As with many things it probably depends on the individual child. I'm confident that my daughter will take good care of it, she's that sort of girl and is accustomed to using an ipod touch as they use them at school.

Thank you though for the thought though because I'm sure there are some 9 year olds (and even older kids) who no doubt would be rough with it and it is a lot of money to spend and then promptly get ruined

I think that you are taking a sensible approach to it.

Obviously a 32Gb iPod Touch is better than a 8Gb for storage, future requirements etc. but you can only buy what you can afford. If your budget is limited then I'm sure that she's a lucky little girl to be getting an iPod Touch.

I'm sure that she will love it and I hope that you both have a lovely Christmas.

Thankyou for your input and the kind wishes - I hope you and your family have a great Christmas too

I was 9 once, a long time ago, so am not at all sure what a 9 year old girl would download, I have an 8gb and its been full for the last year had it 2 years I just delete some stuff if I want to download something new, I mainly use it for games, (which I play while I sit in the car as my wife fritters away our cash in the supermarket!) I have 60+ on it and about 3 hours of video, 10 hours audio, podcasts, 1 audiobook & some music, its just that when you first get it you can easily start filling it up with some rubbish really, then after a while get more selective. Remember to get screensaver film and a protective case, mine has been quite hardwearing which bodes well, hope you get a good deal and the model you want, happy Christmas!

I'm slighty amazed this thread is still going. All I can say is that I am glad I only bought my daughter an 8gb iPod Touch. Of course less than a couple of years later she wanted an iPhone and we got a good deal from Tescos and it has proved a fantastic product. The Touch went to her 10 year old cousin who was over the moon with it as his parents would not of afforded a new one. But the best part is I saved the extra £xxx's by not buying a 32 GB version Touch in the first place.