My 12 yr old daughter would like a record player for her birthday! Don’t want to spend that much as it maybe a culture shock after her ipod. Trawled Ebay & Amazon and am none the wiser.
Any ideas?

Does she have any records?

Our old ones, and we have bought a few, Pretty in Pink soundtrack, Daft Punk etc…

Depends how much you want to pay. The obvious choice would be a USB turntable, allowing her to buy vinyl, but also be able to make digital copies to play on her iPod. Some vinyl releases come with a digital download, but if you or she are scouring the record markets for unusual stuff, then it’s appealing.
Except most are pretty flimsy things, and not really up to much. This one seems to be better than most, but it’s pricey, suggesting a second-hand Rega RP1 might be better.
Depends on how much use it’s going to get…
http://www.whathifi.com/review/tdk-etvt20102-usb
This one might be better, Denon are a good make, and it might be better suited to a 12yo, and she still gets the USB:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2682-denon-dp200usb-usb-turntable.aspx

If you buy a turntable remember you’ll need to have something with speakers to plug it into.

Where do you live? I have a turntable in not using that you could borrow until junior grows out of this phase 🙂

We got our B and O 2nd hand and it sounds better than any I’ve bought new. Only cost us £50 🙂

Look for something local so you can collect it (record players don’t like being posted unless they are packed properly). Does she have a stereo with a spare phono input she can plug it in to? You might even get a deal on a turntable, amp and speakers.

Not all turntables have a pre-amp built in – these are need to boost the sound to amp/stereo as the output from them is low. You can pick up a cheap one from RicherSound for £25.

Or you could go for something like this: http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/crosley-cruiser-portable-turntable-uk-plug/invt/5560435980469 with speakers built in. They sound OK (though not amazing) – can’t vouch for the quality. Loads of colours to pick from too: http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/search?q=crosley&searchsubmit=