My son received a tablet for Christmas only to have the screen broken within days (thankfully I was able to return it to Wal-Mart and was not out any money). However, he wanted the tabet and so did I for Christmas. It was one of those gifts that you buy for your child because you want it too. :) I'm not sure and neither is he on how the tablet screen got broken, but it cracked right down the middle of the screen. It was a pretty straight crack too oddly enough. Now he is out a present and I don't have a tablet to play with. I was thinking of just buying a new tablet for me and just for him to use on occasion with the understanding that it is mom's tablet and once he proves he can take care of mine he can ask for another one.
So do I bite the bullet and just buy one new and take a huge chance or look for a used/refurbished one?
Buying him another one is out of the question until he proves to me that he can be a bit more responsible.
if you buy a used one from apple they come with a 1 year warranty. I have a friend that bought one for each of her girls and they havent had a problem with them.
I would only consider buying refurbished from the Apple store. They come with a 1-year warranty and are just as good as the new ones. We bought my daughter a refurbished iPod Touch from the Apple store. We saved a ton of money and it looked and acted just like new! The only difference was the box. It felt great getting the 1-year warranty.
Walmart already took the broken one back?? Talk to him about caring for his special gifts and buy him another one. It was his gift. If you buy refurbished, make sure everything is erased so there are no surprises stored in there.
I would buy him a less expensive tablet than an ipad. We got our Blackberry Playbook for $139 and it's great.
I have a kindle fire. I've had it for 8 months. Love it! It's great for kids.
I won't buy i- anything! Too expensive.
Amazon is a great company. There are many free apps and books. You can rent books and movies. Tons of stuff really cheap too.
Look at it this way, our iPad is about 18 months old and it's perfect. Why not buy a used O.?
I would buy a referb but I wouldn't buy an ipad. I wouldn't want to be shackled to apple like that.
get something else that doesn't cost so much like a Samsung Galaxy ,or a Nook Tablet , which is btw a tablet and not an exclusively an ereader.
You can get a referb nook tablet for about 150$. apple thinks WAY to much of them selves.
A crack like you describe is likey from stepping on it or something like that.
nope ,only new will do.Save his money till he can prove to take responsibility or repurchase it with limitations like at a set time while your there with him so for he can show you he can earn the responsibility to care for it on his own
The gift was intended for him, but you were using it, also? He broke it, you returned it, and now you want to use the refund to pay for a tablet for yourself? Shouldn't that be his money to spend? If I'm wrong, please do correct me and accept my apologies. I'm tired from Vegas and may be reading into this too much...
Also, was this the 8 year old son you're talking about? And, did the tablet not have a case/protector on it? For me, fancy gadget for 8 year old kid = immediate trip to the store for the strongest tablet protector money can buy. If there was no case, then, as the adult that should've known better, I'd be taking some of the responsibility for the breakage, personally. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure I could accept a gift a like that for such a young kid, knowing they weren't responsible enough to care for it. If we kept it, I'd hold onto it for a couple years until it was more age appropriate.
I might let him take the refunded money and pick a different gift out.
But, to answer your question, personally, I wouldn't buy an Ipad, new, used or refurbished, because I can't drink the Kool-Aid. I would buy a refurbished tablet, though, for sure, out of my own pocket if it was mainly for my use.
Refurbished Apple products (straight from Apple, only) are great. I always choose them over new, when available. They get a brand new outer case and battery, plus same warranty as new.
I wouldn't buy used from a private party unless I could inspect the item in person before I commit.
I would get an iPad Mini over the Kindle Fire in a heartbeat. I have an iPhone and a Kindle Fire and the Fire is slow and annoying! Apple is the premiere company for tablets for a reason - they work phenomenally well.
So, would I buy a refurbished - absolutely. As long as it done by a reputable company. Why not save some money.
If you buy a refurbished iPad from Apple it comes with a warranty. Also, it might actually be a better iPad. My husband likes to think of it this way: "iPads are mass produced in a factory in China. If one has problems after it is purchased it is returned and technicians here in the US take it apart and rebuild it fixing any problems. So it is built better the second time around." Buying used is iffy but iPads last a long time.
