<p>Parents, do you pay for computers, smart phones, tablets, etc.? I’m curious what the norm is on this.</p>
<p>I’ve bought my computers myself starting back in high school (currently a college senior), and I’ll probably be buying my first smart phone around the end of the year. My brother, a few years older than me, pooled his graduation gift money together to buy a computer, and my parents bought him a TI-89 for a grad present. I would feel guilty asking them to pay for the pricey electronics. But I also get the feeling that things have changed in the past few years.</p>
<p>What are you willing to pay for as parents? The “essentials” but not the “luxury” items? Where do you draw the line?</p>
<p>When they are in HS, they can use the family computer.
When the go to college, I will get them a new laptop. After that they are on their own.
Tablet is unnecessary (they can use laptop or phone) so I would not buy one.
We did get them a smart phone.</p>
<p>Laptops seem to end up being graduation presents in this house. If they want something fancier than our budget they pay the balance. We gave our kids smartphones one Christmas. No one owns a tablet in this household.</p>
<p>I have a high school sophomore and junior. </p>
<p>We buy phones every few years - at this point, probably every three years. Both kids have iPhones, on the family plan. (DH’s company pays a huge portion of the monthly cost, otherwise I’d make a different decision).</p>
<p>They each paid about half of their computer costs. Any add-ons they pay for out of their own spending money. Their high school pretty much (unofficially) requires a laptop, so we made sure they had one by their freshman year.</p>
<p>We will likely buy a new laptop for them for college, if needed.</p>
<p>They needed the TI-89 back in middle school. </p>
<p>Edited to add: each of us has an iPad (some minis, some regular) - those have been Christmas or birthday gifts over the years. Those aren’t for school use.</p>
<p>An 89 in middle school?? I mean, I had the TI-83 in middle school, but the 89 seems overkill for any class one could conceivably be taking in middle school. I’ve gotten through all my upper level college math courses with my trusty TI-83.</p>
<p>For me, my parents bought me an inexpensive laptop before the start of 10th grade since I was constantly hogging the family computer for all my homework. They’ve told me that they will buy me a nicer laptop for college. For smartphones everyone has an iphone in my family. Mine and my sister’s were Christmas presents though. For tablets we have a family ipad, but if I wanted one for myself then I would have to pay for it.</p>
<p>Our kids used the family computer in high school. We bought S1 a laptop before his freshman year in college, and got him a Microsoft Surface for Christmas this year. S2 will be getting his own laptop this year. We pay for their phone service and a basic smartphone. If they want anything fancier, like an HTC One or an iPhone, they can pay for it themselves. </p>
<p>An 89 because they were taking high school math classes in middle school, not because I otherwise thought they needed graphing capabilities in middle school :)</p>
<p>Laptops and smart phones have always been Christmas gifts in our house (or graduation). My kids really don’t want anything else so often it is the “only” gift. They are on our phone plan too (one is in college - one is in hs)</p>
<p>D’s HS requires most homework done on a computer and submitted via various programs like Dropbox. They are not allowed to take their computers home so we got her a basic model when she started HS. We have a “granfathered” phone plan in which we get the phones for free using a 2-year contract, so we all have smartphones. Not the newest model, but they’re fine. DH got a tablet to be able to write and send docs for work without needing his laptop and he liked it so much he got a refurbished one for D. She loves it-uses it mostly for “Facetimeing” her friends, watching old shows and to play music for her dance practices. </p>
<p>We recognize that we’re lucky to be able to have all these things and it’s probably more than most people have. My kids and their cousins are contributing to a very nice laptop for their other cousin who just graduated from HS. They gave me the money and put me in charge of finding the right one. It will be the only computer that cousin has every owned, in fact one of the few things of any kind he has not had donated or handed down. They are thrilled to be able to do this.</p>
<p>My extended family gifted me my first laptop when I started college. However, though they meant well…the laptop they purchased ended up having the LCD fail right after the one year warranty ran out. </p>
<p>I later found out they assumed I wouldn’t need a powerful computer as they would as engineers/CS folks so they got me a low-end machine which ended up being penny-wise pound foolish in the longer term. Thankfully, that company no longer makes laptops. </p>
<p>One consolation was it failed right after the end of final exams fall semester sophomore year. The older relatives paid for the repairs as they admitted they were the ones who decided on a model which failed far sooner than it should have and knew I tended to be careful with my stuff. Even now, the plastic casing is still in near pristine condition. </p>
<p>My second and subsequent notebooks were much better quality ones I bought or ended up being dumped/given to me by frustrated former owners. With one subsequent exception which lasted 3 years, every other notebook I’ve had has lasted 8 or more years. </p>
