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Cheapest way to use Skype and web email

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  • 07-12-2012 8:38pm
    #1
    ppshay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 322 ✭✭


    I'm looking to get something for my mother so she can email and Skype family members abroad. She'll probably use the internet a little too. She's a pensioner so something basic and intuitive to use and doesn't require any messing about under the hood. Probably tablet or netbook?


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    #2
    hearny
    Registered Users Posts: 953 ✭✭✭hearny


    Whats the budget.

    Ipad mini, Google nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy


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    #3
    hearny
    Registered Users Posts: 953 ✭✭✭hearny


    I find that less technical people figure out the Apple stuff pretty quickly if your budget can stretch to it.


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    #4
    lemon_remon
    Registered Users Posts: 232 ✭✭lemon_remon


    hearny wrote: »
    I find that less technical people figure out the Apple stuff pretty quickly if your budget can stretch to it.

    That would be a horrible overkill just for a "simpler" UI.

    Maybe a Chromebook might be a good idea? They are pretty much impossible to infect with malware and have a very simple UI. However, I don't think Skype is available as a Chrome app currently.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Chromebook-Wifi-Latest-Model/dp/B009RF0AQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354923744&sr=8-1


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    #5
    Alfred Borden
    Registered Users Posts: 10,012 ✭✭✭✭Alfred Borden


    Probably best off with a Netbook


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    #6
    ppshay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 322 ✭✭ppshay


    Thanks for the replies. I'm annoyed with myself because I don't have much to spend but would love to get her something as she misses her sons. One is in China so phone calls are out of the question. She had one of those discount call cards but the code plus the number was so long for her that she kept entering it wrong and wasting her money on wrong numbers! One Chinese man got annoyed with her and told her to stop calling him. :) When I told her about Skype she lit up! She never had a phone line in the house but is going to sort this out, and broadband.

    I was thinking I could stretch it to €200. Maybe there just isn't anything that isn't rubbish for that price? It's looking like a seven inch tablet but I'm wondering if that might be too small for somebody of seventy years of age?


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    #7
    areyawell
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭areyawell


    Does your mother have the internet or are you planning on using 3g?


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    #8
    T-K-O
    Registered Users Posts: 6,309 ✭✭✭T-K-O


    A few lads in work picked up the Blackberry playbook. It's less than 200 and the guys were impressed with the build quality.


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    #9
    ppshay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 322 ✭✭ppshay


    areyawell wrote: »
    Does your mother have the internet or are you planning on using 3g?
    She's planning to get the internet in just for this.

    PS. I have no Thanks button for some reason. Don't know why.


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    #10
    areyawell
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭areyawell


    Id just buy a second hand desktop off adverts or a netbook. Get a netbook for 200


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    #11
    GreenWolfe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,731 ✭✭✭GreenWolfe


    T-K-O wrote: »
    A few lads in work picked up the Blackberry playbook. It's less than 200 and the guys were impressed with the build quality.

    There isn't any Skype app on the Playbook, unfortunately.


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    #12
    T-K-O
    Registered Users Posts: 6,309 ✭✭✭T-K-O


    EarthlyPangaea wrote: »
    There isn't any Skype app on the Playbook, unfortunately.

    That's a shame. It seems a great price


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    #13
    hearny
    Registered Users Posts: 953 ✭✭✭hearny


    Nexus 7 is €179:
    http://www.vikingdirect.ie/a/pb/Google-Nexus-7-Android-41-Tablet-PC-16GB/pr=QDD&id=6409359/

    Samsung Galaxy 7 Tav is €189 with €30 Cashback.
    http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5088735/Trail/searchtext%3ESAMSUNG+TAB.htm

    The hardest part would be finding them in stock:
    Argos stock checker is here:
    http://checkargos.com/StockCheckPage.php?productId=5088735

    Viking says the Nexus is installed but I would contact them as soon as possible as they flew off the shelves at that price everywhere else.


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