Tablet for elderly

[disconnecteddrifter]

My dad, a fit and healthy 77 year old, has never been the brightest. He's persisting in paying for broadband despite not being able to work out how to use his ancient laptop. I'm pretty certain he's spent a fortune on it but o no avail and I think this is due to him never remembering passwords.
Anyway, I am thinking of getting a kindle fire 7inch for his birthday as I assume this is just like an iPad and will be easier for him to use than his laptop. He'll want to browse internet (once I've shown him how), email and perhaps take pictures but won't need a large memory. It's under £50 and I want to buy it now but worry it's not what I think.
Anyone got any insight/recommendations? Wasn't looking to spend more than £70
Thanks in advance

Does anyone you know have an iPad he could have a try of first? What about a second hand one, that would be cheaper, people sell them when they upgrade to the new models.

I like Android devices, I find the iOS keyboards really hard to use and am forever looking for the back button or how to switch quickly between apps. I'm a software developer and write web apps for the damned things, so I would say I'm pretty tech savvy...

If you pop into Curry's or John Lewis you can usually have a play with all of them.

I have an Acer Iconia - love it, really easy to use and similar to my iPad which I could not afford to replace - cost me about £50 from the Argos Outlet on eBay. This followed a few angry frustrated months with a Fire tablet, tiny, got progressively slower and you cannot delete all the crap Amazon apps from the home screen which I would imagine sold be quite confusing if I was older and not familiar with tech.

I bought my 71 year old mum a HUDL, the big version. I've also upgraded to a fire stick, so given her my Chromecast along with a lesson on casting to her TV..😂

I bought my mum a kindle fire, it is the best thing I ever did! She can email, read and google, it is perfect.

I like my Kindle Fire mostly because I can watch Amazon Prime TV shows and movies through it. My kids tend to hog the TV. It's good for browsing the internet too. I also find it much tougher than iPads.

The downsides are that I find it very hard to type on, the plug socket always comes loose so I can only charge it when I'm not using it.

You really do need an Amazon Prime account to link it to. If you link it to your account then he will be able to make purchases from your Amazon account. If you set up his own then you need to pay for that.

It sounds like he really needs Skype, so he can make free international calls. The Kindle isn't great for Skype. It's ok, but the picture isn't great.

I agree that a second hand iPad may be better.

Bought my dad a tablet for his 80th and loaded onto it our 6th Spotify account. All fine, until my mum gets Celine Dion on a loop and they can't turn it off. Unfortunately, we're 300 miles away so it took us 40 minutes on the phone to sort it out!

My dad is in his 80s and has an iPad with a 10" screen. He loves it. We had to set him up initially, but he manages to use it no problem. The downside is they are expensive.

Kindle fires are awful. I actually bought one for myself and sent it right back to Amazon.
I've had iPads and android and kindles are like neither. Also 7 " screen is to small for old eyes and fingers.
My 82 year old mum has an iPad, the large screen. I invested a lot of time showing her how to use it and writing down instructions. It's essential that you have one at home as well so you can talk through problems over the phone.
I won't tell you about the time I had to drive a 40 mile round trip to turn off the radio

I don't have a view on which tablet, but ime they're much, much easier for non tech-savvy older people to use than a desktop or laptop. I still get the odd surprise at what my mother-in-law likes on Facebook (photos from eight years ago at random moments) but given that two years ago she'd never done more than some very basic word processing on a course, it's really impressive. I now get e-mails a few times a week, and she even uses it to take photos of her grandchildren.

Oh yes and every time I visit mum I pick up the iPad and close 97 apps ....

My dad is in his mid 80's and although he has had a laptop for donkey's years he always struggled with using it.
Then we bought the dc ipads for Christmas, they showed them off to grandad and it was a lightbulb moment - he instantly "got it" and bought one himself within days.
The number of tech support related calls to me instantly decreased to virtually nil and it's given him a whole new lease of life.
A few weeks later he also traded in his ancient brick of a mobile and bought an iphone, which led to him actually keeping the phone on and learning to text
I'm convinced it's the simplicity of the visual display and menus that works for him.

He still has his laptop which he switches on once a week " to tick it over" but he turns it off again after about half an hour of doing absolutely sod all on it
For some reason he thinks it affects his broadband if he doesn't do this and for a quiet life I've given up trying to persuade him otherwise.

My dad (in his 70s) has both an iPad and a basic Kindle fire. He hardly uses the iPad and finds the Kindle much better.

My granny is in her 80's and has an iPad. Mainly used for keeping in touch with us all on Facebook. She does have a habit of accidentally FaceTimeing me while I'm at work though 😆

he also traded in his ancient brick of a mobile and bought an iphone.

Now that's a genius idea.

DM gets on quite well with her iPad, though tech support includes helping her when she's stuck on Pearl's Peril .
She has a horrid old Samsung that even I find difficult to use. It only gets switched on when she knows I am away (because in spite of me telling her a million times she believes you have to use a mobile to ring a mobile).

The iPhone will of course be bigger and need charging every few hours , so that's the brick - but if it is more usable for this person than a definite result!

I bought my mum a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I thought she would use it to listen to audio books, but instead it seems to just be used to Scrabble but that's fine. Not sure if she's found the internet on it yet, will have to find out.

She does have a laptop, but finds it very slow (it's old, but she won't get a new one because it still does what it's meant to, albeit slowly, and I bought it for her so she can't get rid of it!) and also won't move it out of her office, which is freezing in winter. At least the Fire is easier to use in the lounge.

I'd say go for it, but introduce him to it slowly, one app at a time.

I am 15 years younger than your dad, and use an ereader and computer constantly. However, is a Kindle much good for the internet? I have the new 7.8in Kobo Aura and wouldn't even consider using it for the internet, unless I was absolutely desperate - admittedly, I do have a newish Macbook, but I would have thought that an ereader would be too sluggish, and hence terribly frustrating, to use except for emergencies.

Then again, I'm not too keen on using my phone unless I have to, as I find touch screens awful (have arthritis).

Wecks My Fire is the HDX, so much bigger than a 7 inch screen.
Scones I use my Fire to browse all the time. It's what I take when travelling; I email from it, do banking from it, buy most of Amazon from it, Mumsnet on it etc etc.

scareyteacher A query - is the Kindle as fast as an ipad and a viable alternative, or do you use it as an alternative because you have the Kindle for reading, and using it saves the nuisance of taking along another device?

I suppose if I go anywhere where I'm likely to need a computer, I tend to take my MacBook. It only ways about 900gms, fits into most of my handbags, and is more convenient for me to use. However, maybe I'll have to look at my Kobo with fresh eyes.

My mom is in her early 70s and has real trouble using a touchscreen phone or tablet. She finds it even harder to write on them. If you do buy one, by a simple one that's easy to use and maybe get a pen To tap the screen. I don't know what they're called.