I have twin daughters, and the both have cheap $400 laptops. They both hate the laptops as they say they have issues, and are super slow..... but they do like that they have a DVD burner in them. I wanted to buy them the cheapest Mac laptops.... but I was on Apple today, and they are $1299.... and I would need 2 of them. Their high school uses Apple. I can't afford 2 $1300 computers. I then thought about getting them 64gb ipads, the 12" versions, and getting them a BT keyboard. They have the original iPad minis, and they absolutely love them...... but they are starting to get to the point where they don't hold a battery charge. These will be for Christmas this year. My kids have these concerns...... they want to be able to transfer photos and music to their android phones, and and they want to do the same to their PC laptops, as well. Is this possible? Is this a bad idea? I already have a family plan to MS Office for MAC, that they can use on their iPads. If possible, what cords would I need? Thanks!
A far as I am aware you cannot plug an iPad into an android but you can transfer wireless via 3rd party apps such as photobox. I have both iPad and Mac and they work perfect together. You can use the same usb cable to plug into a laptop and use iTunes just the same as the Mac. You cannot of course sync the android to iTunes so won't be able to transfer in this way to the android. You cannot burn a dvd to an iPad without an MP4 converter (they use MP4 and m4v formats). However films are very well priced on iTunes and tend to be released earlier than the dvd. There are 3rd party apps on Google play which allow you to download songs to your android which you can then drag/drop to iTunes but you can't transfer a purchased iTunes song to an android. You can "rip" a purchased cd to your Mac or laptop and transfer to both android and iPad. iPad obviously via iTunes and android via file transfer. For cables, iPads need the Lightning usb cable and (depending on the android) they tend to use the micro usb. Both can plug into the Mac and laptop no problems. I have an air2 and I would recommend an air1 minimum. Reason for this is that a lot of games are now not supporting older than the air1 so will save you upgrading sooner. I would also look at min 32gb as films etc can take up a lot of space. An iTunes film can take 2.5gb for sd and over 4gb for hd. MP3 and photos of course take a lot less space so if games are not of interest and films are not of interest then older/smaller models will suit. I hope this helps.
Sure... I have an idea... Sell the iPads and laptops to someone who would want them so that they don't end up in a landfill and end up in hands of people who would enjoy them... Use the appropriated funds to purchase two USED MacBooks... There is absolutely no need for teenagers in high school to need BRAND NEW MacBooks unless they are the types that would also complain that you bought them a used car as well... You can easily get x2 2009 or newer MacBook Pros... Add ram to them... Add SSD hard drives to them, and stay well under what ONE new low end one would cost... With VERY little difference in performance after the upgrades... But... It would take actual work to do this, not just "click" "buy"... That's my .02$
I always go with a used laptop (not a Mac) in the 500-800€ range, that still has at least two years of warranty. But this isn't what this thread is about. It's about your daughter's preference. Perhaps ask them, set a price range and let them choose their own gift? There's still plenty of time until Christmas, which means they can do their own research, get opinions from people etc.
