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Anyone setup a laptop/desktop system for an elderly person or grandparent?

B

Brackis

Banned
My grandparents are in their 80's and moving into a retirement estblishment. I plan on getting them a Dell soon, but want to know if anyone has any ideas for good software, setup, etc... that has worked well to make the computer more useable for someone less tech savvy.
 
Do THEY want a computer. I mean really want one? If they're not thoroughly interested in learning, it's going to be a tough road.
 
my great aunt got a dell a few months ago and all i got was calls from her asking me to help her out. it was extremely annoying.
 
I did it for my Grandparents, also in the late 80's. The one thing that helped them immensely was to get a huge ball mouse because it was too hard on their wrists & fingers with their arthritis.
 
They were the ones who approached me about a computer. They have an older Dell desktop but now that they are moving into a much smaller residence a laptop upgrade that they can bring places is what they want. I feel that once I can teach them how to connect to a WLAN they will be alright, but am afraid of all the fancy stuff that new models these days sport that will overwhelm them.
 
640x480 or 800x600 resolution, more than that would be pushing it. Single click icons, make a user account for them so they can't do any damage, turn on rdp for your tech support.
 
Originally posted by: Brackis
They were the ones who approached me about a computer. They have an older Dell desktop but now that they are moving into a much smaller residence a laptop upgrade that they can bring places is what they want. I feel that once I can teach them how to connect to a WLAN they will be alright, but am afraid of all the fancy stuff that new models these days sport that will overwhelm them.
Click to expand...

Make sure to get rid of all the dell spyware/junkware or just flatout reinstall the OS of course. That will help keep problems down... then just have them use firefox and show them wireless lan, set it up to automatically connect and hopefully they dont have problems.
 
Originally posted by: SwiftWind
640x480 or 800x600 resolution, more than that would be pushing it. Single click icons, make a user account for them so they can't do any damage, turn on rdp for your tech support.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the incons, and thought perhaps single click icons would handicap them if they ever encountered double click icons. I believe they use double click icons on their current computer. Good idea with the resolution and RDP!
 
Originally posted by: Brackis
Originally posted by: Baked
iBook FTW. No, seriously. And make sure you making the icons 100x100.
Click to expand...

They are 100% not wanting a Mac. Just one of those things 😕
Click to expand...

Well, are you gonna go and help them clean out the spyware and viruses every week if they get a Dell?
 
I set up a desktop for my grandpa with Windows 2000. Everything is disabled on the taskbar. I have an icon for Wordpad, his e-mail client provided by his ISP, and IE on the desktop. Haven't had any problems in 2+ years.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the screen rez is 1024x768, with extra large fonts and icons.
 
Originally posted by: Brackis
They were the ones who approached me about a computer. They have an older Dell desktop but now that they are moving into a much smaller residence a laptop upgrade that they can bring places is what they want. I feel that once I can teach them how to connect to a WLAN they will be alright, but am afraid of all the fancy stuff that new models these days sport that will overwhelm them.
Click to expand...

DO NOT mess with a WLAN. They do NOT want to learn that. Just get them a small desk and set them up with a simple set up. I did this with my grampa and he likes it, but he would not like a WLAN and all its issues.
 
Originally posted by: Baked
Originally posted by: Brackis
Originally posted by: Baked
iBook FTW. No, seriously. And make sure you making the icons 100x100.
Click to expand...

They are 100% not wanting a Mac. Just one of those things 😕
Click to expand...

Well, are you gonna go and help them clean out the spyware and viruses every week if they get a Dell?
Click to expand...

They are already familiar with the Windows Platform, no sense in making them change now.
 
Too bad they are so set on using windows. although for someone that knows how to take care of it, windows can be fine, for those who don't, it is difficult.you need to set them up with a good firewall and anti-virus that will keep their computer running clean but one that even a novice can use. (ZoneAlarm, for example, while considered one of the greatest firewalls, has way to many prompt.) also, make an image so that you can quickly restore thier computer to a good state should something happen. also, partition thier drive to atleast 2 parts;make c like 20GB and the rest as the My Documents root so that all thier data will go to D and so you can then easily repair thier computer. anyway, best of luck.
P.S.: BTW, why are they so sure that they don't want a Mac? the macs are significantly better for older people as the UI can be adjusted more to suit thier needs. and they do not need a two button mouse. my grandparents survived perfectly well on thier PC never even knowing the purpose of the right button on the mouse.
 
Good ideas guys.
Another thing I was considering was the ability to hookup this laptop to an LCD TV. I know they could use a new TV that doesn't take up much room, how easy would this be for them to operate and enjoy using the computer via a TV as opposed to a 14-17" monitor?
 
I gotta say that a Mac in this situation would be the most ideal thing. It's pretty damn bulletproof... but I am not sure if it has RDP support...
 
Originally posted by: Baked
Originally posted by: Brackis
Originally posted by: Baked
iBook FTW. No, seriously. And make sure you making the icons 100x100.
Click to expand...

They are 100% not wanting a Mac. Just one of those things 😕
Click to expand...

Well, are you gonna go and help them clean out the spyware and viruses every week if they get a Dell?
Click to expand...

why do people automatically assume that a Dell will get more spyware than any of other brand of computer? do people actually ever use their brains?
 
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: Baked
Originally posted by: Brackis
Originally posted by: Baked
iBook FTW. No, seriously. And make sure you making the icons 100x100.
Click to expand...

They are 100% not wanting a Mac. Just one of those things 😕
Click to expand...

Well, are you gonna go and help them clean out the spyware and viruses every week if they get a Dell?
Click to expand...

why do people automatically assume that a Dell will get more spyware than any of other brand of computer? do people actually ever use their brains?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing they are talking about the random Dell related software that comes pre-installed on their computers.
 
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