Try out a device before you buy if you can. Our local library has tablets with books loaded on them that you can borrow like a book. They are various sizes and vary in sophistication. While they aren't the latest thing on the market, it would give you an idea if it would even work for your mom.
Brenda....I'm late to the party here, you've gotten some great advice and, sounds like you've decided to look at other options. I say, good for you. My Mom (now 94, moderate dementia, happy in a lovely ALF) was always into "the cutting edge".....at 79 she got her first PC. She was a writer (wrote for local paper into her late 80's, wrote and published books)....she moved easily from typewriter to PC, loved sending and replying to emails, did research online, etc. At 88 she was diagnosed w/MCI BUT at 91 she was still using email enthusiatically (now she had WiFi and a mobile laptop, too!), soooo....I thought it would be great to get her a nice small lightweight tablet for Mother's Day....I bought her a B&N Nook......welllllll.....either I was naieve, in denial, or simply unaware of how much my so smart and savvy always Mom's cognitive skills had slipped: I literally spent hours on the phone and online w/Mom, and even a B&N rep.....just trying to get the tablet "set up".....no dice. Next time I visited Mom she was in hospital, then rehab for a bad fall and break. I stayed in her condo. Found the Nook in it's original box.....figured, well, someone ought to get some use out of this.....so....here I am typing this note on the handy little lightweight tablet that Mom could no longer figure out (FF....totally hear you!).....sad but true, but thinking anyone w/alz/dementia can figure out a tablet is most likely not a good long range option. Today, my brilliant, accomplished, forward-thinking Mom cannot use a phone or TV remote....BUT, as much as this distresses me, it seems not to distress her in the least, or, for that matter, even be on her radar screen. She's generally happy and content and I am currently thrilled w/that state of affairs.
Going for jello now, and outside for the first time at 5:10p.m. Brenda, hoping you find something nice for your mom. I use a kindle, but it is touch-screen. Supervised use would be one answer. We do want our seniors to use the internet safely. Imop.
Glad, Leo LaPorte, twitlive.tv is one of many tech experts who has guests that can answer any tech questions you have. However, they know nothing about caregiving, or what is recommended for someone dealinv wth dementia. Leo does have an aging mother who needed computed advice, though. Can find twitlive anx others on youtube also. Give me my remote, or give me t.v.
Roku has a huge downside. Since I have already watched what was offered (Bones, Downton Abbey, Blue Bloods, The Goodwife, etc.) almost a year ago, there is nothing new to watch on Netflix. There is hardly anything (that I have available) that is live. Roku costs $ 35-99 one time. Cable costs $120/mo + here. Get what you can afford.
FF. I believe the Roku box is a substitute for cable. You can download or stream various movies, but you don't have the benefit of the range of programs cable offers, like 500 sports channels and no opera channels. Who could possibly want Roku selections when you can have so many sports channels and spend your entire day watching sports?
I think Chromebook is just another brand of computer.
Send, who the heck is Leo LaPorte? Today I bought a BOSE system to replace two that I lost in the fire, and how many cd's is anybody's guess. So, this system, I hope will make it easier. It came in a smallish box, 18"x10"x15" or so. It will play cd's and am/fm radio (very important for me) and will connect wirelessly to the internet to stream from any number of services. This will be very interesting!
I am a technology idiot, I know enough to get me in trouble. This system should teach me some new tricks, though.
Sorry Ff. My contribution was passed on from in-house expert who watches Leo LaPorte daily on twitlive t.v. The real experts are there. My husband owns an Acer Chromebook, which I believe is an inexpensive laptop. He is against giving computer advice to a forum for caregivers, as this info is readily available online under the heading technology. Since I am not tech savvy, barely literate, I depend on him to hook-up the internet, and roku box. When it freezes or crashes, then it is all him, not me. My neighbors survive by getting cable, and the cable guy is there almost monthly. Think, what did we do before this all became so hard? Lincoln read by candlelight?
Brenda, hoping you find something nice for your mom.
I use a kindle, but it is touch-screen.
Supervised use would be one answer. We do want our seniors to use the internet safely. Imop.
Leo does have an aging mother who needed computed advice, though.
Can find twitlive anx others on youtube also. Give me my remote, or give me t.v.
Get what you can afford.
I think Chromebook is just another brand of computer.
I am a technology idiot, I know enough to get me in trouble. This system should teach me some new tricks, though.
Think, what did we do before this all became so hard? Lincoln read by candlelight?