Cheap android tablet for +-5 year old

[kolaval]

My kids hog my phone sometimes and I won't be happy when I have to replace it due to a drop etc.
They tend to play educational games like ABC's, maths and drawing with the occasional fruit ninja/angry birds etc.

I need something @ +-R1500.
A nexus 7 would have been ideal but since I might end up having to buy 2(@ R2500 each) it becomes too expensive.
So here's what I need:
Expandable storage is a must if it does not have 32GB onboard
Screen not 800x400, I've seen that geeko tab it it is terrible
Being able to play mkv's a bonus.

 

[Hamster]

ACER Iconia on special at Kalahari for R1650 atm.

http://www.kalahari.com/Electronics/ACER-Iconia-Tablet-B1-71183891-G01NW-7-WSVGA_p_48376189

Battery Capacity Li-ion battery, 10 W, 2710 mAh
Processing CPU MTK 8317/T, 1.2 GHz dual-core
RAM/ROM RAM: DDR3 512 MB
eMMC: 8GB
Imaging Camera Front camera: HD webcam
Video recording: 30 fps at HD - 1280 x 720
Screen Display 7 WSVGA LCM, 1024 x 600
70-degree viewing angle from 4 sides
Touch technology Capacitive touch
Connectivity WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
GPS Yes
USB Micro USB 2.0, supporting USB client
Input/Output Sensor G-sensor
Audio 3.5 mm standard audio jack
Expansion microSD slot Up to 32 GB
OS Version Android Jelly Bean
GMS Gmail, Google+, Maps, Messenger, Play Store, Talk, YouTube, Currents, Chrome, Google Now

 

[Musicmp3]

too young - make them play with toys and get fresh air!

 

[Lupus]

http://www.takealot.com/computers/lenovo-a1000-ideatab-7inch-wifi-tablet-black,31892623

Today only

 

[Hemps]

My 3yr old son love's my iPad 3 and anything related to trucks or heavy equipment.

Spends ages on that thing but we make sure he gets outside often as possible.

 

[Lupus]

My 3yr old son love's my iPad 3 and anything related to trucks or heavy equipment.

Spends ages on that thing but we make sure he gets outside often as possible.

My 2 1/2 year old spends quite a bit of time on my Sony playing something called Baby bus

 

[kooldude]

too young - make them play with toys and get fresh air!

Very good advice. I believe today's kids are not getting enough physical exercise.

 

[Alton Turner Blackwood]

Whatever you get make sure you get a pouch or those rubberised "gloves". Trust me on that - speaking from experience

 

[Lupus]

Very good advice. I believe today's kids are not getting enough physical exercise.

Not always the case, my son is outside from sunrise to sunset, just sometimes he likes to come inside, play a little on the tablet and go ride his bike outside again or play with the other kids.

 

[kolaval]

Sigh, I knew the physical activity answers were coming, and I wonder how many of you actually have kids.

They do swimming, horse riding, ballet, Playball, Semas and there's no TV watching etc during the day.
And still when I get home, I have to hurry because they want to go cycling( never mind how tired I am).

Does that tick all your boxes?

Ever ridden for 14 hours to the coast with a 4 and 5 year old in the car :twisted: ?
Ever had to watch Toy Story 3 for a few thousand times ?
Ever had to settle fights about watching Toy Story 3 VS Frozen (just let it go)?

 

[Raphael123]

You should take a look at the Prestigio 7" tablet at Musica.

 

[kolaval]

http://www.takealot.com/computers/lenovo-a1000-ideatab-7inch-wifi-tablet-black,31892623
Today only

Nice but I found this whilst googling it:

One design aspect left us scratching our heads: for some reason, Lenovo decided to partition the 16 GB of storage into into 1.5 GB of "internal storage", while the rest is designated as "USB storage". Since the internal storage is were Android apps and data are stored, it's entirely possible to run out of room with just a few downloads and updates.

 

[Rudimental]

Maybe try the Asus MeMopad HD7, which is pretty much a cheaper version of the original Nexus 7 with an SD card slot.

http://store.orange.com/za/tablets/tablets/asus-memo-pad-hd-7-16gb-black-255323/

 

[kolaval]

It seems they all have issues for me

ACER Iconia = only 512mb ram
lenovo = 1.5GB storage for apps(unless I can root it and change it?)
Prestigio 7" Ultra Plus = 800x480 resolution
Prestigio 7" Ultra Multipad - WiFi only = single core+512mb ram

 

[Bighit]

The entry level of this tablet was selling for R1000 over christmas, one of the kids in the family got one and it played quite a few decent games like crazy taxi and temple run: http://www.hclmetablet.com/India/index.php

 

[wizardofid]

Sigh, I knew the physical activity answers were coming, and I wonder how many of you actually have kids.

