Do you really need a tablet for school? The answer will be probably no, but if your intentions are strictly academic then a simple tablet would be enough. The new iPad would be great, but a $500 device for a school going person and that too for just academic purpose, would be too much burden on their student checking account.

All work and no play makes a dull kid. So, apart from academics, you can unwind with TV shows, games, music etc. Tablets are lightweight, easy to use and fast. There are tons of apps at your service. There are plenty of cheap but good tablets for the school going and here are the 5 best ones.

  1. Google Nexus 7: This is the first tablet with Android Jelly Bean OS. It is fast, well built and great value for money.  It has  7” screen with 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, quad core Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.1 OS, 1 GB RAM. Priced at $300, it is the best one to buy to surf the internet and play games, read books, watch movies and TV shows and is worth every buck you spend. It costs $199 for 8GB and $249 for 16 GB.
  2. Amazon Kindle Fire: This revolutionary tablet from Amazon is first easy to use tablet with a small screen and affordable in terms of cost. This is a small tablet with simple and clear interface that helps users to pick and use simply. It has a 7”capacitive touch screen, 8GB storage, 512 MB RAM, Android OS v2.3. With $200 price, great software and easy to use interface this is the best choice for small tablet.
  3. Barnes & Noble Nook Color: If reading is your priority then this tablet is surely made for you. This has 7” color display with 1024 x 600 pixels LCD resolution that can show 16 million colors, touch sensitive reading interface, social reading and book store, runs on Android 2.1, supports Android apps, and a battery that can last up to 8 hrs. At $150 it is a top choice.
  4. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2: It is a simple and elegant tablet with a small screen.  It has a screen of 7” with 600 x 1024 pixels resolution,  VGA front camera and 3MP rear camera, 1GHz dual core processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, Touch Wiz UI. With the Google’s latest OS at $250, this is a good buy.
  5.   Acer Iconia  Tab A200:  It offers great features at an uncommon price for 10”tablet. It has a 10”display with 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, Android 4.0 OS, smooth UI, Dual core 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1GB RAM, 8/16 GB internal storage, 2MP rear camera, Android v3.2 OS, battery with up to 8 hrs stand by time. It is priced at $349  for 16GB and is great for a 10”tablet.

These are the best 5 tablets for school going kids which are budget friendly.