David, If she is having problems with ipad, it's most likely netbook would be appropriate either as she will have another unfamiliar interface. Get a refurbished mac from apple. They are good as new and no need spending a lot for a new one. Apologies for top posting - I blame it on blackberry Regards, William I have an elderly relative who is having real trouble trying to learn how to use a iPad. Over about five years, she got to be able to write a monthly newsletter for the Ratepayers Association and do email on a Mac, but still had trouble browsing the web or doing anything more complicated. She can do economic tradeoffs in her head, but has no intuition about computers. Her iMac died, and she tried an iPad, but is having even more trouble than with the mac! The mention of thin clients here made me wonder: would she be better just buying a new mac, or are there netbooks or thin clients that would seem "just like the mac with different icons" ? --dave -- David Collier-Brown, | Always do right. This will gratify System Programmer and Author | some people and astonish the rest davecb@spamcop.net | -- Mark Twain