[Sheikboy]

Hi everyone,

So I was able to find someone selling a dirt cheap Playbook and I'm thinking of getting one for my mother. She wouldn't need all the bells and whistles of an iPad or Windows 8 device. Her usage would essentially be:

Email
Kindle
Skype
Web Browsing

Would the Playbook be a good option for her considering the sub-100 dollar price point? Would she able to do all that and/or is the Playbook good for people who are a bit elderly? Even if it can do all those things, it won't help much if she can't work it, or worse, needs to call me every 2 hours to work it.

I'd appreciate the feedback

Sheik

[Bla1ze]

Honestly, just get her something different. Skype won't work, Kindle needs to be sideloaded. About the only thing that will work without much hassle is email and the web browser. Many people will come after me and tell you everything will be fine if you get it for her but it won't be. Just buy her a reasonable Android tablet.

[bluenote]

Kindle fires are on sale today 20% off. The newest one Kindle Fire HDX has a gorgeous screen and a front camera (the 7inch a front camera, the 8.9 inch a front and back camera) so it can do Skype, netflix, kindle books etc. It also has a feature called MayDay where your mom can get tech support within 15 seconds for free (a video window pops up with a friendly twenty something amazon employee sitting somewhere in WA).

If you want a cheaper amazon tablet for Skype don't get the kindle fire hd from this year because they took out the camera. So you will have to search for a kindle fire hd from last year (previous generation). You can find that for a little over $100 (I got one from best buy for $99 a few weeks ago, they might have some open box for $94).

To say something nice about the playbook, be aware that its browser can show desktop mode so I was able to see tv shows on it that are not viewable on mobile (kindle fires or iPads safari browser)

[therealjoeblow]

Kindle fires are on sale today 20% off. The newest one Kindle Fire HDX has a gorgeous screen and a front camera (the 7inch a front camera, the 8.9 inch a front and back camera) so it can do Skype, netflix, kindle books etc. It also has a feature called MayDay where your mom can get tech support within 15 seconds for free (a video window pops up with a friendly twenty something amazon employee sitting somewhere in WA).

If you want a cheaper amazon tablet for Skype don't get the kindle fire hd from this year because they took out the camera. So you will have to search for a kindle fire hd from last year (previous generation). You can find that for a little over $100 (I got one from best buy for $99 a few weeks ago, they might have some open box for $94).

To say something nice about the playbook, be aware that its browser can show desktop mode so I was able to see tv shows on it that are not viewable on mobile (kindle fires or iPads safari browser)

Pretty much every android browser there is has an option to "request deskrop site", firefox and chrome do for sure.

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

[Chaplain_Clancy]

Blaze suggested an Android and he was right to steer you away from the PlayBook simply because of Skype. I would actually suggest getting her an iPad. If she doesn't need all the bells and whistles, that's fine. Not that I'm saying your mother falls into this catagory, but I work in Aged Care and for older people it makes much more sense having a physical button that they can press which will take them back to the start.

[David Murray1]

Honestly, just get her something different. Skype won't work, Kindle needs to be sideloaded. About the only thing that will work without much hassle is email and the web browser. Many people will come after me and tell you everything will be fine if you get it for her but it won't be. Just buy her a reasonable Android tablet.

Lol if she has a BB phone (esp a legacy) she may appreciate Bridge, and that's not a feature you can get with any cheap and crappy Android.