A simple PC system?

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Chubbo

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Is there a simple computer system?
My wife and I are 90+ years of age. We are in constant odds and distressed with our computers. Our son set us up with our PCs. My PC, is a DELL desk top, using the next to the latest Windows version, operating system, and is about 5 yrs old. My wife's PC is an HP Laptop mod.17by 3613dx, that's about 6 months old. We really should quit using our PCs, but it's one of the few hobbies that we have left.

How do other old poops on this forum handle this problem?

Chubbo
 
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Depends what ya want to do on them. It appears the newer computer operating systems are geared towards hand held devices with small screens. I just got new puter and specified Windows 10 operating system, instead of Windows 11. The second thing i did was buy a mouse and plug it in. For me, much easier than a touch screen which is SO ANNOYING. Third thing was get a different browser than Edge, which comes standard and takes over your puter after awhile.

And i got a laptop with a screen big enough to see.
 
A good alternative, especially for just email, chat, surfing, and watching media is a Chromebook. It is tied to google, and needs a good internet connection to work correctly, but serves the needs of a light user (not making videos or recording audio, etc). An iPad is also a good solution, just a lot more expensive.

Many older people in my area have embraced technology, especially as their hobbies are now upgraded by computers. I know of sewing, knitting, and quilt-making groups who pitch in and buy computerized sewing and quilting machines and control them with their windows laptops and desktops, and get great results from them. The knitters share patterns over their message boards and forums.

There are probably more sewing and knitting forums and message boards than gun forums. :rolleyes:
 
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6518John said:
Get iPad's. You will never look back! We went to an Apple business system at my office for our desktops and lap tops. Bet money I ever spent. Has saved me a fortune in outside IT services.
Click to expand...
At 90+ years old and decades of Windows use, that is probably the worst thing they could do. While Apple is a simple system, the learning curve nevertheless exists - and I have found as I get older, learning curves increase exponentially.

I wouldn't rule out sitting down and looking at one to see if met their needs without needing to relearn everything they know, but would never recommend they just ditch what they know and adopt something they have no experience with.
 
Go to Acer Recertified and buy this 17.3" Chromebook for $160. I've been shopping there for years and have this model. Mine is/was absolutely like brand new and works perfect. As simple as it gets. They ship free and no sales tax.

I've got a 10" Samsung tablet and I mainly use it for a radio. Too small to see easily and I hate trying to type on a tiny keyboard.

Acer 317 Chromebook - 17.3" Intel Celeron N4500 1.1GHz 4GB RAM 64GB ChromeOS
 
I bought a full size keyboard and mouse. I can't stand the little finger pad on the lap top. I was perfectly happy with Windows 7, needed to upgrade the machine. Still struggling with Windows 10 and the machine keeps trying to get me to update to Windows 11. Recently had an "expert" in for setting u a new modem/router and he recommended don't go to Windows 11.
 
Not being a PC guy since 2012, I have a basic question:

Is the Chromebook any easier to operate than a Dell desktop or an HP laptop? Gotta use the same Windows operating system, right? I know they are a cheap, basic and reliable, but, easier to operate than a desktop or laptop?

I think what I read when Chromebooks first came out was that most of the software was in the cloud, the idea being that it would be cheaper that way, but they operate the same as any other PC, no?

If so, why would a Chromebook be less frustrating for Chubbo and wife?

(I used PCs until I retired in 2012, and have used only an iPad since then. My wife in that time period moved initially from a PC laptop to MacBooks, which are laptop Macs, and a few months ago moved from a MacBook to an iPad. Like anything else, there is a learning curve, but for a non computer person, it's pretty short and Apple help is always just a phone call away.)
 
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H Richard said:
I bought a full size keyboard and mouse. I can't stand the little finger pad on the lap top. I was perfectly happy with Windows 7, needed to upgrade the machine. Still struggling with Windows 10 and the machine keeps trying to get me to update to Windows 11. Recently had an "expert" in for setting u a new modem/router and he recommended don't go to Windows 11.
Click to expand...

Same thing happened to me. And at the time special ordered a laptop that had Win 7 loaded. But it just wasn't functioning well lately, and getting worse. If you're using windows edge browser, the bombardment of windows ads gets progressively worse. Why i switched to chrome. Will soon try to remove the windows edge files, but am wary.
 
No matter how old you get. just

log your server: company you bought the online service from

Their phone # and .com address, to get back to them if needed

Your Email address: xxyyzzz.com

Your pass word: xxx111vvv

Your security questions from the server:
mothers name, city born in , dogs name etc etc.

This way you can ALWAYS
talk to your server and fix any problems.
 
