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I was referring more to people having a pop at his spelling
I make allowances for TJ but not CharlieM as he seems pretty bright.
I was referring more to people having a pop at his spelling.
Bit harsh, he's not English, is he?
How about a [url= http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_Ideapad_G570_Core_i3_Laptop_M5174UK/version.asp ]Lenovo Ideapad G570?[/url]
Reviews over [url= http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/369211/lenovo-ideapad-g570 ]here[/url] and [url= http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/laptops/1285357/lenovo-g570 ]here[/url].
I make allowances for TJ but not CharlieM as he seems pretty bright.
Someone noticed me!!
Geordiemick- of course, its up to you to do what you want with your money but I must be from a different generation or planet and completely out of touch?
Why does a 10 year old need £400 presents?
Why does a 10 year old need an ipad2?
Why does a 10 year old need a laptop?
I appreciate that it really is none of my business, and its not meant to be a personal attack (so apologies if in forum speak it comes across like that) but these are genuine questions. I hope that in the meantime, you are in a fortunate place to have provided for her more important needs -future education etc?
But much the same could be asked of many things. We could reduce all things this way, tell me what does a 10 year old need?
Or in fact what do any of you need?
So what if gm spends £400 on his daughter instead of a pair of forks?
Would you hassle himfor 400 quid bike spend? Question priorities or motivations?
You hassle him for choosing to spend his money on his daughter instead of himself. Really?
I really didn't mean to hassle GM or make it personal. More a general question. Really intrigued - perhaps this simply normal expenditure.
In which case my Kids have always been deprived!!
{But then again, if you come on a forum saying that you are spending £400 in a 10 year old, you must be expecting some reaction?]
How about a Lenovo Ideapad G570?
Thats what im looking at right now. Had it a couple of months and love it.
PC world are doing for 399 but i got mine for 379 from them.
Hunt about. As with any PC, keep an eye on it with virus checks etc. Especially if your daughter keeps hold of it.
How about a neat netbook? £200 should get a decent new one, compact "iPad" size and probably up to what she needs??
I have a nice hp that was £180 from staples.
In which case my Kids have always been deprived!!
I don't thimk anyone is saying not spending 400 is depreiving them
{But then again, if you come on a forum saying that you are spending £400 in a 10 year old, you must be expecting some reaction?]
Only that he should get to choose where he spends his 400. No one questions anyone else about their wasteful bling. In fact there is gleeful celebration of this
I really didn't mean to hassle GM or make it personal. More a general question. Really intrigued - perhaps this simply normal expenditure.In which case my Kids have always been deprived!!
{But then again, if you come on a forum saying that you are spending £400 in a 10 year old, you must be expecting some reaction?]
Not really we dont know how many kids the Op has , I bought my daughter a laptop for her birthday , It was £350 for the record and is Specc'd well enough to last her for years . Im still paying It off 4 months later on 0% finance. For her Xmas she will probably get about £150 spent on her as I've 2 other kids . The laptop was a one off as kids need a Pc at some point and It keeps her off mine.
I wouldn't judge what people spend on there kids.
Charlie - GM can spend his money where he feels fit. Its none of my business at the personal level. To repeat, mine were general questions about expectations of 10 year olds and parents.
GM (sorry, if it came across otherwise, its late!! No intention of being judgmental, although the comment abut education probably came across badly, oops!)
This thread is a lovely demonstration of what is wrong with the UK, and indeed, much of the modern world.
I am laughing a little bit, but trying hard to hold back the tears at the same time.
The thought that I really can't drop though... is what poor unfortunate kids. It's not their fault of course, and they have no idea of the bullshit being thrust upon them at an age where they should be enjoying so many MUCH more important things the world has to offer.
🙁
Charlie - GM can spend his money where he feels fit. Its none of my business at the personal level. To repeat, mine were general questions about expectations of 10 year olds and parents.
Sorry, not particularly you i was referring to. I don't know what kids expectayions are, butnthe also see christmas as the time to try their luck. My 8 year old has asked for and ipad, a phone, a 3DS, some Fimo, tintin stuff and some painting by numbers. She'll get some of those, and will still be happy
The thought that I really can't drop though... is what poor unfortunate kids. It's not their fault of course, and they have no idea of the bullshit being thrust upon them at an age where they should be enjoying so many MUCH more important things the world has to offer.
Yes, they could go watch their dad ride around on his £2000 bike. Bit of fresh air and build some character.
It was always headed in this direction.
It's up to the OP how he spends his money. He didn't ask us for a moral judgement on it.
Pfft...in fairness, what am I thinking?!?
