iPad mini or laptop

[Andy Weatherup]

My son will be leaving A school in Jan (Pensacola ) to serve on a carrier we would like to buy him a lap top or iPod mini ( games and movies) which would be better any thoughts

[Andrew]

An iPad is the best for portable, but the storage is little. Laptops are still the best out there. I use my laptop and iPad a lot even deployed. This is after Christmas and a few weeks later so I don't even know if this helps.

[Nigel Burns]

Cellphone definitely! I got my girlfriend a tablet she can use it in place of a laptop, it's smaller portable and has an incredible battery life. He can play games, watch movies, watch netflix, skype, video chat, read books, listen to his music like an ipod, and countless other things with it. It's basically like an Ipad. I only paid $250.00 for this model. It's just a little smaller than an I pad but does a lot more. Here's a link if you are interested. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_32gb&f... What you need to consider is they won't have wifi unless a room mate or someone close has it. A lot of sailors will pay someone with wifi like $10.00 a month to use someone that has it's service, or they can sign up for their own service, but without it a lap top or tablet would be pretty useless. My girlfriend got lucky and the girl next door has it she pays her $10.00 a month and uses her connection.

[NavyDads Admin (Paul)]

As Jim suggest, it is important to find out from ombudsman what electronics are allowed and what they suggest.  There is limited secure storage space and limited access to power for recharging and OPSEC considerations.