New laptop for OAP

OnlyTheBestWillDo

SonOfPearl said:

Annikka_Green said:

My elderly mother has finally agreed to replace her HP Windows 7 laptop. Her main requirements are for email, occasional browsing and Zoom. She doesn't do online banking and she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so tablets are out. About 6 months ago I made the move myself from Windows laptop to MacBook Air and am very comfortable with the transition (small mistake of buying the Apple mouse and never using it). I think it would be ideal for my mother to get a MacBook too as I think it will be easier for me to support her. I'd keep the old laptop for a while and then wipe it before scrapping it.
She is worried about the higher cost and how well she will adapt as she heard from friends moving from Microsoft to Apple was difficult. I would like her to avoid paying annual Microsoft fees and generally speaking Apple is more secure. Any thoughts or any other points we need to consider?

With such basic requirements, and preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum. They're very easy to use so the learning curve would be small and it would do everything she needed. As a bonus it should require very little support from you! Cheaper than a Macbook, and less hassle than a Windows laptop. 

There are lots of good Chromebooks depending on how much you want to spend, but perhaps something like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 would be suitable. 

OP stated "she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so Tablets are out".
You stated "preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum"; but then you go on to recommend a Chromebook with a Touchscreen that is designed to be used like a Tablet....amazing.

OnlyTheBestWillDo

Neil49 said:

SonOfPearl said:

Annikka_Green said:

My elderly mother has finally agreed to replace her HP Windows 7 laptop. Her main requirements are for email, occasional browsing and Zoom. She doesn't do online banking and she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so tablets are out. About 6 months ago I made the move myself from Windows laptop to MacBook Air and am very comfortable with the transition (small mistake of buying the Apple mouse and never using it). I think it would be ideal for my mother to get a MacBook too as I think it will be easier for me to support her. I'd keep the old laptop for a while and then wipe it before scrapping it.
She is worried about the higher cost and how well she will adapt as she heard from friends moving from Microsoft to Apple was difficult. I would like her to avoid paying annual Microsoft fees and generally speaking Apple is more secure. Any thoughts or any other points we need to consider?

With such basic requirements, and preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum. They're very easy to use so the learning curve would be small and it would do everything she needed. As a bonus it should require very little support from you! Cheaper than a Macbook, and less hassle than a Windows laptop. 

There are lots of good Chromebooks depending on how much you want to spend, but perhaps something like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 would be suitable. 

I agree about the Chromebook option. 

They are easy to use, you can plug in a mouse if required, they keep themselves up to date and you can run Zoom on them.

You mean like every other laptop on earth. Easy to use and they keep themselves up to date. Hardly a selling point. Their selling points WERE that they were cheaper, faster and that they had long battery life. Now none of those things apply with the advent of most new laptops being supplied with some sort of solid state storage and old laptops being fitted with new solid state storage.
Embarrassing to suggest that old people are somehow to stupid to use a Windows laptop.

Martin_the_Unjust

I’m with the OP here and, from personal bitter experience, I can say that windows laptops are not easy to use for the elderly (or anyone that struggles with change) because every bloody update seems to change something.

OP go for a second hand Mac 

OnlyTheBestWillDo

Annikka_Green said:

J_B said:

...why go to the expense and learning curve of getting something apple when maybe she could improve her current machine

Thanks. Point taken. We have been discussing the learning curve. 

I've tried looking at the machine but cannot get it working. It is so old and no applications seem to work any more. I had been trying to get her to replace it for years and I promise it is not me that sabotaged it  

The keyboard is worn, the touchpad doesn't work, it gets hot when in use as well as having memory issues which are making it unusable. I don't think it is worth paying anyone else to "improve" it. 

Just looking at it won't make a difference; you actually have to do something.
It's slow because it's running an old spinning disc storage drive and doesn't have enough memory. Both of those things can be fixed, by yourself, for under £30....dependent on the device involved. If it has a dedicated hatch underneath, it can be 'job done' in minutes.
You say the touchpad is not working. What is the exact model number of the device? HP tells us nothing; just as if I told you that my car was a Ford.
I am running a likely much older device with no issue; but I have made the changes described. Inexpensive solid state storage instead of the old, slow and outdated magnetic spinning disc storage currently in your mum's HP and £10 worth of RAM to take it up to 4GB. Then everything should work again and relatively quickly at that.

