Tablet for someone with poor eyesight

AlecEiffel

Hi all.

My mum is looking for a tablet to replace her old laptop so she can browser the web and watch youtube in her armchair or bed.

She has poor eyesight (v bad in one eye, not good in the other) so I'm thinking a large screen (full size tablet?) but HD may not be required.

She is looking to spend £100 or maybe a bit more. Simplicity is key for her as she's not techie and struggles a bit with her Android Moto G.

An Amazon tablet maybe?

Decent storage for a few apps, updates etc will be good, out and out performance is not so important as I don't think she'll be playing Real Racing 3 or any FPS games!

Any suggestions please?

Cheers

forgotmyname

Whats wrong with the laptop? Stick with it.

If her eyesight is poor then a screen resolution of 800x600 or 1024x768 would give large text sizes etc.

Downside to that would be having to scroll around a bit more than using a higher screen resolution.

AlecEiffel

Thanks for the reply.

The laptop is an old Vista machine so not supported any longer. Could go the Linus route however. The battery is shot so needs to be plugged in all the time (lasts about 10 mins). Its a bit heavy for her to rest on her lap or sit in bed with.

She doesn't do any letter writing etc, just wants something for web browsing, youtube, checking her bank, etc.

ballyblack

She doesn't do any letter writing etc, just wants something for web browsing, youtube, checking her bank, etc.

a chromebook would be most suitable if she is used to a laptop

A refurbished 12" on ebay around £120
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Asus-Chromebook-C201PA-FD0008-Rockchip-2GB-16GB-Chrome-OS-11-6-Laptop-ML1643/362108733740?hash=item544f5cc92c:g:KRAAAOSw4CFYoZp6

.

Lorian

10" screen at least. things are clearer if you have a higher resolution display, but none of it helps as much as an up to date glasses prescription with any required additions for reading or short intermediate prescription.

SouthUKMan

Most 'large' tablets are 10" screen size. However if your mum has very bad eyesight, 10" still might not be enough - in which case a basic laptop which has a slightly larger screen might be better.

Either way, you are certainly looking at spending more than £100 new. Expect to pay £140 / £150 for a basic but decent 10" tablet from the likes of Acer / Lenovo / Amazon (although you can buy Alba / Bush brand tablets much closer to £100 - even a little under - but personally I would steer clear of these ultra cheap ones).

For just a little more (if you search around the likes of Currys, PC World, Argos, etc), you can buy a decent brand laptop with an 11.5" screen for £160 / £170 - such as the Lenovo 110S. The moment you step up to a larger screen size such as 13" then you need to add at least another £50 onto the price.

Whether you go down the Android tablet root or the Windows laptop root, you can access the operating systems 'accessibility' settings to give larger screen fonts, etc. Also, you should find the battery life to be several hours, and the weight - compared to an old laptop - should feel like a feather!

[Deleted User]

I think if the budget allows then a 14 inch chromebook would be ideal.

jshm2

The Amazon Tablet is fine for the price but it's pretty restricted on apps and the screen isn't too good.

You may be better shelling out a bit more for a bigger screen Samsung - even a second hand model would be fine. The screen is better on the Samsung's too.

forgotmyname

Vista is not supported by who? MS will still shove out updates for any major security issues that could cause issues for other windows users.
They wont roll out updates for software and hardware etc. But if your machine could get infected and spread to newer versions they will still patch it.

XP still works so no reason not to keep using Vista.

AlecEiffel

Thanks all for the replies. Will look at Chromebooks and some of the other suggestions made. I think a full on Windows laptop is above what she needs though.

Cheers all :beer:

forgotmyname

A windows laptop will have one big advantage though the screen and the resolution adjustments.

A tablet maybe foxed.

I have a Chuwi Hi10 tablet thats both windows 10 and Android, Dual boot at startup you decide which to use.

Excellent battery life also.