Which laptop for my elderly mother?
17/12/20 Filed in: purchase recommendations
I need to buy a laptop for my mother-in-law. She is also 82. Any suggestions as to which one to buy? She currently works on the same iMac that my mom does.
___________
First, I apologize for any stereotyping I’m about to do...
82 year olds and laptops can sometimes be a little problematic just so you know. Here’s why:
1. Trackpad and elderly motor skills. The sensitivity to one, two, three, or even four fingers touching at one time can lead an elderly user to triggering actions they didn’t intend. So you may want to go into settings and dial down the sensitivity settings on the trackpad system prefs.
2. Eye sight. Increasing the size of the cursor arrow helps a lot. I use it myself. You may also consider changing the resolution of the screen. This can be done in the display settings. You can either choose a large amount of viewable space with everything smaller or less viewable space with everything bigger. Good idea to point her to that area so she can change things herself to fit what she likes.
So if you’re going forward with the laptop idea, she won’t need much. And weight should be a consideration also. So I would look at the new MacBook Air. Apple just released a new version 2 weeks ago so now is great time to buy. They released the M1 processor Air and also in the 13” MacBook Pro. She doesn’t need the pro so I would lean toward this one:
13-inch MacBook Air - Space Gray - Apple
It has a 256 gig hard drive which should be plenty for her needs. Price point $999. I wouldn’t add on anything other than possibly AppleCare if you are into extended warranties.
___________
First, I apologize for any stereotyping I’m about to do...
82 year olds and laptops can sometimes be a little problematic just so you know. Here’s why:
1. Trackpad and elderly motor skills. The sensitivity to one, two, three, or even four fingers touching at one time can lead an elderly user to triggering actions they didn’t intend. So you may want to go into settings and dial down the sensitivity settings on the trackpad system prefs.
2. Eye sight. Increasing the size of the cursor arrow helps a lot. I use it myself. You may also consider changing the resolution of the screen. This can be done in the display settings. You can either choose a large amount of viewable space with everything smaller or less viewable space with everything bigger. Good idea to point her to that area so she can change things herself to fit what she likes.
So if you’re going forward with the laptop idea, she won’t need much. And weight should be a consideration also. So I would look at the new MacBook Air. Apple just released a new version 2 weeks ago so now is great time to buy. They released the M1 processor Air and also in the 13” MacBook Pro. She doesn’t need the pro so I would lean toward this one:
13-inch MacBook Air - Space Gray - Apple
It has a 256 gig hard drive which should be plenty for her needs. Price point $999. I wouldn’t add on anything other than possibly AppleCare if you are into extended warranties.
Sells Consulting email