Been at this since windows 95 and the ritual of the hourly reboot.
I'm sure you've chewed much of the same technological territory as I have.
We don't necessarily mean simple when we say simple.... We often times really mean familiar.
About the simplest computer I've used to post on this forum was a Raspberry Pi.
It's Linux based, connects to a TV and it's about the size of a credit card.
On many fronts, it's computer enough for most folks daily driver. It's not necessarily simple to use however.
An Android smartphone or tablet might fit the bill.
It's pretty much a function of poke the app you want and go
 
Onomea said:
...(I used PCs until I retired in 2012, and have used only an iPad since then. My wife in that time period moved initially from a PC laptop to MacBooks, which are laptop Macs, and a few months ago moved from a MacBook to an iPad. Like anything else, there is a learning curve, but for a non computer person, it's pretty short and Apple help is always just a phone call away.)
Click to expand...
My gf & I got her 92 y.o. mum an iPad and she's a whiz. Only downsides are the price (esp. if you want a reasonable-size HD) and no slot for external storage, so if you have a lot of pics etc. you'll need some (presumably) online storage like Google. Apple, of course, wants you to use iCloud but it's silly expensive.

If you know someone local who has an iPad, by all means ask them to give you a tour. I think they're pretty easy to use and for basic stuff like email and surfing the net, they're darned good. My gf is a PC gal for her work, but has an iPhone and an iPad Pro and loves them.

Full disclosure: I've been a Mac guy since 1989, although I have used PCs for some things and currently have an older Lenovo T410 running W10 which is just fine, although i miss a couple of programs I really like on my Macs. (I love the "old" IBM keyboard on it.) No iPad, just an iPhone. I mostly use a MacBook Air, which is nearly as convient and will run the few special programs I rely on.
 
I don't know if this will help you, Chubbo, but my local library system recently set me up with an IPad called the "GrandPad".

Yup, it's an IPad set up for us "older" folks.

Best of all, IT WAS FREE!!!

Something to do with covid funds, I think.

John
 
Thanks!

In retrospect, I now realize that my question was among the stupidest that I've ever asked. There just isn't a simple computer system. I've thankfully gleaned a wealth of information that we're incapable of using. The folks on this forum can be depended on to help when it's asked for. I've decided that Hezzy, and I would do well, to try and use our computing system, as best we can, and stop hunting trouble.

Chubbo
 
Chubbo said:
In retrospect, I now realize that my question was among the stupidest that I've ever asked. ...
Click to expand...
I think you're being a little hard on yourself :) Most of us have been "defeated by technology" at some point or other.
I suppose we should be grateful we're past the DOS era :eek:

Is there a particular aspect of your PCs that is causing the most frustration? We might be able to walk you through some of it.
 
I used to do tech support and so many people struggle with PC stuff. Don't get me started about MACs. When they screw up, and they do, they really mess up. I avoided working on them at almost all costs. I used to tell people, mostly older ones, to sign up for a computer class at the libary or community center, and most of the time, they refused, I have no idea why. The ones that did learned, in some cases, what they were doing was totally wrong headed and the very simple task like disconnecting their modem was made super complicated due to nobody telling them how to do it. We had people rebooting machines all the time to disconnect, when all they had to do was click on the two screens in the right hand corner and click on "Disconnect". Some of those old Win 95 and 98 machines took forever to reboot, and one old guy kept rebooting his machine, "Sorry, I forgot how you told me to disconnect!", over and over again to the point I wanted to fly to Dallas and whack him over the head with his PC. Of course, if you can find someone, a grandkid to teach you, it might work out, but another thing is to actually hire someone to teach you how to use it. I made some extra cash teaching people stuff like copy and paste (Some of them were as happy as a little kid who got everything he/she wanted for Christmas, and more). One couple would retype stuff into emails and the mail would time out and they would lose what the had typed. I said, "Just copy and paste it in there!". They had no idea what I was talking about. After I showed him how to do it, he started screaming, "Honey! Come here! Look at this, you just highlight the words and then put it into the message, you don't have to type anything!". She was happier than he was. How long had they been using a PC? Three years. Nobody really spent any time just showing them how easy it is, so they did all kinds of stuff that takes 2 seconds took them hours. In about 4 hours, I made $100 and they learned more than their grandson had ever taught them in those 3 years. They were in their mid 80's and had very little trouble after just a couple of lessons totalling about 8 hours all total.
 
I recently updated from a 12 y/o Windows 7 system to Windows 11 on this laptop and a desktop. Have someone savvy import everything from your old system. Takes a couple days to get back to where you were but the improvement is amazing. Desktop has 12 gig RAM, laptop has 8; both have SSD hard drives. Bootup takes seconds, completely silent, changes screens so fast my eyes often miss it. Best thing everything from my old box is here, just organized differently. Be not afraid. Joe
 
Tom S. said:
At 90+ years old and decades of Windows use, that is probably the worst thing they could do. While Apple is a simple system, the learning curve nevertheless exists - and I have found as I get older, learning curves increase exponentially.

I wouldn't rule out sitting down and looking at one to see if met their needs without needing to relearn everything they know, but would never recommend they just ditch what they know and adopt something they have no experience with.
Click to expand...

My parents are over 90 and we tried to set them up with iPhones and iPads but as you say, the learning curve was too much. Or, the desire to climb over the learning curve was too little.

As for learning how to fix computer problems, cars are far more complicated but we aren't expected to take classes in car repair just to be able to own one. :)
 
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