Teamhurtmore:
I didn't take it as a personal attack, but i'll explain... The present is between me and the estranged ex, she's on £60K a year and I'm on £40k a year, so £200 each is fortunately affordable. We both had childhoods where we got sweet FA because she had tight fisted parents and mine were skint, so we both want our child to have nicer things in life now that we can afford to. I lost my job in august and have had to sell some bikes off to tide me through christmas but as pointed out by other nobody has questioned me in the last twelve months when I've spend £15k on mountain bikes...
she's extremely intelligent, very low maintenance and way ahead of her years and never expects stuff, she's willing to earn it and don't moan if she doesn't get. She's very adept on a pc/mac and looks after her personal belongings. The ex and her have two dogs and two horses, she handles them all, feeds them, trains them and takes her responsibilities seriously.
I have no issues with giving her an iPad as I know it will be fine, the reason for putting this post up was to merely find out if a lap top is a better alternative to an iPad. So far a dodgy Dell website that can't get me to the good deal offered and a Sony netbook sized lap top have been suggested but please feel free to carry on discussing what I came on here for...
If you actually read around the posts commenting on your affluence, there are actually some helpful-ish [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/400-for-a-10-year-old-xmas-pressie-ipad-2-or-lap-top/page/2?replies=63#post-3246039 ]posts[/url].
...but as a wise old Irishman once said, it was always going to go this way.
£400 on a present for a 10 year old is ridiculous.
If you actually read around the posts commenting on your affluence, there are actually some helpful-ish posts.
I've noted them and thanks those who took the time to dig them out.
I've got an Acer which cost in the region of 350GBP, not great quality but good enough. My previous Dell was top.
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the OP wanting to buy a 10 year old xmas pressie for 400GBP. Slackers!
[img] http://www.smileys4me.com/getsmiley.php?show=2152 [/img]
£400 on a present for a 10 year old is ridiculous.
How much is yours worth?
Agreed, Don. Seems like the sort of thing STW usual jumps on.
Must be that everyone is filled with Xmas spirit.
I say iPad, its just a much more enjoyable thing to use, especially for a kid, while you can probably get similar apps for a laptop, the range of educational and fun things for the iPad makes it great for kids and everything is more interactive. And come on, how many of us had computers or video games systems when we were kids, most of us i'd guess.
Not me. Had a lump of coal, and was happy for that!
Must be that everyone is filled with Xmas spirit.
*hic*
[img] http://www.smileys4me.com/getsmiley.php?show=1893 [/img]
http://www.moneysorter.co.uk/calculator_inflation2.html#calculator
Check out your own pooter costs
Lump of coal? What's that?
How much is yours worth?
They are thankful for whatever they get, we don't need to spend a shed load of cash to show how much we love them.
I'm hoping they will grow up to be financially independent, and not expect everything to be handed to them on a plate like most young people now a days.
Cool calculator
Approx 1987, Age 10, ZX Spectrum +3, $249, equivalent value now is $491
Approx 1990, Age 13, Commodore Amiga A500, approx $370, equivalent now $588
400 for an iPad is a bloody bargain by comparison.
* excuse the dollar signs, keyboard doesn't have pound!
if its basically a toy I would go with the ipad as our boy loves my iphone, if your thinking a future of doing work etc I'd probably go with a laptop as it has a keyboard etc
I bet a lot of people spend £400 on kids at Christmas, maybe lots of pressies but still £400
Laptop. I(fanny)pads are ok till you use them. My mates Ipad slowed right down trying to browse the net! Utter shite. Nice if you're of the apple mind though. They don't work that well with anything other than apple, but they look good.
When I was 10 I got an X-Wing Fighter AND a Sony Walkman. That really was the apex of my gift receiving career, once you've experienced that there's really nothing left to acquire.
I was wanting the same question answered to be honest. Also, what LCD tv for her bedroom wall too, to compliment the one in her games room - I know that already though, it'll be a Samsung - will probably put Sky in there too.
Don't froth though guys - she's 11 and has sold her iPod Touch (now she has a Smartphone) and tablet PC to fund some of it.
wow, some people have some big chips on shoulders. I'm sure there was a post the other day asking about 400 pounds ish laptops. It mighrt be worth searching for
They are thankful for whatever they get, we don't need to spend a shed load of cash to show how much we love them.
And so are mine, they don't get given the latest games as soon as they are released, they don't wear expensive branded clothing and are polite, well mannered children. One is about to be signed up as an artistic skater and the other has been signed up for a premiership football youth team at aged 11. I show them my love by telling them daily, by doing 50k a year driving between the North East/West taking them to rinks/football fields etc
why should I feel guilty for putting £200 towards a present for her?
I should have really started the thread with a disclaimer inviting 'envious people need not reply'......
I went through my whole child life living in a council house, scraping coal off the beach as a ten year old in the miners strike, getting a packed lunch from the NUM every day for two years. Am I a bad father for not wanting them to have nothing??