Otherwise just buy an 'as new' refurb from the likes of DELL or the clearers from the big retailers like John Lewis. 

The only reason to ever buy a ChromeBook, is if it is offered super cheap; as they are simply crippled laptops with a single Browser option; unless you want to mess around with Linux Sandboxes or Android versions.

Neil49

OnlyTheBestWillDo said:

Neil49 said:

SonOfPearl said:

Annikka_Green said:

My elderly mother has finally agreed to replace her HP Windows 7 laptop. Her main requirements are for email, occasional browsing and Zoom. She doesn't do online banking and she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so tablets are out. About 6 months ago I made the move myself from Windows laptop to MacBook Air and am very comfortable with the transition (small mistake of buying the Apple mouse and never using it). I think it would be ideal for my mother to get a MacBook too as I think it will be easier for me to support her. I'd keep the old laptop for a while and then wipe it before scrapping it.
She is worried about the higher cost and how well she will adapt as she heard from friends moving from Microsoft to Apple was difficult. I would like her to avoid paying annual Microsoft fees and generally speaking Apple is more secure. Any thoughts or any other points we need to consider?

With such basic requirements, and preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum. They're very easy to use so the learning curve would be small and it would do everything she needed. As a bonus it should require very little support from you! Cheaper than a Macbook, and less hassle than a Windows laptop. 

There are lots of good Chromebooks depending on how much you want to spend, but perhaps something like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 would be suitable. 

I agree about the Chromebook option. 

They are easy to use, you can plug in a mouse if required, they keep themselves up to date and you can run Zoom on them.

You mean like every other laptop on earth. Easy to use and they keep themselves up to date. Hardly a selling point. Their selling points WERE that they were cheaper, faster and that they had long battery life. Now none of those things apply with the advent of most new laptops being supplied with some sort of solid state storage and old laptops being fitted with new solid state storage.
Embarrassing to suggest that old people are somehow to stupid to use a Windows laptop.

My wife uses her Windows 10 laptop daily but if it wasn't for me resolving various problems that crop up (and ensuring it had the latest updates) it would have been left unused to gather dust months ago. 

Reading the OP's comments it is obvious that there is no one on hand to resolve issues that have arisen on her mothers win 7 pc. In an ideal world someone with more technical expertise would be able to quickly sort it out without any problems, but that isn't likely in this scenario. 

Yes, her mother would be quite capable of moving to a Windows 10 pc but is that the appropriate way forward? I use Windows 10 and find it very good but I've also used a Chromebook and find the ease of use a breath of fresh air compared with the Microsoft approach which is basically designed for business purposes.

As for using a Mac I can't comment aside from the fact that it's an expensive option.

SonOfPearl

OnlyTheBestWillDo said:

SonOfPearl said:

Annikka_Green said:

My elderly mother has finally agreed to replace her HP Windows 7 laptop. Her main requirements are for email, occasional browsing and Zoom. She doesn't do online banking and she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so tablets are out. About 6 months ago I made the move myself from Windows laptop to MacBook Air and am very comfortable with the transition (small mistake of buying the Apple mouse and never using it). I think it would be ideal for my mother to get a MacBook too as I think it will be easier for me to support her. I'd keep the old laptop for a while and then wipe it before scrapping it.
She is worried about the higher cost and how well she will adapt as she heard from friends moving from Microsoft to Apple was difficult. I would like her to avoid paying annual Microsoft fees and generally speaking Apple is more secure. Any thoughts or any other points we need to consider?

With such basic requirements, and preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum. They're very easy to use so the learning curve would be small and it would do everything she needed. As a bonus it should require very little support from you! Cheaper than a Macbook, and less hassle than a Windows laptop. 

There are lots of good Chromebooks depending on how much you want to spend, but perhaps something like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 would be suitable. 

OP stated "she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so Tablets are out".
You stated "preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum"; but then you go on to recommend a Chromebook with a Touchscreen that is designed to be used like a Tablet....amazing.

Haha, I thought someone might say that. It's true it can be used a tablet, but it doesn't have to be. I'm typing this on a Chromebook with a touchscreen (not that model) and I've no intention of ever using the touchscreen. There are of course many cheaper models that don't have touchscreens.