<p>The second notebook I got with summer earnings…a Toshiba Tecra(Corporate model) in the late '90s is still running today…albeit in the hands of a friend who needed a basic machine for office applications/job search. 16+ years and I used it quite intensively for the first 7 or so years. </p>
<p>The takeaway lesson: I am wary of encouraging relatives, SOs, etc to gift me computer/electronic items without allowing me to carefully evaluate them for myself. Don’t have a desire to repeat the experience of a first laptop.</p>
<p>In high school, our kids use the family computer as well as the old laptops that the parents abandoned after upgrades. No one has a tablet. We bought simple “dumb” phones for them and refill their GoPhone accounts every three months, and if someone did want a fancier phone, they would cover that. So far no one even goes over the $9 per month even with texting though. I guess my kids aren’t too talkative .</p>
<p>My oldest is going to college this fall, though, so we are trying to figure out how much we can contribute toward her own computer. We won’t be able to buy one outright, but we’d like to help. Also, we’re looking into moving the whole family onto a group plan that would allow for better phones, since we’re thinking the GoPhone candy bar phone won’t cut it as her only phone at college. But we’ll probably ask the kids to buy their own devices if they want to be in the plan. Not trying to be mean; it’s just the reality of our budget. </p>
<p>I always viewed laptop and phone as necessities. My kids didn’t play video games. They used their laptops in high school and college to do research and write papers. There was no way they could have shared. In that respect, we always bought the electronics for the kids as they needed them. When they became out dated we bought them new ones, not as presents, but as tools for them to do their work. </p>
<p>In our family we give laptops at Christmas of senior year (so any burn in is finished before college) as well as cell phones (no smart phones). Makes it easy to choose what to give that year. :>) Laptop replacements are on the students. We’ve got newer phones at renewal time. When this contract is up we’ll reconsider what we want to do for phones.</p>
<p>My eldest has a HORRIBLE track record with electronics. Her first 2 phones (not smart phones) went through the laundry. She busted the first 2 digital cameras and lost an ipod given to her (they weren’t all new but they were good quality and worth caring for.) No way we were going to invest in anymore electronics with that track record! She had to save and plunk down her own money for her first laptop and replacement phone (and eventually iphone.) It certainly made a difference in the care she showed and she’s kept everything safe since. We purchased her a new laptop at 16 (which is the one she’s taking to college) and she got a host of new electronics for graduation that I know she’ll now care for and appreciate. </p>
<p>My youngest has always been careful with his electronics. Never broke a thing. We did require he buy his own laptop because we felt it was a good lesson. He purchased his ipod himself as well. However, I don’t have any issues buying him electronics. I suspect we’ll be purchasing him a new laptop and phone for college when the time comes.</p>
<p>We bought our kids computers when in HS and in college. Our kids didn’t have smartphones in college, and both bought their own phones after graduation. Oddly, neither of my kids was begging for a smartphone before college graduation.</p>
<p>We also bought the calculators as they were required for HS classes. </p>
<p>We bought one kid a Kindle for a Christmas present. The other kiddo isn’t interested.</p>
<p>Am I reading this right in that you have only one computer in your house? </p>
<p>From about elementary school my parents bought me a computer (and this was back when they were still an expensive purchase, now as cheap as they are I don’t see why someone wouldn’t buy one for their kids) for myself. I think I asked for a cellphone in 6th grade or something and they wanted me to pay for it by myself (don’t know how they thought I could do that), so I just never got one until they wanted to get rid of the home phone when I was a senior in high school, at which point they just bought me one (and I no longer cared about having one).</p>
<p>My last computer which I built freshman year of college I paid for myself. Before that they paid for all of my electronics.</p>
<p>We typically split the cost of laptops with our kids. They paid for their own smartphones, starting in HS. No interest in any tablets or Kindles, etc. Oh, and H gets gaming consoles for free as a perk of his job but S2 uses his own money to buy games, except for birthday/Christmas gifts.</p>
<p>Our kids’ high school required a laptop so we bought cheap ones/gave cast offs of ours. One really wanted a Mac, so he got that as a birthday gift. We did get our son a new laptop for college (through the college), one that all the repairs are covered by the college as well as a loaner provided in the event something happens. Both kids have smartphones, and we do pay for those on a family plan. So yeah, we are pretty much paying for the electronics. The computers seem necessary to me for school. The smartphones are definitely a gift . . .one that we keep on giving. Any smartphone hardware upgrades that aren’t free though - - the kids cover those i.e. if they can get a iPhone 4s for free and a 5 for $200 - - they have to come up with the $200 to get the better phone.</p>
.</p>