what she wants, probably best to go with that.

DjFlin

Kevin Irving wrote: »

An iPod Touch, although it has a lovely, screen is not suitable for reading books. The screen is too small, and too bright compared to a Kindle. iPad if anything, but they're very expensive.

As far as I know, the Kindle has an MP3 player which is handy. A Kindle Fire would add movie playback, but as a previous poster said, theyre not getting good reviews.

If a Kindle is what she wants, probably best to go with that.

I second that. Nothing with a backlight is really any good for reading on. If books are the main concern, something with an e-ink display will always win out.

Carlos Orange

dory wrote: »

It's great if she knows how to get free books. You'd just have to be aware that your credit card would be associated with it and she could pretty much go online from the device and download 500 expensive books. You'd really have to trust her! I don't get asked for a password or anything, but I'm sure if you turned off One Click Buying she may have to put in a password.

Amazon sell gift vouchers online. Presumably these work with the Kindle store.

cazatrel

Thanks everyone for the posts!
I've looked in to the i pod touch but feel its too small a screen for reading.
An i pad is far too expensive unfortunately:eek: but i came across a few alternatives could you please let me know what yee think....:D

http://www.epad.ie/about.html
http://www.electrodirect.ie/computers/229-superpad-10-internet-tablet-10-wifi-usb-sd-android.html
http://www.powercity.ie/?action=laptopbacker&pcode=501594

Capt'n Midnight

kindle screens can break easily

Overheal

Indeed, I wouldn't have believed it but we put a new kindle display out and within hours it was cracked, probably from when some moron tried to squeeze the screen thinking it was touch responsive.

Doesn't make it a bad gift idea but make sure either you spend time with her for the first few hours using the device, or buy some kind of protection plan for it, which on things like kindles usually run about 15-20% the cost of the unit.

vibe666

also worth noting that the new kindle 4 has no headphone jack or speakers (the kindle keyboard and kindle touch definitely do though) so if you plan on her using it for music or audio books, that one won't be any good.

if your kindle display does break (and you didn't smash it on purpose) amazon will send you a quibble free replacement out the day you report it and give you 30 days to return the broken one. you can't say fairer than that imho.

also, any bugs/issues with the kindle fire will have been worked out well before it makes it to europe and even if they aren't, someone already has CM7 booting on it (in a limited fashion) so the first custom firmwares are probably only a few weeks away.

i hope so anyway, cos mine is about halfway over the atlantic at the moment.