Vivitar Digital Camera Deals for Tweens and Teens

Digital Cameras for Preteens and Tweens:  Great Deals before Black Friday

You will find a lot of hot deals this season on digital cameras for tweens and teens. The pictured 14.1 mp is an example, a Vivitar available from Kohls. I picked up a much less advanced Vivitar for my tween daughter last Christmas, and though its price was my main interest, I'm looking at some of the current prices and loving them. The Vivitar digital camera deals this coming Black Friday are supposed to be pretty nice, but the one pictured is under $40 right now. It's a good started camera for a pre-teen or tween as it provides the basics but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Tweens are notorious for changing interests awful quickly, and if you spend a huge sum on a camera only to watch it be ignored, it can be frustrating. My older daughters each received their first digital cameras in their tween years. One has gone on to upgrade, the other not. Comparatively speaking, you can get twice the mp at half as much as I spent on that Black Friday camera deal 6 years ago!

The New Kindle as an Ebook Reader for Kids

Kindle Ebook Reader for Kids

The Kindle ebook reader is one of the most popular items sold by Amazon, and as an ebook reader for kids, it's a great starter tech gift.  Over several years, the designs have been altered and the features improved.  Pricing on the basic Kindle has also adjusted, currently at $69.  What a great deal on a real tech tool that isn't just video games and mindless activity! 

 

The original Kindle has been adapted to create a variety of additional ebook reader options that appeal to a broad range of interests and individuals.  With the touch of a button or screen, electronic books can be quickly loaded on the device to enable easy reading and access to a vast library.  If you love to read, the Kindle is one of the most suitable devices for facilitating your thirst for more material.  There are many other E-readers on the market that will work for kids, though, and it’s important to understand the advantages inherent in choosing a Kindle.

 

The Kindle has a six inch display and weighs less than six ounces.  It’s easy to carry with you, making it possible to read at your convenience.  Protective cases allow you to transport the E-reader without worrying about damaging the device.  The e-ink pearl screen reads just like paper.  You don’t have to contend with an unnatural glare that can lead to eye strain.  The no glare experience is one of the best physical features of the device.  Kindle’s battery life is one month, meaning that a single charge will ensure that you can keep up with your latest reads without worry about having to stop because of power loss.  Charging time is approximately three hours.

 

The Kindle is easy to navigate with simple buttons at the bottom of the unit.  Content is downloaded through a Wi-Fi connection, and Whispersync technology ensures that you can access your reading material from other devices, picking up where you left off.  Search features and adjustable text and font sizes make your reading experience more interactive and educational.  Kindle will hold more than 1,000 books.  The Amazon library gives you access to millions of books and materials at affordable costs, and Amazon Prime enables you to borrow popular titles each month.

 

If your kids love to read, the Kindle will keep them supplied with lots of ebook choices.  Amazon's library is filled with both paid and free ebook online options that work with Kindle devices, Kindle apps and Kindle for the PC.  Your materials are stored in the cloud, meaning that your child's library stays intact if you upgrade to a new device.  Every year, the Kindle goes through transformations to make it more user friendly and useful. 

 

If you have reluctant readers, a Kindle is a great approach to encouraging better reading time and more reading.  Kindle materials are extensive.  Whether you are dealing with a preteen in need of reason to read or an early learner challenged in reading, there are great choices.

 

You'll find specifics on this basic ebook reader for kids and others here.

Wii U Gaming Systems for Tweens, Teens and Families

Normally, I wouldn't be too excited about a new video game system for our household.  However, my tween boys have me a bit interested in the new Wii U gaming system for tweens or family use.  The regular Wii has been a lot of fun, and occasionally we will move the kids off so that we can have a bowling night.  The ability to use Netflix has been really nice until recently.  Lately, the availability of Netflix features that we haven't watched umpteen times has made me seriously consider suspending the account.  The gaming system is fun, but I've wished for a while that it had the availability of Amazon Video on Demand.

The good news is that the Wii U video console is rumored to include Amazon VOD, making it an outstanding alternative to the current version if you are looking for a way to stream movies and television content to your big screen.  The continuing expansion of Amazon's content to new devices and venues makes it attractive, and this may be the final nail in the coffin of my Netflix account.

