Looking for a basic android tablet for $200 or less for the kids to game on. I know that's a low budget, but whatever is least-bad at gaming at that price should be more than fine for the basic kids games and youtube I expect it will be used for. WiFi only is fine.
I'm not sure if refurbs are a thing in this price range, but that'd be ideal. Not a fan of buying used with no warranty, though …
Cheers for any suggestions.
How old an iPad would you be suggesting?
Get the most recent one you can find. iPads last longer than Android tablets, in terms of still feeling usable and getting updates, so you can go a bit older than you would with an Android tablet. If you think your kids will likely break it within a few years then you won't need one that will be getting updates four years from now anyway.
It's a long story, but I'm confident that an Android is the only option here - Please don't ask me to go into the specifics.
I know cheap android tablets are garbage, but I'm hoping that either there's a diamond in the rough somewhere, or that an older midrange tablet can be found refurbed or used for $200ish.
Is it because iPads have glass screens?
I'd probably look into buying a chinese-brand Android tablet.
in the low $200's Lenovo XiaoXin Pad 2022 has a snapdragon 680, which is a half decent chipset.
In the sub $200 range you're looking at tablets equipped with Unisoc T618 or Unisoc T610 or MediaTek Helio P22 series. They're basically Intel Pentium / Celerons of the tablet world — cheap, basic and a little sluggish.
You will find these used in the Lenovo Tab M10 tabs and the 10 inch Galaxy A 10.5 series tablets.
But on the bright side, these will be new and not refurbished / used.
Many thanks, I'll look through those now. Are there just not any decent refurb options out there? I know for iPads that's a thing. I figured it might be for old higher end Samsungs or whatever.
You can go to Green Gadgets ebay to look for refurbed devices
https://www.ebay.com.au/str/greengadgetsaustralia
Out of the 40 or so listings for refurbed tabs, the majority of them are iPads and there's only a couple of Samsung S-series tabs. They are out of your price range though. (CTRL+F Samsung to see those)
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true…
Id suggest looking on marketplace/gumtree for a used iPad. We ended up picking up a iPad 5 for $220
I'm android through and through but you cannot beat iPads for kids the app market is unmatched. Do your research on the specifics on what to purchase as older model iPads have extremely limited app support and it can get muddy when searching online because the prices vary.
An even older preowned iPad might be better bang for your buck. You don't know how intolerable cheap Android tablets can be.