My mom spends inordinate amounts of time on her phone emailing, doing web research, reading books etc, but the size of the screen isn’t ideal and the lack of a keyboard kind of sucks.
She’s looking for a device with a larger (than a phone) screen where she can sit on the couch (with it resting on a pillow) and use a touchscreen for checking email, reading a book, or browsing around, or alternately put it on a table to type on it. She’s not planning to use it for games, so the hardware doesn’t have to be anything spectacular. I’ve been trying to find a reasonably priced, reliable device that fits this description but I’m way out of my wheelhouse here. A Chromebook or Windows device would seem to be the way to go, and I’m assuming the former would be cheaper. Any ideas?
I mean this seems the ideal use case for an iPad. Are you sure she needs a laptop style keyboard?
Honestly Chromebooks are an annoying market segment as they increased the price from ~$200 several years ago to ~$400ish dollars today. At that point it’s hard not to go to full Windows devices.
I helped my sister look for 2-in-1s this Christmas and the cut away price is around $500 for decent, and sometimes well above decent, Windows 2-in-1s. But they’re not svelte, they are bulky-ish full laptops.
If you insist on Windows you can probably find a “certified used” (ie, from Best Buy or B&H) Windows Surface device for ~$500ish if you look around and buy used when the new devices are on sale.
I bought a Samsung Chromebook for my Grandmother several years ago but ended up returning it, as it really wasn’t something she grokked. The one thing bad about Chromebooks is that their screens really suck, I mean honestly some of the worst screens today (although theyd’ve been ok 10ish years ago) and non-technical users won’t be able to describe how they’re bad or understand what it is about them they don’t like… but then won’t use them very often. It’s probably because everything is washed out and hard to read.
Surface Go 2 maybe? It’s not as large as a Pro. Easier to handhold. Not as powerful, either, but it sounds like power isn’t something that your mom needs.
And Go users really like it for what it is. I saw that there’s a decent bundle on Microsoft Store that gets you the Go, a Type Cover, one year of Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365, which includes the 1TB of OneDrive space), and the Two-Year Complete Protection Plan for $600.
The downside is that it’s out of stock, but you can get the higher-end Go in that bundle for an additional cost.
Bought my SO not just a Chromebook but a Pixelbook that was decked out. It was a bust. Way too many issues and things that just don’t work, not enough of the same things available on other platforms, etc. Stay away.
Tablet all the way, and pick whatever matches her phone so that she can have at least some application and browser similarities (and account names, etc.)
Get a wireless keyboard for it if needed, but stick with a tablet. It she absolutely wants a laptop, go that route, but “couch” work screams tablet to me. You can verify that with questions around what your mom wants to use it for: apps similar to her phone, actual applications like Office or media manipulation, etc. My SO thought she wanted a laptop and complained endlessly that it was heavy, hot, bulky, etc. And this was a pixelbook, as small as you can imagine for a crossover tablet/laptop. Super light as well.
It’s a setting in Windows 10 that basically limits it to Windows Store apps, but you can disable it with a click in settings so you can run any Windows application. The idea behind S Mode is for security and performance; you can’t run anything that’s not signed by Microsoft, and you also can’t run anything that will struggle on a Pentium Gold processor, as S apps tend to be lightweight. But like I said, you can disable it with a click, and you’re back to full Windows 10.
If she just wants it for email, surfing, and reading there are cheap Chromebooks. I googled Chromebooks and some are under $200. There’s a refurb or two under $100.
I have a Chromebook I bought a couple of years ago that I like. It’s light, has better battery life than my Windows laptop, and turns on instantly. I use it for browsing and writing and it’s fine for that.
I like Chromebooks for the use cases where you mostly care about reliability. These days I don’t feel that there are any particular feature gaps. (In fact, due to Covid I’ve ended up doing 100% of my work on a Chromebook for the last three months. It’s been fine, even if the hardware is totally outdated since it’s a 2016 model.)
However… It sounds like you’re looking at a mostly tablet use case with an occasional need for a keyboard. Consider that you’ll be paying for having the useless keyboard around all the time with a 2-in-1. They’ll be much thicker and heavier than dedicated tablets with an optional detachable keyboard. I find it hard to beleive that anyone would use a 1kg+ “tablet” for extended periods, nor think that a large 16:9 screen works for tablets This applies whether you’re going with Windows or ChromeOS.
I picked up an insanely cheap Win 10 tablet a few years ago to take with me when I travel. I don’t use it very much, but when I do it’s perfect for reading emails, web surfing, and chilling with the Kindle app. Sounds very much like what you’re looking for. Here’s one by the same outfit (Azpen), but it’s Android instead of Windows.
Chromebooks definitely have their use-case, and as you describe, @vinraith, it sounds like a perfect Chromebook use-case. Not sure where you’re living (US? Canada? Norway?) but there are always Chromebook offerings up and down the pricing ladder. You can get convertibles, clamshells, screen sizes varying from 11.6" to 17.3".
It might be best to decide on a budget, and then shop around your price point.
I recently picked up a Lenovo Duet ($300) as a tablet/chromebook cross to replace my ~7 year old “sit on the couch” chromebook. If you get a chance, I would seriously give it consideration. The kickstand may be a no-go depending on your mom’s use case, but if the kickstand isn’t an issue, it’s a hell of a little machine and crazy cheap for a 10" tablet that can run android apps and the usual chrome stuff and comes with a decent detachable keyboard.
I love love love my HP Chromebook X2 2-in-1 and recommend it unreservedly. Great screen for readin’ HD comics, web browsin’, Android apps, whatever. Zero issues of any kind.
