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| Affordable Meep Tablet for Tweens |
Cost is a huge consideration when you are thinking about a tween tablet or a tween netbook. Before the iPad was introduced, many parents hoped for the cheap netbook to be available as a holiday doorbuster. The mini sized computers served as affordable alternatives to full laptops, easy to transport and fully functional. I love my netbook as a portable device. However, the entertainment value to my tweens is minimal when compared with other touchscreen devices. A netbook for a preteen does provide compact computing. However, a cheap netbook is limited in its usefulness beyond simple web browsing and game play. Unless you are looking at the netbook for keyboarding skills and school curriculum, there isn't nearly as much appeal as there is with a tablet.
If you are intent on a netbook for a tween and if price isn't the biggest factor, I highly recommend something in a slightly larger size (11.6 inch screen) and with a larger amount of memory and hard drive space. Acer dominates in terms of ratings, and the top rated choice at Amazon at this writing is its 11.6 netbook with 4 GB RAM and 500 GB Hard Drive. ( Acer Aspire One AO756-2808 11.6-Inch Netbook ) Less severe on the eyes and less frustrating with limitations on memory. Only $350 in cost, it's going to be less frustrating.
Alternately, a full laptop in a 14.6 screen size may be a better choice for visual ease of use.
Tablets, though, provide Web browsing and game play, with tactile interaction making it much more appealing than a netbook for many preteen computer users. If your tween likes games, apps on both iPad and Android tablets are primarily going to accomodate this need. Further, the likeability combines with great affordability. The Meep Tablet for a preteen is affordably priced at around $150. Netbooks in this price range are going to be limited, but the Meep is a kid friendly device with great apps and parental controls built in. The Kindle Fire is a 7" Android tablet in the $200 range. These devices are much more user friendly than tween netbooks and the costs are much more budget friendly. Ideally, many tweens would love to own an iPad, and with rumors of a 7" iPad tablet coming soon, it makes more sense to think about the iPad mini for your pre teen than to buy a netbook. As a parent, I'd rather use a tablet than a netbook for research, and my main netbook use is for quick web browsing and composition on the road. A tablet is more apt to meet entertainment and research needs without overly straining the eyes.
