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Ask Slashdot: Using a Tablet As a Sole Computing Device?
cashman73 writes "My mother's six year old desktop computer finally bit the dust due to an electrical surge. It's out-of-warranty, and not really worth fixing. Plus, I'm 2,500 miles and two time zones away, so I can't exactly troubleshoot things from here. I recently got a new tablet, and even 80% of the things I do are done easier with it. Plus, she really likes the size, convenience, portability, and the screen. Virtually everything she does is simple web browsing, email, light photo sharing but no heavy editing, and other simple tasks. We're thinking that using a tablet as her sole 'computer' might be the best solution here. What are other Slashdotter's experiences using tablets without a separate desktop computer?"
Buy her a Chromebook. You won't be sorry.
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It already sounds like you made your choice, so why are you posting a question that is trying to convince us to agree with you?
For the cheaper price and the desktop functionality, if all you need it for is web browsing and email, I'd go with a Chromebook. If you want to go 100% tablet, you are almost certainly going to have to buy a keyboard, so it would be very hard to get a decent combo for less than the $249 Samsung or the $199 Acer Chromebooks.
Get her two tablets, gift-wrapped.
First, present her with one of those small personal-sized chalkboard tablets 1st graders use (with a piece of chalk for a stylus). Demonstrate how to use it as a word-processor, reader, and calculator. This shouldn't cost you more than $10, assuming you don't get the "Monster Cable" brand piece of chalk.
Once the laughs are over, present her with a real tablet.
Post the video of her using the "old school" tablet to YouTube.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
...Can really strain the hands... and the neck. And the eyes.
In fact, tablet use in general goes against 30 odd years of human interface ergonomics. I wouldn't wish it upon myself for extended periods of time, let alone an elderly loved one.
Buy her a sensible chair, 24 inch monitor at the correct height and a correctly fitting keyboard and mouse in a neutrally lit space. I don't care what you connect to those peripherals.
My mom is the very definition of computer illiterate -- my sister and I have been trying to teach her to use a computer (first a PC, later a Mac) since the mid '90s, and she simply cannot grasp the basic concepts. She can sort of work a keyboard (it looks like a typewriter), but mice constantly thwart her. Add to that the fact that she has trouble discerning "windows" on a desktop as being discrete items, and you can see why we finally gave up trying to teach her once we had both gone away to college.
About a year ago I managed to acquire an unneeded iPad, and made the decision to gift it to my mother. For a woman who has literally never used a computer without assistance, never mind owned one, she took to it immediately. She's now able to browse the internet, send and receive emails, and even navigate the app store when she wants additional functionality. And after a full year, I haven't received a single "oh no, I think I broke it" call.
That being said, my mother is not your mother (AFAIK), so your mileage may vary. If you think her needs can be satisfied by an iPad (web browsing, shopping, email, media consumption, and no more than light content editing), I highly recommend it. There's just no beating its ease of use. An external bluetooth keyboard would be nice for longer writing sessions, however.
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Actually, despite the eyesight and other issues, from what I have seen, older people, especially older women love tablets. Even some that type enough I wondered how they could prefer them. Not sure I get it, but I have seen that to be the case in several instances, and most of them had/have a desktop or laptop. So they aren't people new to computers. I think less dexterity is needed to poke the screen in your hands than moving a mouse, along with the OS being set up for touch screen interaction. Those who get comfortable dictating longer emails and notes do seem to need nothing else. Their other computers seem to sit idle. If the person in mind needs only a desktop device a chromebook might be the better choice. But I have also seen older folks once they have the portable tablet, make much more use of it all over the house when they didn't spend as much time actually computing at a desktop. So despite lots of things saying a tablet is under-powered and not best to interface with for all purposes, something about it seems to get along with older people better.
We still print quite regularly. Things like e-vouchers and booking references. Sure there are ways around that, but a printed piece of paper can't crash on you or run out of battery.
Sure you can't do everything on a tablet, but does the person in question actually want to do anything that's not possible or practical on a tablet?
If not, then no reason to have anything other than a tablet.
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The Asus Transformer line of tablets are great "mini-notebooks".
One of the big advantages is that you can buy the tablet, and if you don't need the keyboard, you don't pay for it. If you do, you can get the Asus dock version, or any bluetooth keyboard. With the dock, though, you get a full-size SD card slot and full-sized USB connectors, so you can easily move data (like photos mentioned in the summary) to/from other devices. The only real negative I have seen on the latest versions (which fix the poor GPS reception of earlier versions) is that they don't support 5GHz for 802.1n.
Your mother doesn't need anything too complicated. I would suggest you go for at least a 6-core Core i7 3.5GHz Extreme CPU, overclocked dual GTU 690 512-bit HDCP-ready GPU, hi-fi 24-bit sound card with DTS, 32GB DDR3 RAM, 80plus 1500W modular power supply, 140mm copper quiet bearing CPU cooler, twin-turbine blue LED case fans, 500GB SATA III 120,000 IOPS SSD drive, 16x BDXL Blu-ray burner, dual 2560 x 1600 350 cd/m2 1000:1 30" display, USB macro-programmable gaming keyboard, Razer 17-button wireless mouse, and a classy mid-tower computer case. Don't forget COD Black Ops and Assassin's Creed to help her pass the time.
I don't think a simple tablet will do.
This. Forget unsupported weirdness of chromebook. You need Angry Birds!
Just moved my dad (72) from original 20" imac with some weird HDD issues to an Asus transformer with official keyboard. He uses the keyboard when doing email at the desk, otherwise browsing, reading, gaming are all touch.
We got his P&S camera to upload pics directly to the tablet. The only thing he can't do (so far) is print. He fires up the mac for that.
So far so good - 4 months no complaints.
I can't believe the comments here.
First get her a computer with the same Operating System as she already has. The older generation doesn't like change for the sake of change--they only want change when it offers significant improvements.
Second she will want a full size keyboard and a decent sized screen. As you get older your fingers are less nimble and your eyesight gets worse.
So I am thinking something like a 15"-17", used business class laptop from eBay (a few years old).