First PC for a pensioner.

[Craphouserat]

Hi all

Would like some advice regarding the above. My dad is a pensioner - half blind, never been interested in pc's and like me hasn't much of a clue about them. He has realised,after years of nagging by me,that he does actually need one to help keep in contact with friends and family etc etc.

He is old school - in his words he wants value for money and would prefer a brit computer !! FFS - everything this guy buys has to be built in the UK !! Anyway, I have had a look about and value for money wise I guess Dell is probably about the best. He doesn't want to spend money on a Mac - they appear to be high on reliability,support etc. Novatech also seem to look OK on these fronts and they are built in Portsmouth ! He hasn't given me much to go on, although he tells me he has ordered a keyboard with large letters on it, because of his sight, and he is willing to part around £5/600. He has been warned not to go near PC world,Comet etc - I might not be Bill Gates - but I know ordering direct from manufacturer is better than dealing with these people. So, can you good people offer me any advise on what pc might be best for him/where to buy etc etc - he will really only need it for emails,storing music - nothing technical. He's coming around tomorrow, expecting me to have all the best advice for him, think he will probably get me to order one online tomorrow.
Thanks for any advice.

[Munter]

Anything will pretty much meet his requirements. So for me it'd be a question of good support should it be required. My company feels Dell gives the best support so that's why we are encouraged to get them.

Check out info here on making it easier to use with poor eye sight.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/compute...

[Ordinary_Chap]

If he isn't familiar with Windows, I'd actually want him to have a Mac. They are by a country mile the lowest on support and issues.

In fact I've got my gran running a MacBook and I only get the odd question on 'how do I do this' rather than how do I install, what AV do I need etc.

They are very simple for music, email, browsing etc.

[Munter]

Can you get a MAC and a large screen for £5-600 though?

[Craphouserat]

Munter said:

Anything will pretty much meet his requirements. So for me it'd be a question of good support should it be required. My company feels Dell gives the best support so that's why we are encouraged to get them.

Check out info here on making it easier to use with poor eye sight.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/compute...

Thanks for that link and thoughts so far. I think he can get a mac mini for around £500. He's a traditional old scotsman - tight ! Won't spend anymore than than what I've said. I've advised Mac's, but he won't go above £600 - thinks he'll be dead soon enough and doesn't want to part with much !

Again thanks for thoughts so far.

[Podie]

We've recently gone through this with the O/H's mother.

She's never been technically minded, is scared of computers and unfortunately going deaf - which makes phone communication difficult for all parties involved.

We got an old(ish) Dell laptop with a decent sized screen and I put Ubuntu on it... then stripped it out and locked it down, so she can't get too many things wrong. I even went to the extend of changing the Firefox name to read "email" as that's all she currently uses it for.

We then produced a "manual" with screenshots, so she has a reference point in case she forgets where she is supposed to click.

Expect some hand holding, but if the desire is there (the key here was to ensure the family regularly send her an email!), then they will make a real go of it.

[Craphouserat]

Podie said:

We've recently gone through this with the O/H's mother.

She's never been technically minded, is scared of computers and unfortunately going deaf - which makes phone communication difficult for all parties involved.

We got an old(ish) Dell laptop with a decent sized screen and I put Ubuntu on it... then stripped it out and locked it down, so she can't get too many things wrong. I even went to the extend of changing the Firefox name to read "email" as that's all she currently uses it for.

We then produced a "manual" with screenshots, so she has a reference point in case she forgets where she is supposed to click.

Expect some hand holding, but if the desire is there (the key here was to ensure the family regularly send her an email!), then they will make a real go of it.

Thanks for that - he seems keen and is taking an interest. He worked abroad a lot and has friends all over the place - he writes a lot, prefers writing/recieveing letters from people, but he now realises that all his friends are online and this is the way it's done ! He just thinks it's nice to get a letter, people are busy these days - email is quicker and cheaper! He's getting it - i think !

