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Ask Slashdot: Good Subscription-Based Solution For PC Tech Support?
New submitter byrddtrader writes: My parents are getting close to the their 70s and neither one of them is particularly tech savvy. Since my teenage years I have been tech support for the family, but now that I am older I can not be at their beck and call every time they inadvertently download something they should not, or the printer stops working. Given the amount of time that I have worked with them I don't feel that it is realistic that I will be able to convey the information they need to become self-sufficient. What I am looking for is a service that will be able to assist with any software PC related issues, viruses, printers and the like. Currently they are using a tech firm out of India (iYogi) that does unlimited support for a few hundred per year per machine -- which is fine, though they are big on the up-sell. They tend to push their own virus protection software, and attempted to sell my Dad, who has 500Mb of documents, a 3Tb external hard drive because they said he needed it. Currently the computers they use are ones I have built. Maybe the best solution would be store-bought PCs that offer additional tech support at a price. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
For me the calls from mom didn't stop until I got her a Chromebook and an iPad to help her dump the virus-ridden PC.
I have five for my family. I do zero maintenance. The only thing that I still need to do occasionally is mess with the printer (I had to do this more frequently with windows). Chromebooks can only print over cloudprint. If the maker of the printer stops supporting the protocol (such as Canon did for several printer models), it can get messed up. If you have a printer that can print in many ways (mail, usb key, cloudprint etc.) there are more options.
Buy them a chromebook, or a chromebox. There is pretty much no maintenance; recovery is power-wash.
My 84 year old father uses Mint Linux. So does my 67 year old mother-in-law. There are several advantages:
#1 Neither has ever had virus issues
#2 "Windows" support scams do not work on them
#3 They don't screw up the OS
#4 Everything pretty much just works (printers, cameras, etc.)
It has been this way for many years. They rarely have any issues.
why not just get a chrome book? They'll have email, netflix, Word processors, etc and if it breaks the OS is in ROM. Hit a few buttons and it's back to normal. Just make sure they're using cloud storage and their set.
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That is the answer right there, we local PC shop guys have to deal with old folks all the time and have no problem with helping them when they need it, be it a yearly plan or pay as you go. I have several customers in their 70s and frankly have no issues with them, in fact they are generally less of an issue than the "know enough to be dangerous" younger types in that they actually listen to what you tell them. Finally what good is that support gonna do if the issue is with the network? A local shop guy can just go out there and fix it, that Indian phone guy is gonna be worthless.
So talk to the local shops, I'm sure you can find one that has good rates and is willing to take the load off of you.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.