What's the simplest way to get a non-technical person online?
Lynda wants to get her sister-in-law online, but she’s over 70, has no experience of modern technology, and lives on her own a long way away
My sister-in-law would like to be able to watch her grandchild grow up. She is over 70 and has no experience of modern technology, and lives on her own a long way from us. There is no friendly IT person nearby.
We know this is going to be difficult, but what would be the simplest forms of technology to buy for her to use? We were thinking of buying two smartphones, so we could help her as best we could by having the same phone. I also thought we could buy her a tablet so we could Skype and she could see photos in large format. We use a laptop and I have an old iPhone. Lynda
The first decision is the type of communications system you are going to use. If your sister-in-law doesn’t use modern technology then this probably limits the choice to phones, phablets and tablets that have a built-in 3G or 4G mobile phone connection. It’s unlikely that she has wi-fi, and it would be costly to subscribe just for this. However, it would be good if you could find out what’s available where she lives. Which mobile network offers the strongest signal? Does a neighbour have wi-fi that she could use instead?
The second decision is the size of the screen. Most smartphones have small screens that are usable for viewing photos, but not particularly good for people with aging eyes. I’d suggest a 6-inch phablet (a smartphone with a larger screen), or preferably a tablet, with an 8-inch or 10-inch screen. You don’t mention a budget, but you usually have to pay more for a bigger and better screen.
It’s very hard to explain things to people when you can’t see their screen, so it would be better to control her device remotely from your end – or at least, have that as an option. You can do this with TeamViewer software, which runs on most operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Android, Linux and Apple’s iOS. However, make sure that TeamViewer offers remote control support for whichever device you buy. There’s a list of supported manufacturers on the TeamViewer website, but double check anyway.
You will be able to use TeamViewer to push photos to your sister in law’s device. Otherwise, you can set up a home screen where Skype, email, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, and perhaps WhatsApp are prominently displayed. If she reads books, Amazon’s Kindle app would be a good idea. If she enjoys card or puzzle games, I’d add one of those as well. The idea is to find something that will get her to use the tablet on her own. This will help her to learn the commands, keep it charged, and remove the “fear factor”. Many a newbie learned the basics of Windows by playing Solitaire, FreeCell or Minesweeper.
Tablet choices
There are plenty of hardware options. At the cheaper end of the scale, the 7in Asus Fonepad has 3G and is very good value for £150 on amazon.co.uk or at Carphone Warehouse. It only has 16GB of storage but you can increase that with a microSD card.
I was going to write that the next step up was the 7in Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 at £250, but it’s currently on Amazon for £149.99 for a white 3G version, reduced from £255.54. However, it has less storage (8GB) and I’d prefer the Fonepad’s 1280 x 800 pixel screen to the Galaxy Tab’s 1024 x 600 screen.
A good alternative would be a 3G 16GB Lenovo Yoga with an 8-inch screen for £199.99, or a 10.1in screen for £249.99 at PC World. These have the same resolution as the Fonepad (1280 x 800) and a microSD card slot. They are also a non-standard shape, for a tablet, but include flip-out kickstands that enable them to stand upright. The 10.1in screen is a good size for viewing pictures. All of these tablets run Google’s Android operating system.
For a bit more money you could get a mobile-connected Apple iPad Mini with a 7.9in screen for £349 from Apple UK. Obviously, this is not the new version with a high-resolution retina display, which costs £419 or more from Apple, or the 9.7in iPad Air, which starts at £499. The iPad has by far the most and best tablet apps, and while this is not a requirement for your purposes, your sister-in-law could probably find plenty of things she’d enjoy.
As you are already an iPhone user, this could be the best option, if you can afford it.
All three manufacturers – Asus, Samsung and Apple – are on the list for TeamViewer support, but I have not double-checked the individual models.
Alternatives
Of course, there are many more wi-fi tablets that don’t have built-in 3G/4G phone connections, and they are cheaper. Your sister-in-law could use one of these with something like a MiFi (mobile wi-fi modem) from 3 or a TP-Link or similar portable router or “travel modem”. These very small devices convert a mobile phone signal into a local Wi-Fi connection that can be used by several devices. I use a MiFi and it’s terrific, but it adds a complication that may be more than your sister in law can handle.
There’s no real advantage to buying a phablet instead of a tablet if your sister-in-law is going to use it at home. If she wants to carry it around and use it as a mobile phone, then a 6-inch phablet might be a better option. If so, PocketLint has a good list: ‘Best phablets 2014: The best big-screened phones to buy right now‘. I’d quibble about it leaving out the 4G Nokia Lumia 1320 because you can get one for only £224.61 at Amazon, and yes, TeamViewer is available on Windows Phone 8.
Once you have bought a phablet or tablet, you will need to install TeamViewer and test it to make sure it works. You should be able to log in to the tablet from your laptop. The most likely problem is that 3G mobile phone connections tend to be slow compared to wired broadband, and shipping screens across the network will consume a lot of data. This should be OK for occasional use, and it’s one of those times when something is better than nothing. However, if you get to the point where you’re using it several times a week, then it might make financial sense either to buy an unlimited sim card for the tablet or get your sister-in-law to stump up for home broadband.
One more thing. If you take the 3G/4G route, you may want to disable wi-fi to extend battery life, and you must make sure that there are no apps that consume expensive data for no good reason. They may be utterly pointless, like weather apps, or just apps that check for updates several times an hour. I don’t know of a good way to deal with this except to go through every app, check its permissions, and either turn it off or limit its data consumption. However, there are plenty of apps – such as My Data Manager for Android and Data Usage for iPhone – that can help.
