I am needing to replace the laptop my mother has been using. It is a very old and very low end AMD A-series laptop from a long while ago.
One of the biggest factors in her online experience is that her access is SUPER slow. I mean like can't watch YouTube or other streaming services there slow. I attempted to hook her up with a Fire Stick a couple of years ago and it will not work due to the internet speed. If it weren't for her ISP discontinuing it, she would be perfectly happy using dial up to this day.
I have been putting some thought into this purchase and am pretty set that I am going to look for something refurbished or used. I am very much on the fence about updating her to W11, although at the same time I have concerns about the security of W10 moving forward when I won't be there as often as I like to check on things and make sure the device is secure. This is compounded by the fact that she has a very minimal grasp on the OS in general and any time any manner of notification or somesuch pops up it is a "serious" issue in her mind. I have even contemplated doing some manner of Linux build for this.
It is worth noting that I have kept older but updated desktop PC there in good working order. She doesn't want to go upstairs to use it, in spite of being worlds more powerful than the laptop.
Her use case is to surf and do a bit of shopping, news consumption, and once a year she does her taxes on it online with access to the wireless printer (that has been unused for so long I will probably have to reconnect it on Thanksgiving).
What manner of devices and mitigations have you used to help your aging parents wade through the modern online world?
My thoughts are on a used laptop, probably something Intel i5-ish, newer than 8th gen with a big screen and full size keyboard.
One of the biggest factors in her online experience is that her access is SUPER slow. I mean like can't watch YouTube or other streaming services there slow. I attempted to hook her up with a Fire Stick a couple of years ago and it will not work due to the internet speed. If it weren't for her ISP discontinuing it, she would be perfectly happy using dial up to this day.
I have been putting some thought into this purchase and am pretty set that I am going to look for something refurbished or used. I am very much on the fence about updating her to W11, although at the same time I have concerns about the security of W10 moving forward when I won't be there as often as I like to check on things and make sure the device is secure. This is compounded by the fact that she has a very minimal grasp on the OS in general and any time any manner of notification or somesuch pops up it is a "serious" issue in her mind. I have even contemplated doing some manner of Linux build for this.
It is worth noting that I have kept older but updated desktop PC there in good working order. She doesn't want to go upstairs to use it, in spite of being worlds more powerful than the laptop.
Her use case is to surf and do a bit of shopping, news consumption, and once a year she does her taxes on it online with access to the wireless printer (that has been unused for so long I will probably have to reconnect it on Thanksgiving).
What manner of devices and mitigations have you used to help your aging parents wade through the modern online world?
My thoughts are on a used laptop, probably something Intel i5-ish, newer than 8th gen with a big screen and full size keyboard.