My daughter (34 months) loves her i-pad. We have a lot of educational apps for her to play with. Unfortunately, it doesn't run flash, so it wont do starfall. She is able to navigate the menus of the apps just fine, and exit apps, start new ones, etc. We haven't taught her how to use safari nor youtube on her own.
She can also use a regular laptop with a touch-pad to a limited degree. She knows about getting the pointer over something and clicking, and dragging, but she is much better with the i-pad. Still, if I bring up starfall, I can leave her alone with it for a while.
IXL is better on the i-pad than a laptop because of the zoom capability.
Softschool is another site similar to IXL that's good for practicing things you already know, but doesn't really teach.
Of course, tablets are kind of fragile. My daughter is very calm, and understands that it's breakable, but I still worry. Children make mistakes, and aren't really known for taking good care of things.
I have thought about getting an old tough-book that would stand up to abuse. I'm not sure what the future holds. For now she seems content with her apps on the i-pad, and having someone set her up with games on a laptop.
