What We Chose
Apple iPad
$109.00
Our oldest says: it's fast enough for everything I want and it never dies mid-drive.
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There is a particular flavor of quiet that settles over a full house when the right screen is in the right hands, and getting there used to involve a lot of negotiation. Our older two do actual schoolwork and drawing now, and squeezing that onto the same beat-up device the toddlers watch cartoons on was a recipe for meltdowns. Some tech genuinely keeps the peace, and this was the gap we needed to close.
The one that settled things is the basic Apple iPad. It is the device our oldest uses for homework, reading, and the drawing app he is obsessed with, and it is quick enough that it doesn’t stutter and spark a frustrated outburst. Splitting the older kids’ iPad from the little ones’ rugged tablet meant the daily fight over whose turn it was mostly evaporated, which is its own kind of miracle.
We weighed the pricier iPad models and cheaper off-brand tablets, and the entry-level Apple iPad hit the mark for what our oldest actually needs. It handles school and creative apps without complaint, holds its value if it eventually gets handed down, and at around $109 on sale it cost less than we feared. For the piece of tech whose real job is keeping six kids from squabbling, the plain iPad quietly does the work.