Forum friends - My son and his family were recently transferred to Germany (They are in the Air Force) and will be there for at least 3+ years and when they left they took three of my 5.9 grand children (my other son and wife are scheduled to have their third on in the next three weeks - thus the .9) and my wife wants to buy the three grandkids in Germany their own I-Pad Air 2 tablets for their Christmas this year.

Refurbished units would be preferred so long as they come with everything needed and memory space is not super important....If anyone has a lead on where good quality new or refurb units can be purchased I would greatly appreciate a link posted here please.....Thanks in advance to everyone from Ms. Sigarmsp226 and myself....Mark

https://computers.woot.com/off...w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_5_6

Woot.com is owned by Amazon.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:

Refurbished units would be preferred

www.apple.com -- scroll down to the bottom of the page and there is a link to Apple's re-furb store: https://www.apple.com/shop/bro...me/specialdeals/ipad.

Any time I am looking for an Apple product, that is the first place I look. Refurbished by Apple, indistinguishable from new retail, Apple warranty same as new retail, good discount. What's not to like?

If you can't find anything good, wait for Black Friday.

Two years ago I scored 2 Ipad Minis for my crew for $200 each.

For kids I recommend you consider getting Amazon Fire tablets instead. The Fire tablets, while not as nice as the iPad options, are MUCH less expensive, and have options to limit total screen time, and require meeting educational goals prior to playing games. The Apple products don't have similar kid friendly controls.

Thanks guys for you feedback and suggestions...I will mention the options posted here to my wife and the Rhino’s point Black Friday is coming. We are not flying over to see them until Mid-January so there may also be some post Christmas deals out these to be had....

Would love to buy all of them something new rather than used...Hate to be thought of as the grand parents that buys “used” gifts....Haha - not really if it is all that we can afford...

Will also look at the other brands (Fire Tablets) that would work just as well for kids....

Again - Thanks guys....Mark

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:

Would love to buy all of them something new rather than used

As I said, re-furbs from Apple are 110% indistinguishable from new. In addition to functional, any cosmetic part that is blemished, is replaced. The only way you can tell that it is a re-furb, is a very faint imprint on the package that says "refurbished by Apple" or similar words.

Personally, I would never buy a new retail Apple product if the same thing is available refurbished. Caveat, refurbished and sold by Apple, not a third party.

https://www.shopmyexchange.com...ple/ipads/_/N-103603

I have bought my last 2 iPads through the military exchange system. Best prices on new when they have them on sale.

Outside of finding them on some kind of clearance, MAP prices are strictly enforced by Apple.

If you can't shop the exchange then surely your son can.

quote:

Originally posted by DMF:
For kids I recommend you consider getting Amazon Fire tablets instead. The Fire tablets, while not as nice as the iPad options, are MUCH less expensive, and have options to limit total screen time, and require meeting educational goals prior to playing games. The Apple products don't have similar kid friendly controls.

That and Amazon offers nearly limitless movies, games and apps.

We are happy with the use we have gotten out of our Fire tablets. Tons of shows for our 3 year old.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:

Would love to buy all of them something new rather than used

As I said, re-furbs from Apple are 110% indistinguishable from new. In addition to functional, any cosmetic part that is blemished, is replaced. The only way you can tell that it is a re-furb, is a very faint imprint on the package that says "refurbished by Apple" or similar words.

Personally, I would never buy a new retail Apple product if the same thing is available refurbished. Caveat, refurbished and sold by Apple, not a third party.

V-Tail is right, you won't be able to tell the difference.

Both of our iPhones are refurb units.

Wife's phone took a poop on her a few months after I got it for her. Apple store replaced it without any issues. I got my iPhone 7 a few months ago and it's been great. At 15-20% off retail, it was a no brainer for us.

Depending on what the kids will use the tablet for, I'd also recommend you consider Amazon Fire tablets. For the price of the refurb'd Ipads you can buy brand new Fire tablets and still have money left in your pocket. Just another idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

V-Tail is right

Of course V-Tail is right! You silly boy, was there ever a question?

Just an FYI, I’ve had three Certified Apple Refurblished product fail early on me (less than two years).

Also, I’ve not seen any real after Christmas deals on electronics. I find the best deals on electronics are right now in the run up to Black Friday.

What is your budget? I just purchased a 128 GB 9.7” iPad from Costco for $349.99.

How old are the kids we are talking?

The Amazon Fire Tablet for kids currently comes with a 2 year no questions asked replacement guarantee. They are $99 new but bet they will be around $75 come Black Friday.

I bought a refurbished non kids model a couple years back for $30. We don’t let our kids use tablets very often. Pretty much only when potty training or they have not pooped in awhile and we need them to sit for a bit to get it out.
It is a very capable tablet and the micoSD expandable memory is a huge plus over the iPads.

I would not bother with an iPad for kids. Too expensive and limited on memory.
I do have a few years old refurbed Mini that has been going strong for years. It is getting ready to become my 4x4 trails GPS unit and vehicle monitor.

Costco has the most current 6th generation model on sale right now for $320 with 32 Gig and $350 with 128 Gig. I just got the latter for my grandson.

1. Are you taking applications for additional grandkids?
2. I kid, I kid. But I second the idea of woot.com they have had decent deals on them lately

Grandkids range in age from 4 to 8. After looking at the Fire Tablets my wife decided based on the recommendations here that this is the way to go...They offer these tablets in several colors that are actually a protective cover for the tablet and since she has now decided to buy five units rather than three - this is the best bang for the buck plus to many who have commented here the I-Pad has its place but for small kids playing educational games and watching videos the Fire Tablet is the way to go....

Thanks again guys for your suggestions and feedback. We had not even considered the Fire Tablets prior to this thread....Mark

I have heard Apple is plannning a Black Friday sale and iPads are on the list as well as air pods and Apple watches 3. Might hold off for that.

Any idea if they will use something similar in school?

My sons' school district just started using ChromeBooks. They even bring them home at night.

Just a thought to use the same operating system if they do.

CaptainMike: Thanks for the link. I was able to get a new Ipad for $249 shipped.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
Grandkids range in age from 4 to 8. After looking at the Fire Tablets my wife decided based on the recommendations here that this is the way to go...They offer these tablets in several colors that are actually a protective cover for the tablet and since she has now decided to buy five units rather than three - this is the best bang for the buck plus to many who have commented here the I-Pad has its place but for small kids playing educational games and watching videos the Fire Tablet is the way to go....

Thanks again guys for your suggestions and feedback. We had not even considered the Fire Tablets prior to this thread....Mark

You might wanna wait for Black Friday sales as Amazon regularly discounts the Fire 10 (I've seen it listed for $99 previously).