I can see from your other comments that you're not a fan of Chromebooks. Fair enough. But they would be fine for the OP's mum, and most other people. As long as you understand how they differ from traditional laptops they are not "crippled". If they do everything you need, then they are simpler and cheaper. But I won't derail this thread into a discussion about Chromebooks, so I'll say no more. It's just a possible option for the OP to consider. 

OnlyTheBestWillDo

Neil49 said:

OnlyTheBestWillDo said:

Neil49 said:

SonOfPearl said:

Annikka_Green said:

My elderly mother has finally agreed to replace her HP Windows 7 laptop. Her main requirements are for email, occasional browsing and Zoom. She doesn't do online banking and she also doesn't get on well with touch screens so tablets are out. About 6 months ago I made the move myself from Windows laptop to MacBook Air and am very comfortable with the transition (small mistake of buying the Apple mouse and never using it). I think it would be ideal for my mother to get a MacBook too as I think it will be easier for me to support her. I'd keep the old laptop for a while and then wipe it before scrapping it.
She is worried about the higher cost and how well she will adapt as she heard from friends moving from Microsoft to Apple was difficult. I would like her to avoid paying annual Microsoft fees and generally speaking Apple is more secure. Any thoughts or any other points we need to consider?

With such basic requirements, and preferring a keyboard to a touchscreen, any decent Chromebook would be a suitable device for your mum. They're very easy to use so the learning curve would be small and it would do everything she needed. As a bonus it should require very little support from you! Cheaper than a Macbook, and less hassle than a Windows laptop. 

There are lots of good Chromebooks depending on how much you want to spend, but perhaps something like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 would be suitable. 

I agree about the Chromebook option. 

They are easy to use, you can plug in a mouse if required, they keep themselves up to date and you can run Zoom on them.

You mean like every other laptop on earth. Easy to use and they keep themselves up to date. Hardly a selling point. Their selling points WERE that they were cheaper, faster and that they had long battery life. Now none of those things apply with the advent of most new laptops being supplied with some sort of solid state storage and old laptops being fitted with new solid state storage.
Embarrassing to suggest that old people are somehow to stupid to use a Windows laptop.

My wife uses her Windows 10 laptop daily but if it wasn't for me resolving various problems that crop up (and ensuring it had the latest updates) it would have been left unused to gather dust months ago. 

Reading the OP's comments it is obvious that there is no one on hand to resolve issues that have arisen on her mothers win 7 pc. In an ideal world someone with more technical expertise would be able to quickly sort it out without any problems, but that isn't likely in this scenario. 

Yes, her mother would be quite capable of moving to a Windows 10 pc but is that the appropriate way forward? I use Windows 10 and find it very good but I've also used a Chromebook and find the ease of use a breath of fresh air compared with the Microsoft approach which is basically designed for business purposes.

As for using a Mac I can't comment aside from the fact that it's an expensive option.

That's your wife. My mum seems to be able to cope with her Windows 10 laptop with no input from me at all. Of course it would be easier if I was at hand; but so far not a single request to fix anything. 
For the simple usage described, the OP should have no issues with Windows. Turn on, open a Browser and away ye go. 


The HP is not fit for purpose unless refurbished; so no reflection on the user.

Why not get the wife a ChromeBook? I don't understand why you had to "ensure" that it had the latest updates; they happen automatically.
I haven't had to do anything with my very old laptop. Updates take place without me even noticing; other than the fact that it has rebooted and I need to sign in.
Some people create issues when there are none.

fenlander_uk

Refurbishing decrepit old bits of kit is not always the best way forward. That goes for dishwashers as much as laptops, and the fact that this is the MSE website changes nothing.
On some forums you can be sure that somebody will suggest that the ultimate remedy to all PC issues is to switch to Linux. Here it seems to be to bung in an SSD and a couple of gigs of memory. I have a 16 year-old Toshiba laptop with 4GB of memory and Linux Mint installed on an SSD. It works, but I never actually use it; my up-to-date machine (Ryzen 4500U, 16Gb, 500GB NVMe SSD, Windows 10) is a joy to use while the old clunker is a chore.
Give your old mum a treat and get her something decent.

[Deleted User]

I have a 2015 MacBook Air, they can be had for around 350 quid from Amazon renewed or CEX so come with a warranty.
Very simple machines to use, very light, no fans so nice and quiet. Much nicer than Windows laptops IMO and more useful than chrome books.