New internet device

[Kies]

Popped in to see dad with the kids and he hands me the very very old laptop I gave him a few years back (it has a virus and various pop ups).
Fair enough I'll blow away windows, format the disk and install a fresh copy of XP home (licensed).
It has got me thinking though, does he need a laptop or should I look at buying him a tablet for browsing the interweb and emails?
It's his birthday on the first of September and he will be 77 years young

 

[cyberknight]

My brother bought our mum an ipad this year and it does all she wants so i would go for a tablet based device.

 

[TVC]

Think about a chromebook, Lu has one, cheaper than a windows lappy, fires up in 6 seconds and is simple to use

 

[fabregas485]

For internet and emails and apps a tablet is a great idea. Anything else a laptop

 

[Bollo]

+1 for the tabby. My mum has never got on with 'puters but treated herself to an iPad when she retired. Since then she's been emailing, apping and face-timing like a fiend.

Personally I'd go for an iPad over an android device as the interface (IMHO) has a more gentle learning curve.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

I'm with the chrome book as the older generation like real keyboards for a start and being based on Linux its stable and secure. Its also super simple without loads of options to confuse them

 

[ufkacbln]

MY 87 year old MiL has a tablet and reads avidly on it, lots of Angry Birds and a few other games.

Unfortunately she is rather naive and as a result she is not allowed Internet unless supervised.

 

[buggi]

what about one of those two in one things, is it the Surface? where it clicks into a key board but also is a tablet? or the laptop that when you shut it has a tablet on the outside?

 

[Joffey]

My mum (72) has an iPad, saves me lots of hassle. Minimal risk of breaking it, getting a virus, getting hacked and the apps make it simpler rather than looking for everything on the Internet through a browser.

She reads on it also, emails, games etc

 

[Cush]

Though I am sure they are not intended to be. I found some of these postings rather patronizing. I am 70 this month and though I am not a geek and find that it takes a little longer to grasp, some of the newer concepts of computing I get by and some things are certainly a lot easier to grasp now than they used to be, when I started out with my old Dragon. Incidentally I am planning to do a 70 solo mile ride the day before my 70th (no good doing it on my 70th I would fail the breathalyzer)

 

[ufkacbln]

Though I am sure they are not intended to be. I found some of these postings rather patronizing. I am 70 this month and though I am not a geek and find that it takes a little longer to grasp, some of the newer concepts of computing I get by and some things are certainly a lot easier to grasp now than they used to be, when I started out with my old Dragon. Incidentally I am planning to do a 70 solo mile ride the day before my 70th (no good doing it on my 70th I would fail the breathalyzer)

I am not being patronising by keeping my MiL off the internet - it is protective.

She has fallen several times for telephone scams or doorstep scams.

By allowing internet access when we are there we can prevent this, but not by censoring her emails, rather than discussion of the content an why they are a scam

 

[Tanis8472]

If it works, keep it

 

[MontyVeda]

my dad's had a laptop for years... mum played solitaire on it occasionally, but never got her head around emails or just browsing the interweb... then he bought her an iPad and for the last 12months it's been stuck to her hand 24/7... she can do anything she wants with it now there's no mouse or keyboard between her and the world wide net

 

[smokeysmoo]

We got my folks a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 last year and they love it, my Mum's never off the thing, checking emails, doing their big shop online, playing bloody Candy Crush!

FWIW they've had a desktop PC for years and used it often, and although their current PC is only a couple of years old it's basically now sat gathering dust.

 

[Saluki]

My Mum never got the hang of emails. She wrote one out, printed it off and posted it to me.