If you are trying to decide on a system that will stream Amazon Instant Video, I think that this may prove to be a worthwhile choice.  Release of Wii U is rumored in early November, just in time for the holidays.  You can check the latest Amazon Video Game Console details here.

Tablet Vs Netbook for Tweens

If you are considering a significant investment in a tech gift for your tween, there are a variety of options, more extensive every year given the advances in touchscreen technology.  If you are debating tablet vs netbook for tweens, there are some helpful considerations in narrowing your choices.

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.

Easy Share Digital Cameras for Tweens

If you have a tween that is interested in taking photos, you may want to think about something more refined than a cell phone.  After all, cell phone shots are fun but they lack much definition and clarity.  However, it's important to realize that your choice of camera for a tween can become expensive, unnecessarily so.  It's important to set goals and evaluate your budget before you buy an expensive tween camera.  There are different levels of cost and quality, and I don't always find that an interest justifies a huge expenditure.

My tween daughter, for example, wanted a digital camera last Christmas.  She can be very artistic but flighty.  I stayed in the $50 range and actually found a nice camera that suited her and didn't break the bank.  She used it quite a bit at first, and still uses it a little bit.  She's not passionate about taking pictures, and I can see that it wouldn't have been a good idea to spend a lot.  If she becomes more interested, she will demonstrate it by using her existing camera.  When I see a passion for the photography interest, then I would consider a more costly device.

Likewise, you may be dealing with a flighty tween or with a tween that tends to be committed to interests.  Selecting a good digital camera in the $50-100 range is reasonable, depending on your budget, and can serve the needs of a more passionate tween.  Much under the $50 mark is debatable, you may find quality and you may find junk.  I really like Kodak Easy Share cameras as they are easy to work with and operate.  My older daughter has also found Nikon CoolPix to be a good camera.

Google Tablet vs Kindle Fire for a Tween

The news about Google's Nexus Tablet to be priced in a competitive range with Kindle Fire provides parents with a lot of interesting considerations as far as which tablet for a tween.  Deciding on the best tween tablet, after all, is not a sweeping decision by a blogger.  Rather, it's a decision making process for parents based on goals and budget.  My relatives just purchased a Kindle Fire for my 94 yo grandmother, and she gets the biggest kick out of Angry Birds.  The device is fun and intuitive for those not so tech savvy.  For tweens, more apt to understand their way around touchscreen toys and gadget gifts, the devices are much simpler to learn and use.

Kindle Fire for a Tween has a lot of advantages in that Amazon developed the content platforms well in advance of releasing their tablet.  It's given parents an inexpensive alternative to the iPad for tweens and kids because there is so much content.  Further, a lot of the content is free to Prime subscribers.  Your tween can read, watch and play without having to spend a bundle.  Google's tablet may be good, but until the release, the consumer won't really know much.  Content isn't completely non-existent, but there isn't a lot of free content, and if there's any, the store doesn't make it very easy to track down.  Familiarity makes Kindle Fire easy to imagine using at varied ages, and there are lots of hands on users' reviews that testify to its ease of use.  It's not exactly like an iPad, but if your tween needs an affordable alternative, Kindle captures the attention.  The Google Nexus Tablet will have to prove itself.

Kindle for Tween Summer Reading

If you are looking for a way to keep your tween's academics up a bit this summer, may I recommend Kindle Touch?  I love the price, love the clarity of the screen, and love love LOVE the amount of free Kindle reading material.  There are lots of classics available, and believe me, if you challenge your tween, he or she is capable of being drawn into some wonderful fiction.  My 10 year old, for example, is a huge fan of The Lord of The Rings trilogy. 

Amazon has an ever changing variety of free books in various children's categories, as authors can elect to offer their materials free for limited periods of time.  Definitely worth eyeing this on a daily basis.  Check out children's books for all ages, and watch those that are available on the page for free.  Within categories, you will also find free materials.  You don't need to over progam your tween summer reading program.  Just make good material available.  The Kindle Touch is an exceptional platform.

Find more articles about Tween Ereader Options.