Help with kids electronics...
 

I have two sons, 7 and 9. Every year at the top of their Christmas list are "iPod Touch" and/or "DS". All of their friends appear to have these. We always just have said "no way" and assured them that we let Santa know those are not allowed.

This year we are finally going to get one electronic item of this type for each kid. Leaning iPod Touch for 9 year old so he can text family and friends when at home. Thinking DS for 7 year old. Any thoughts on these or other similar systems? They both want for games primarily. Oldest would get use out of other aspects of an iPod, though. DS looks crappy to me but kids seem to think its good. I mainly like that it is half the price of the iPod.

I bought Kindle Fires for my 11 and 9 yo and we are all happy with them.

IMO, the DS is the better gaming platform, but the iPod Touch has so much more to offer with music, wi-fi texting, wi-fi facetime calling, web browsing, netflix (if you subscribe to streaming), youtube, and camera/video recorder.

We broke down and got the 7yr old a DS(not the 3D one) for his birthday, we were hesitant at first. It's a good platform and has quite a few educational games available as well, we can limit the time on it and make sure it doesn't go to school with him.
Games are cheap and can be found used for $2-5 each.
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DS lites are 109 on amazon, DSI 130-140, 3DS 180ish, games vary in price i imagine with new ones starting at 30. I believe dsi and 3ds can download games.

Ipod touch 4 starts at 190, ipod touch 5 starts at 280, lots of free games and apps, and the ones that aren't usually only cost a buck to five bucks or ten.

Nexus 7 and Kindle fire start at 200, lots of apps and games (although not as much as Ipod) free or a few bucks. bigger screens that any other device in this range.

Something to think about for older child, if they don't have a laptop yet.

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/chromebook

I would think this might help in future with school work, but the kids might want something pocketable. Pretty cool though.

Thanks for the help, everybody. Sounds like I'm on the right track. Probably get an iPod 4 for the 9 year old and a DS Lite for the 7 year old.

PS Vita might be another option...

It is a kick ass little console. too bad the game library sucks ass.

We are going the DS route for our 5 and 7 year olds this year. It's a little above the 5 year old, but I'm sure there are games she will enjoy. They both already use my Fire more than I do.

Hell, my 4yo is scary good with my Vita and android tablet. We got Galaxy Tabs for our 8 and 11 year olds.

I'd get the 9 year old a Nexus 7... it beats the iPod in every way unless you just want a smaller/more portable device. (the idea that there are more games/apps for the iPod vs the Nexus is crap.. anything you could want is going to be on both at this point)

The main reason we are embracing the iPod idea specifically is that his Mom and I both have iPhones. The iOS texting over wifi is nice, and allows us to stay in contact with him directly when he is over at friends' houses without having to give him a cell phone. (Something which I plan to fight for a long, long, long time.)

I planned on fighting it until high school for my kids, but their mom was less committed to that plan and she eventually started lobbying on their behalf. We ended up getting them phones when they turned 11. It turned out to be pretty convenient for us to be able to communicate with them when they were over at friends' houses or whatever. It seemed like a decent age in terms of ability to be responsible and convenience for on-the-go kids in retrospect. Of course, cost is a factor too though.

Yeah, we'll see. I like the convenience of it. My thought has been to wait until they are driving age. Like everything, we go into it with a plan but end up playing it by ear.

Yep. You'll be dealing with a lot of pressure (but dad, everyone else has one!! lol), but I'm sure you'll end up doing what's right for your situation.