They do swimming, horse riding, ballet, Playball, Semas and there's no TV watching etc during the day.
And still when I get home, I have to hurry because they want to go cycling( never mind how tired I am).

Does that tick all your boxes?

Ever ridden for 14 hours to the coast with a 4 and 5 year old in the car :twisted: ?
Ever had to watch Toy Story 3 for a few thousand times ?
Ever had to settle fights about watching Toy Story 3 VS Frozen (just let it go)?

niece and nephew, each have their own Ipads, they visit us on the farm often enough, during the evening they would watch stuff and play games on the ipads, 3 and 4 years, mostly educational stuff. Nephew wants how to train your dragon and niece want barbie.

During the day it's every thing else, considering it's the farm, both were slightly sick, without the pads it would have been hell on earth.Keeping them occupied for a few minutes so that you can go to the loo or make food, get the bath ready or what ever distraction, the ipads come in damn handy, especially when alone, it means you can turn your back for 5 minutes to do some thing without having to worry about all hell breaking loose.

But considering they go to game farms, to their vacation house in winkelspruit once a month and who knows where else, they are well behaved, and get lots of stimulation outside of the ipads, it is a welcome distraction, when there isn't any else to do, rain, sick, driving around.

So the people moaning they should go outside and play , don't have kids, or have not spend a couple of weeks each year looking after 3 and 4 year old nephews and nieces, they not at a age where you can leave them unsupervised playing outside for even two seconds, unsupervised in the sense of keeping a close eye on them, and keeping them in view, jump over a small stone and bump their toes, fall over a plant or whatever that is their problem, let them learn on their own, only step in when they are attempting some thing really they shouldn't.

 

[Hemps]

niece and nephew, each have their own Ipads, they visit us on the farm often enough, during the evening they would watch stuff and play games on the ipads, 3 and 4 years, mostly educational stuff. Nephew wants how to train your dragon and niece want barbie.

During the day it's every thing else, considering it's the farm, both were slightly sick, without the pads it would have been hell on earth.Keeping them occupied for a few minutes so that you can go to the loo or make food, get the bath ready or what ever distraction, the ipads come in damn handy, especially when alone, it means you can turn your back for 5 minutes to do some thing without having to worry about all hell breaking loose.

But considering they go to game farms, to their vacation house in winkelspruit once a month and who knows where else, they are well behaved, and get lots of stimulation outside of the ipads, it is a welcome distraction, when there isn't any else to do, rain, sick, driving around.

So the people moaning they should go outside and play , don't have kids, or have not spend a couple of weeks each year looking after 3 and 4 year old nephews and nieces, they not at a age where you can leave them unsupervised playing outside for even two seconds, unsupervised in the sense of keeping a close eye on them, and keeping them in view, jump over a small stone and bump their toes, fall over a plant or whatever that is their problem, let them learn on their own, only step in when they are attempting some thing really they shouldn't.

Got the iPad headrest mount from China, paid R20 for it and have so far used it multiple times, put Toy Story, Wall-E on and drive, keeps kid occupied for 2hrs at least.
Man I could of used these toys when I was little, those 10hr drives to Namibia in a car that hardly made 120km/h.

 

[wizardofid]

Well I had the commodore 64 and Nintendo to play with.Car trips were also awesome if you had the LCD gaming handhelds.
http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/

 

[WaxLyrical]

It seems they all have issues for me

ACER Iconia = only 512mb ram
lenovo = 1.5GB storage for apps(unless I can root it and change it?)
Prestigio 7" Ultra Plus = 800x480 resolution
Prestigio 7" Ultra Multipad - WiFi only = single core+512mb ram

You going to have to increase budget not to have these specs.

Using an Alcatel T10 for reading and it rocks.
Movies don't play too bad either.

It even has 1GB of RAM.

 

[Dubes]

Not always the case, my son is outside from sunrise to sunset, just sometimes he likes to come inside, play a little on the tablet and go ride his bike outside again or play with the other kids.

Agreed. Inevitably the advice about getting outside comes from those without kids...