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Author Message   Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 6193 Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 3:22 pm:        My 70+ mom has just gotten hooked up to the net (after owning a rebuilt dell for 5 years and being scared to death of it) but now she is grooving on talking, as it were, to her grandkids in INdonesia. So of course now is when the rebuilt one croaked. Does anyone have any suggestions for a VERY SIMPLE (basically email and solitare only) laptop? I checked digital deals and even they seem steep. Any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks   Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 13607 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 3:32 pm:        There's a tradeoff between quality and price, of course. Ease of use costs. So does reliability, which is tied in to ease of use. Apples are at the high end but can be worth it. My wife, who is a musician and very non-technical, bought herself an Apple Powerbook in about 1999. With my help, she has upgraded the RAM, the hard disk, and the OS over the years. But I'm truly impressed at how long it has lasted, and it is still kicking. Getting more than three years out of a Windows laptop is nearly unthinkable, and this has lasted six or seven years. I'd say she got her $2000 worth, and the latest iBooks are a lot less than that. But she uses hers heavily. Your mother may not be able to justify shelling out $1000 or $1300 for a computer.   Glock 17 Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 598 Registered: 7-2005 Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 8:03 pm:        Try a refurbished iBook...or a Toshiba Sattelite   Mayor McCheese Supporter Username: Mayor_mccheese Post Number: 1145 Registered: 7-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 8:46 pm:        Duncan, for someone who is only going to be using the computer for email and solitare your best bet will probably be at either best buy, curcuit city, or compusa. Just look in the circulars on sunday for the cheapest one. They will all work just fine. For most people I wouldn't recommend this option, but for your mother who uses the computer for basically nothing, this is the best option. The bottom of the line laptops on sale sunday morning should have more than enough power for what she needs. Basically, I am saying just look at price, because just about anything that you buy new will be more than enough.