[lestag]

dell would be fine and upgrade to a 3 year hardware warranty, its peanuts

[Craphouserat]

lestag said:

dell would be fine and upgrade to a 3 year hardware warranty, its peanuts

Cheers - thanks for the advice. Will check that out, no doubt i will visit the Dell site - I think I can get 6% off there too.

Ta.

[Zeek]

What kind of TV have they got? If its an LCD/plasma, I'd just get a Mac Mini and a wireless keyboard and mouse and see how they get on with that.

[annodomini2]

EEE Pc desktop 'netbook' They're about £200 without a monitor.

Should cover what he wants to use it for.

Get him an ergonomic mouse aswell, such as a Microsoft Natural wireless laser mouse 6000.

[PJ S]

Refurb or used iMac 20", best bang for his £, shillings, & pence, with OS X.6 preferably.
Voiceover Utility can be set up so commands, alerts, etc are spoken (in a slightly disturbing Stephen Hawkins manner) so he knows what to press.

[10JH]

I reckon the iPad will be good for computer illiterate people.

Very simple to use, easy set-up. Large understandable icons etc...

Plus it will be available with that keyboard dock, so it won't have to be used with touch screen. Easy to zoom in too!

Of course it can't do everthing a PC can do though. But for someone wanting to send email and go on the internet is there a simpler solution?

[threepwood]

10JH said:

I reckon the iPad will be good for computer illiterate people.

Very simple to use, easy set-up. Large understandable icons etc...

Plus it will be available with that keyboard dock, so it won't have to be used with touch screen. Easy to zoom in too!

Of course it can't do everthing a PC can do though. But for someone wanting to send email and go on the internet is there a simpler solution?

Makes a lot of sense. Until his mates get him hooked on farm town!

[lestag]

Munter said:

Anything will pretty much meet his requirements. So for me it'd be a question of good support should it be required. My company feels Dell gives the best support so that's why we are encouraged to get them.

Check out info here on making it easier to use with poor eye sight.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/compute...

I just went thought the "buy a pc exercise" with my sister and ended up with a dell, because it was cheaper (inc ms office home and student) and they charge 30 quid to to up the hardware warranty to 3 years and the local store wanted 100 quid (HP/Compaq/etc) AND if it needed to be shipped off for repairs, she would have to pay for the freight.....

Edited by lestag on Wednesday 10th March 23:03

[GingerRob]

Before you buy him some silicone has he used a pc, when I bought my nan a pc she first went to a few classes for the old so that it would help her to use it, our libary run the classes don't know what's in your area, she found them very helpful

[Craphouserat]

GingerRob said:

Before you buy him some silicone has he used a pc, when I bought my nan a pc she first went to a few classes for the old so that it would help her to use it, our libary run the classes don't know what's in your area, she found them very helpful

He has been to some classes, in the past. At that time he was still working and never bothered with buying one. Now he's retired, can barely walk is half blind and not long recovered from a stroke he's decided I think I should buy one!! he's a stubborn old bugger !!

[Craphouserat]

Thank you all for your advice on this, he will be around in a bit and will probably order one on my pc.

Thanks again all.

[bonsai]

Munter said:

Anything will pretty much meet his requirements. So for me it'd be a question of good support should it be required. My company feels Dell gives the best support so that's why we are encouraged to get them.

Since he likes everything to be British then he is probably going to have a heart attack when phoning support and speaking to someone in Bangalore. Enterprise support may be based in the UK, but general public support isn't.

Edited by bonsai on Thursday 11th March 08:41

[Munter]

bonsai said:

Munter said:

Anything will pretty much meet his requirements. So for me it'd be a question of good support should it be required. My company feels Dell gives the best support so that's why we are encouraged to get them.

Since he likes everything to be British then he is probably going to have a heart attack when phoning support and speaking to someone in Bangalore. Enterprise support may be based in the UK, but general public support isn't.

Edited by bonsai on Thursday 11th March 08:41

Ah I didn't know that. Just tell him it's based in Birmingham/Bradford?

As a side note the company the OH works for has 2 UK based call centres. A lot of the call center staff have Asian accents and are forever getting abuse about Foreign call centres being rubbish....