I posted this in GH, but figured I'd throw it in here for probably a faster response, too....
My dad wants to get my grandparents some that they can do email with, as they have a number of friends that they travel with in the winter who currently email through my dad to correspond with my grand parents. What is your suggestion for a basic, easy to use device that would let them get and send email, and also probably print some stuff off?
We've looked at this mailstation thing (usually pretty cheap after rebates), which looks like it just sends and receives basic text emails, and the service runs like 12-15 bucks a month. But its probably very easy to use. But I do'nt think you can do anything with attachments or view pictures or anything. The thing is, for a few more dollars a month, you could have a regular ISP with full internet access. Which leads to...
We thought about finding a cheap laptop (300-500? that still seems like more than what we'd want to invest in hardware) and getting a regular internet dial up ISP, but neither of them have ever really used a computer and it would probably be overkill for what they'd need to do. Plus, as much as I love 'em, I don't really want to teach them from the ground up how to use the computer and send emails, etc.
My dad saw some ad for MSN TV, which looks like a webtv sort of thing. The hardware was like $50 after rebates. Something like this might work, but service is full unlimited internet for 21 bucks a month. Thats way too much to spend, and would be overkill for them. Why don't they offer a stripped down 10-hours a month internet or something, just enough to let them do email but also get picture attachments, etc.?
So anyway, I guess I'm looking any suggestions...is something like a webtv worthwile? Is it even still around? Anything else out there that can bring email to the computer illiterate on a budget? Thanks for any help!
My dad wants to get my grandparents some that they can do email with, as they have a number of friends that they travel with in the winter who currently email through my dad to correspond with my grand parents. What is your suggestion for a basic, easy to use device that would let them get and send email, and also probably print some stuff off?
We've looked at this mailstation thing (usually pretty cheap after rebates), which looks like it just sends and receives basic text emails, and the service runs like 12-15 bucks a month. But its probably very easy to use. But I do'nt think you can do anything with attachments or view pictures or anything. The thing is, for a few more dollars a month, you could have a regular ISP with full internet access. Which leads to...
We thought about finding a cheap laptop (300-500? that still seems like more than what we'd want to invest in hardware) and getting a regular internet dial up ISP, but neither of them have ever really used a computer and it would probably be overkill for what they'd need to do. Plus, as much as I love 'em, I don't really want to teach them from the ground up how to use the computer and send emails, etc.
My dad saw some ad for MSN TV, which looks like a webtv sort of thing. The hardware was like $50 after rebates. Something like this might work, but service is full unlimited internet for 21 bucks a month. Thats way too much to spend, and would be overkill for them. Why don't they offer a stripped down 10-hours a month internet or something, just enough to let them do email but also get picture attachments, etc.?
So anyway, I guess I'm looking any suggestions...is something like a webtv worthwile? Is it even still around? Anything else out there that can bring email to the computer illiterate on a budget? Thanks for any help!
