Had a chat with my mum today (late 60’s) and she wants to replace the laptop with a tablet. She barely uses the lappy as it’s too bulky (suffered a few strokes and has issues with typing/moving easily)

So, i agree that a tablet would likely be the best solution for her, lighter, easier to use, no typing per se.

I’m a Nexus person, barely have used an iPod/Pad/etc
The wife is an Ipod/Pad person, barley used an Android machine.

So it’s hard for either of us to be truely subjective on it.

It will be used purely for internet browsing and watching vids of my boy etc. Possibly for iPlayer/4OD etc too, but in all honesty, unlikely.

Budget isn’t a factor, just ease of use really.

I have a nexus 7 and an iPad.
The iPad is easier to use by far.
I find android has too many bits on it,on the iPad it just seems so much more coherent.
Ps im totally useless on computers.

I vote iPad for the simplicity of using the device. If your Mum gets an apple TV to go with it she will be able to see videos and pics of your boy on the TV with no trouble too.

Only reason I’d suggest Android is because something like a Hudl is such good value. If money is irellavant then iPad.

I can’t compare as I’ve no android devices but I can say that my 83 year old Mother gets on fine with an iPad. she emails, takes/views photos, plays games (currently has a dominos addiction), surfs the internet, does her banking etc. It tools a few hours of instruction initially but she pretty much has the hang of most things now. She’d never used a computer of any sort prior to picking up the iPad.

I initially got it because so many things seemed to have a web link attached to them like on TV when they do the “for more details see our website at www…” I thought that it was important that she didn’t consider herself excluded from things.

I’d say either would be fine – my kids have iPad minis, and while I think Android 4.2 is a bit slicker than iOS 7 they’re both perfectly usable.

Not sure that a tablet of either nature would be much easier to use than a laptop, though – all that pinch-to-zoom, poking at the screen stuff won’t be much easier than typing, and may actually be worse. Perhaps a lighter Chromebook / Mac Air / Windows Ultrabook would be a better bet?

My dad always had issues with computers and tablets until I moved him to the Apple sphere. He loves his iPad, iPhone and iMac and I now receive about 98% less phone calls about how to do stuff or come fix it.

iPad all the way.

iOS is more intuitive than Android IMO and for that reason I’d vote for the iPad. Out of the box iOS also looks a heck of a lot prettier. Android is fuggly by default with its non-uniform app styling and counter-intuitive widgets … and only really improves when you customise it.

iPad 4, N5 and N7 here.

Rather than a tablet, how about a Chromebook ?

Acer C720 is a great machine and under £200.

Edit: Didn’t see the typing issues thing but with a tablet then you still need “typing” ability and elderly people may get on better with a physical keyboard vs a touch screen version