Yes I agree kids don't know they're born these days but the difference is some kids stamp their feet if they don't get it and other kids show appreciation without expectation.
geordiemick00 - Member
Teamhurtmore:I didn't take it as a personal attack, but i'll explain... The present is between me and the estranged ex, she's on £60K a year and I'm on £40k a year, so £200 each is fortunately affordable. We both had childhoods where we got sweet FA because she had tight fisted parents and mine were skint, so we both want our child to have nicer things in life now that we can afford to. I lost my job in august and have had to sell some bikes off to tide me through christmas but as pointed out by other nobody has questioned me in the last twelve months when I've spend £15k on mountain bikes...
she's extremely intelligent, very low maintenance and way ahead of her years and never expects stuff, she's willing to earn it and don't moan if she doesn't get. She's very adept on a pc/mac and looks after her personal belongings. The ex and her have two dogs and two horses, she handles them all, feeds them, trains them and takes her responsibilities seriously.
I have no issues with giving her an iPad as I know it will be fine, the reason for putting this post up was to merely find out if a lap top is a better alternative to an iPad. So far a dodgy Dell website that can't get me to the good deal offered and a Sony netbook sized lap top have been suggested but please feel free to carry on discussing what I came on here for...
mate don't even bother justifying your actions.
for what its worth a few friends kids had both laptops / notebooks / iPads for things like cbeebies websites etc, personally id get an iPad now and a good laptop in a couple of years
I wouldn't bother geordiemick, it's STW after all - take the helpful replies, ignore the vitriol. I'm with you all the way.
was to merely find out if a lap top is a better alternative to an iPad.
For the OP, we have an iPad and a lappie in the house and our kids, who are about the age of yours, seem to pick up the iPad rather than the lappie. I deliberately got an iPad rather than iPad2 as I didn't want young girls with webcams in their bedroom (the lappie is only allowed to be used in the main rooms - no bedrooms).
The other benefit of the iPad over the lappie is that it is less likely to get infected with malware as they follow the links that their friends send them.
Oh, and OpenDNS of course
Jeez - if you can afford it, then why not?!
I was in John Lewis at the weekend doing a bit of Christmas shopping & was quite impressed with some of the netbooks & what u can get for your money.
I'd take a look at a decent netbook as well as laptops.
How way Geordie, I wouldn't take much notice of it... From the recent 'how solvent are you?' thread, it's pretty clear some on here are a bit hard up at the moment.
It's against this and the fact that a lot are middle aged and therefore grew up in the 70's/early 80's when there just wasn't as much spare cash around and you can see where a lot of people's reference points are.
My own nephew (12) is getting an iPhone for Xmas (amongst other things) and I still can't believe it. How long before the 'bigger boys' take his £500 object of conspicuous consumption off him in the playground (assuming 'they' haven't sold off all the playgrounds yet)?
GM - again hope my comments were non misconstrued. Happy Christmas to you and your daughter. Recommendation would be ipad over laptop and ipad over ipad 2 - yes for the same reasons re webcam posted above.
I hope that you have found/find a new job soon - then have a little chat about spending 38% of gross income on two-wheeled fun things!!!
Christ, what is the fuss about. The guy can afford to, and wants to spend some money on his daughter. Just because you can't afford / won't spend that doesn't mean hes spoiling her. Get a life
Buy her an Ipad. much better product for a kid...
Laptop, the ipad might look nicer but there will come a time when she will be using windows products at school and home access will be very beneficial. If you buy the ipad, you would probably end up getting hassled for a laptop as well in the not too distant future.
ignore the vitriol
I don't think there is any vitriol, just surprise that people think spending £400 on fancy electronic gadgets is a reasonable budget for Christmas presents for a 10 yr old.
For what it is worth, I think that teaching children the value of money is more important than showering them with expensive presents. The sister of a good friend has two children of 12 and 14 and they get so much spent on them it is shocking - LCD tvs in each bedroom, PS3s each, identical games each (as they won't share the same game).
Last year one of them wanted an expensive high performance remote control car. My friend has such a remote control car and he asked the child if he wanted that one first, just to check that he would be okay with it before his mum spent £150> on one. The child said something along the lines of 'no, I want a new one'.
If he was my child he would have got nothing after that.
I don't think there is any vitriol, just surprise that people think spending £400 on fancy electronic gadgets is a reasonable budget for Christmas presents for a 10 yr old.
and how many of us on here 'tell porkies' about how much our bikes/bits cost as out other halves could probably start a similar thread thinking what we spend is unreasonable.
She knows the value of money and has been saving up herself for the last six months and has £200 saved up. She's asking us for money to put towards it, she's not expecting one and me being the Dad who wants her to do well will tell her to put her money in her savings account that she can't have til she's 21.
You have blatantly got me confused with your friends sister who seemingly 'showers her children with expensive gifts', I don't. She has what a lot of kids have these days, she has a decent £300 bike which she cleans weekly and doesn't leave out to rust and she has a blackberry which all of her mates have as it's a) a way of keeping in contact with me (who doesn't live with her) b) it was cheaper than topping up her PAYG phone and costs £10.50 a month, a relatively cheap way of keeping in contact with her friends and family.