Thoughts on this for kids xmas

I have three young kids (6,6, and 8). They want the DSi's (what kid doesn't).

However, I find them playing with my one android device and the wife's Iphone constantly for the games.

How bad of an idea is this.....Buy prepaid android phone without minutes. load an alternate ROM, turn off the cellular radios, enable wifi (only at home).

Fill "phones" with angry birds, labyrinth, Mario ROMs etc. essentially giving them small tablets that I can monitor whats installed etc.

Sounds like a plan to me!

I think some of what you have mentioned is called an iPod.
I have done what you want to do with prepaid Androids. As an example, if you buy a Virgin Mobile Optimus and then just never start the service you can still go in via wifi and register up a gmail account and pull aps in the marketplace. While unactivated it will play games and pull email such as Yahoo all via wifi.
With some shopping you can get the Optimus V as cheap as $99. Avoid the lesser Samsung Intercept.

You will have to have it activated to make calls even through google voice. I am not sure about skype or other voip services.

I'm not giving my kids a $250 glass ipod.... a $70 prepaid android is another story

I like it, or alternatively iPod touches + jailbrake. The new generation of e-readers (e.g., Nook Color) are also essentially Android tablets and might be an option for you to wipe and re-load with the latest Android builds. Pros are larger screen, con is larger size = less portable.

edit - beaten by Ninja posts on the iPod discussion. I will say that the iPods are remarkably tough - my kids have had theirs for 2 years and they get tossed into backpacks and generally abused with absolutely no ill effects.

What's a DSI?

carguy123 wrote: What's a DSI?

an overpriced piece of plastic that requires you to purchase additional overpriced pieces of plastic due to brand name

carguy123 wrote: What's a DSI?

An evolution of the Nintendo Game Boy.

Damn, make me feel like a bad father. My kids, ages 4,4 and 7, like playing video games. We have a Wii, but that's it. We only let them play it maybe a total of 1-2 hours per week, sometimes less. Per week that is, not per day. My wife and I have very basic cell phones, so Wii (or a few things on our laptop) are their only choices.

Surprising frequency of twins itt.

My daughter(7 years old) has a 3g iphone/jail broke, she loves the thing. Plus when she needs to be grounded, there go's the iphone, the wii and any thing else that can be plug'd into the thats not a light

1988RedT2 wrote:

carguy123 wrote: What's a DSI?

An evolution of the Nintendo Game Boy.

I'm so glad I no longer have to know this stuff!

Piece of advice- Be careful with PP android phones. A lot of them are based on REALLY old tech, slow chips, low memory, etc. Simple things like Angry Birds can brick the hell out of those things with the quickness. Plus a lot of games are updated to work on only newer Android releases, so you could be hamstringing yourself if you only go with say, android 1.8 or whatever.

carguy123 wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote:

carguy123 wrote: What's a DSI?

An evolution of the Nintendo Game Boy.

I'm so glad I no longer have to know this stuff!

DSi is old news. it's already two iterations ago! We've had the DSiXL since then, and now the 3DS. (all of which I have, and then some)

Sounds like a lot of work. Get WiFi-only Android tablets (like Kindle Fire) instead.

Bigger screen, no worry about "hacking" a phone with a different ROM, etc.

We recycled my wife's old iPhone 3GS into a kids toy. No cell service, so we just download apps and games on our WiFi. Usually only made available to our kids (5&7) when we need them distracted for short periods of time.

my mo-in-law is buying my kids DS's for the kids... I wouldn't personally but don't mind if someone else is forking out the $$$ but I'm still the one who says what to get in this case...

as mentioned prepaid androids tend to be the suck... low end older slow models that won't do much... when I first moved to a smart phone from an old bar I got one that is newer design then most of those in the prepay world... it was still a slow miserable toy... most games I wanted to play didn't work well... including angry birds...

so if you go that route i'd suggest finding a used cheap older Iphone and jailbrake it (like mentioned before)... but in the end they are still phones and fairly fragile...

if you go DS... go buy them a used DS lite... no interwebz to "worry" about... is cheap... can play game boy advanced games (which cost next to nothing)... and easy to "homebrew" (ie. hack... so you could load a bunch of games or even movies onto an SD card for them...)

honestly if you are hesetent go check them out at gamestop... every one i've ever been to has had very helpful staff (although maybe not so much the place to go for the hacking portion)

the other option... watch ebay and CL for used GBA "kits"... cheap cheap... yes they are old and used... but as long as they work it's pretty likely they will continue to work... the game boy my mom bought in the early 90's (it was officially hers to prevent arguments/fighting among the kids)... still works just fine with fresh batteries....

This is a great idea. Not sure exactly how viable it is on Android phones with less than a 1Ghz processor, but you can load up NES and SNES emulators and play games with a Wii controller via bluetooth. Way cooler than an iPod or the other portable offerings from Nintendo. Far cheaper as well. Can also be a great teaching/learning experience. When I was a youngster and I wanted to play PC games I had to learn DOS commands.

Also if you want to go the cheapest route you find used phones on CL.

I'm messing around with an old Motorola Droid (1st edition). CM7.1 Rom with a small 2gb SD card. It's running any game I can throw at it.

Buy them a soccer ball?

Exercise, cheap, and keeps them in the backyard?

z31maniac wrote: Buy them a soccer ball? Exercise, cheap, and keeps them in the backyard?

lol....we have the playgrounds of playgrounds here at home: They are kicked outside 99% of the time. I'm thinking for car rides (often and long). educational progrmas as well (flashcards, math programs, etc), e-books (8 yo reads very well)

The playground mansion is evidence that you're an awesome dad. I'm guessing whatever decision you make will be the right one. :)

Grtechguy wrote: educational progrmas as well (flashcards, math programs, etc)

Just throwing this out there, could you imagine if your parents foisted that garbage on you?

My parents never liked how much I nintenderized (as my Dad coined the term), but it's so incredibly unnecessary to do the educational thing. If they are still of the age to be playing gameboy type devices, probably not a bad idea to just let them be kids and play Zelda or something

Datsun1500 wrote:

poopshovel wrote: The playground mansion is evidence that you're an awesome dad. I'm guessing whatever decision you make will be the right one. :)

But did you notice the playground is connecting 2 yards?

yep...gated bridge on level #2

I MUST be dumb or something. i cannot figure out how to jail break my 1g iphone.

Someone help me