Which I-Pad?

[Lowend]

I'm planning to get a refurbished I-Pad for my daughter for her 9th birthday and trying to figure out which way to go. I don't know a ton about the generations/sub-models
Here's the ground rules:

• This will be an Apple product. I know Android tablets are cheaper, yada yada. The whole family is on the Apple Eco-system. I like the parental controls I have through the family i-cloud setup. I repeat this will be an Apple.

• Wifi only is best, I don't intend to get her a cell connection. If we're out and about she can connect to one of our phone-hotspots

• She needs to be able to run Minecraft, Roadblox, etc. I'm hoping for something that can grow with her a bit and run something like Tinkercad. I had her on a refurb 4th gen, and it struggled to run some of the more modern apps.

• I want something I can but a serious case on to protect. Like most 9 year olds, she's clumsy and hard on things. I've already sacrificed one I-Pad to the child-gods.

• Longer battery life is more valuable than a hi-res display

• Hoping to keep a $200-$300 budget

 

[CDesperado]

The main thing here is, Apple is a big believer in planned obsolescence. To be more specific, they will stop supporting patches for your OS - but thats ok, because the device will still work. At some point, you wont be able to install any new games, and then after that, you wont be able to patch them. (Or if you do patch them, they will suddenly stop working.)

You probably just need an iPad mini. I have an iPad Air 3 that I still use around the house. Has a few games, etc. But its basically useless - it locks up all the time, sometimes the sound doesnt work, etc.

Here are the apple ipad models - just go back a generation or two, but I wouldnt go back further than that.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250001726

 

[Lowend]

I neglected this - ended up finding a refurb'd 2018 model and pulled the trigger
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3DDJ4L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

While I agree on the planned obsolesce thing, I'm still running a 2010 Macbook Pro as my main computer and it's completely viable. I don't know of many PC laptops that would be usable at that age.

 

[CDesperado]

You'll be happy with that and get at least 5 years from it. Be careful with the charging cables - I had to replace the the female end on the iPad once bc the cord had been yanked out one too many times. Also get a good rugged cover for it - it will help with the eventual dropsies.

.. I'm still running a 2010 Macbook Pro as my main computer and it's completely viable. I don't know of many PC laptops that would be usable at that age.

I actually have two Dell Laptops (15+ and 10+ years old) that I still use for a variety of things. But the performance on both of them is pretty bad.

I actually still have my very first laptop from the mid-90s. It still powers on, but it's super heavy. I actually didnt even realize I still had it until a few years ago when I found it buried in the back of a closet. lol

 

[budro6968]

A new one is 329.00. 32gig. I just bought 2 new. 1 128G 429.00 and a 32. Both WiFi only. My kids 5th gen battery started leaking. Still works fine but some kind of oil comes out sometimes. Not sure if it is worth fixing. They complain about not having enough storage so I got the 128 and the 32 is for my MIL. She somehow locked her newer ipad to the cloud. Now it's a brick.

 

[CDesperado]

My kids 5th gen battery started leaking. Still works fine but some kind of oil comes out sometimes. Not sure if it is worth fixing.

I am pretty sure you need your kid to stop using that. At a minimum you should call an Apple repair store ASAP. They will probably tell you to put that ipad in a Ziplock bag and take it to someone for inspection. If that is a lithium leak, I am pretty sure it can catch on fire or explode.
It can also give off harmful vapors.

 

[SPG]

While I agree on the planned obsolesce thing, I'm still running a 2010 Macbook Pro as my main computer and it's completely viable. I don't know of many PC laptops that would be usable at that age.

Don't get me wrong, I hate apple devices for various reasons but there is a very simple reason for that. Unlike windows that has to worry about the millions of possible combinations in hardware, apple controls what hardware is in all their computers so they can build their OS around that, so it's more optimized and thus feels like it "lasts" longer, even though at the end of the day the internals in a mac and any other windows PC is exactly the same. (well, not anymore with M1 chips, but thats a different topic)

If you every want to breath new life into an old windows machine you can always install linux on it, will probably feel like an entirely new machine.

My kids 5th gen battery started leaking. Still works fine but some kind of oil comes out sometimes. Not sure if it is worth fixing.

Might not be worth fixing, but it's worth throwing away because that thing is a literal bomb right now. If they drop it the wrong way it can blow up. I can't stress this enough but you have to deal with it in some shape or form asap.

 

[CDesperado]

Might not be worth fixing, but it's worth throwing away because that thing is a literal bomb right now. If they drop it the wrong way it can blow up. I can't stress this enough but you have to deal with it in some shape or form asap.

I sure hope he sees this. Im going to PM too.

By the way, you arent supposed to put lithium batteries in the garbage though. Those are literally classified as hazardous materials. You can take them to Home Depot, among other places.

 

[SPG]

I sure hope he sees this. Im going to PM too.

By the way, you arent supposed to put lithium batteries in the garbage though. Those are literally classified as hazardous materials. You can take them to Home Depot, among other places.

You're right, I shouldn't have said that specifically, I just meant it more of "get it away from you"

 

[CDesperado]

I sent him a PM... hopefully he sees it.

We could have just helped him avoid a tragedy