Trying to decide on a gift for my friend's daughter's birthday, please help me choose

[Calliers]

Ok so it is going to be a Nintendo Switch, she loves video games and he is getting tired of her hijacking his Xbox Series S to play games whenever he wants to use it.

 

He and his wife, who are awesome friends of mine are currently renovating and can't buy her anything to play video games on right now so it is between a Nintendo Switch Lite (Coral, or pink that is the color he said she will like) or a regular Nintendo Switch, but the Animal Crossing Edition, which again is more expensive but has a larger screen, and can be connected to the TV to play on there as well as played in handheld mode. She is turning 8 and I think that is a good age to get your own console that you can use and then she can play it in her free time whenever her parents allow her to. She is also the best, she sung me happy birthday this past birthday of mine and it just melted my heart lol. 😄 I really feel she should have her own little system she can play on which she can call her own.

 

Also, the Nintendo Switch Lite is a uni-body design, the two sides don't come off into joy pads, but this also makes it more durable if she ever drops it, it will be harder to break. There are a lot of good games for kids on the Switch, something which my friend struggles to find on Gamepass, although he does let her play some more action oriented games that are not too bad, with parental guidance as well, but she tends to like the cuter games like Animal Crossing and such. Here is a picture of the Nintendo Switch Lite in Coral color palette. It is also the cheaper of the two options.

 

 

Then option number two is this one, like I said, bigger screen, and it also comes with Animal Crossing art and it can connect to the TV as well. But I worry that she will want to play on the same TV he plays on, they have multiple TVs, but you know how kids can be sometimes lol. The advantage again is that the screen is I think a little bigger on this one, no where near as nice as the Switch OLED, but that I think is something she will find a bit more boring than this version. This one is 100 bucks more expensive, but to me the cost doesn't matter. Also the joy cons come off on either side and she can use them to play multiplayer with her friends that might also have a Switch or just on her single Switch with this version. The disadvantage of this one though is that it is more breakable than the other one - the Switch Lite.

 

 

So which one should I choose? I have until the 5th to make the decision if the gift is to arrive on time. Shall we put it to a vote? Also if you have a Nintendo Switch (I don't) I'd really like to hear your thoughts and advice. And also those who may not even own one, please, your words are welcome too!

[Epitaph]

I've been an xbox peasant since day one minus all the time I spent with a friend on the gamecube so long ago. Honestly, I think functionality would go a long a way over favorite color, even if the price tag's a bit higher. Gives her more options to do stuff and have fun, hopefully.

[Calliers]

3 minutes ago, E said:

I've been an xbox peasant since day one minus all the time I spent with a friend on the gamecube so long ago. Honestly, I think functionality would go a long a way over favorite color, even if the price tag's a bit higher. Gives her more options to do stuff and have fun, hopefully.

Ok, yeah he said I should just get her the Lite, but I mean, I feel the regular Switch would be better for her because the Lite, she may outgrow faster than the regular one due to it's limited functionality. Great point.

 

Myself I've always loved PC, but I mean as far as consoles go, I was always a Playstation man, now I love my Xbox Series X as much as I love my PS5.

[Guest]

I have a Lite and it's kinda meh since it struggles a bit with running the games sometimes. OLED is new right? Are the improvements worth the money? AC is always super cute!

[Calliers]

9 minutes ago, Phalena said:

I have a Lite and it's kinda meh since it struggles a bit with running the games sometimes. OLED is new right? Are the improvements worth the money? AC is always super cute!

The Switch is a very underpowered device and both the Switch Lite and the regular Switch are both identical when it comes to processing power. The same goes for the OLED, it has identical processing power to the Lite and the regular Switch. Where the Switch OLED shines is in it's screen (when playing in handheld mode) which makes games look a lot better. The OLED would be better for someone who plays their games mostly handheld as opposed to on a TV.

[Blue eyes white dragon]

Probably the AC one because more functionality?

[Calliers]

Just now, Blue eyes white dragon said:

Probably the AC one because more functionality?

Yes, this is what I'm leaning towards as of now, I also voted for the AC Switch in the poll.

[LazyDazy]

I put a lot of thought into whether to get my son the Lite or full version. After a lot of research and discussion with him, we both decided that the full version was the way to go. Way more versatile and we could play Mario Kart together as a family on the big tv because of the removable controls. He is delighted with it and has been playing on it for the past couple of years. He's 11 now. Never had any problems with dropping it though he did get a bit too rough with the controls and we had to replace them once. Much cheaper than having to replace an entire console if we had bought the Lite version. You can also buy replacement controls individually and even second hand. I did that once here in Australia from EB Games. And it worked great.

 

Also agree regarding the range of games. All of the games that my son wanted to play were either specific to Nintendo Switch or had versions available for the Switch. He has never asked for another type of console like xbox. He loves the Switch and how he can take it anywhere - like waiting for me during appointments or in the car on long trips.

[Calliers]

So it looks like so far everyone is leaning to the Switch AC Special Edition, I am still too. I just wish it came with the game, but at least it is cute.

[Guest]

anything but the lite version, the other two can be hooked up to a tv or monitor which means that if the screen is damaged you can still use it. the lite version does NOT support this.

[Calliers]

7 hours ago, Ultima said:

anything but the lite version, the other two can be hooked up to a tv or monitor which means that if the screen is damaged you can still use it. the lite version does NOT support this.

After talking to her dad I discovered she's been asking for an Amazon Fire tablet for the longest time (her iPad is very low storage), so I'm getting her a 64GB one, also she can do more things with it, watch Netflix, Disney Plus, etc., read, play games, surf the net. We feel it will be the better option, she wants a pink one (lavender), also as a kid there is something magical about getting exactly what you wanted  :

 

 

I buy the gift tomorrow, thank you though for all of your replies and votes! Much appreciated!

[iff]

@Calliers

 

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