Please can I pick your brains about iPads/tablets?

I go with RAF and do not buy into the Apple mania. Therefore highly recommend the Galaxy tablet by Samsung. Really easy to use and very friendly. Go for the larger size though then set her up with a few apps and ensure she has got WiFi and your mum will marvel at the ease of it.

I love my ipad- it goes everywhere with me. Bought (yet) another handbag recently and it HAD to be big enough to hold the ipad. (10x8" and 3/4" thick max or 25.5 x 20cms)
It has a brilliant camera, VERY easy to use.
Best buy ever!

I will probably get shot down for this, but I have a thing about Apple's monopoly and set out to look for an alternative. I have an ASUS Transformer TF700, it allows me to greatly increase the storage with a removable 25gb SD card, and has a click on keyboard which turns it into a mini laptop, great if you struggle with a touch screen.

Can open MS Office documents with something like Polaris Office free app. No problem setting up emails on it, takes great photos and video.

With its 10" screen, was great for skyping the family on our round the world trip last year! :-)

iPads are so instant that hey become indispensable, and now I find I'm forever reaching for mine for the slightest reason. As long as I've got it charged up, I'm happy.

One thing I'm struggling with is downloading Amazon Kindle books on to the Kindle app it has. It keeps telling me to add books to the wish list, then obtain them via the laptop or PC, which is time-consuming -well, it takes a few minutes! . Does this happen with anyone else? Any solutions?

Definitely the ipad for me. So easy to use and very clear screen and keypad. Nothing fiddly whatsoever.

I am afraid I didn't get on with my Kindle Fire but my 14-year old grand-daughter was very pleased with it, as I left it with her when I left New Zealand. I found it too slow after a lifetime of touch typing, but if your mother doesn't type that would not be an issue. It was certainly easier to carry in my backpack than my laptap, which I usually take with me.
I bought a case and a stylo as my fingers were just too big to tap the small letters. It was not compatible with Adobe so I couldn't use my iportal to watch UK TV and neither would it take a separate keyboard. I believe the HD version is more useful.
If I do replace my four year old laptop, I will just get a smaller version - say an 11" screen

Thanks again - yes, am fervent devotee of JL for buying anything electrical because of the guarantee and after-sales service.

Check out the current offers in the Apple store if you can get to one - when I bought mine I had an iCloud account free buying at the Apple store whereas all the other places - JL included- were charging something like £40 for it.

Yes. Best place to get anything like this. Imho.

Showed my 81 yr old aunt my I pad. Within 10 mins she'd ordered hers from the 'never knowingly undersold' department store JL . She was delighted!

Thanks so much, Gransnetters! Confirms what I thought about iPad, but will check out the Kindle Fire, too, and see what features it has.

Party pooper here, but might it not be less fiddly for her if you bought a netbook for her?

I love my ipad too. As your mother isn't used to a desk top or lap top I'm sure she would find the ipad a doddle to use. Catch up TV is very good on it and so is Netflix. Email too. In fact everything!

Another iPad fan here. I think it would be fairly easy to explain. Mine is never switched off, I just charge it overnight and it's always on hand. Most things are accessible by using the icons which is much simpler than on a laptop.

Yeah. And I-pad is bigger too. Might be the better bet for older person. I do do a lot of my stuff on the desktop tbh.

Same with the iPad! Couldn't live without mine.
It's so simple my 22 month old DGD has learned to use it.

And you can get a leather case which holds it at a good slant on your lap. Less tiring.

It's good for watching catchup tv in bed too. Good speaker.

Things not thins

Well I love my kindle fire. I can do everything on it that I can on my desktop pc. And more. You can do the pinch and slide thing to make it bigger. And it has a little symbol to click on to put it in reading mode which gives an easy to read presentation. I do recommend using one of the little 'pen' thins with a soft end as it makes it easier to aim at letters.