New iMac for grandparent, need some advice

[Kashika]

My grandmother is in need of a new computer. Since she needs something simple, safe and intuitive I thought a new iMac would be a good idea.

The large screen and the everything in one package would make it very easy to set up and use.
She originally used an old windows PC with XP. Even if she should get a new windows PC she'd have to get used to windows 7. Which in terms of getting used to a new OS isn't much different as getting used to OSX.

So I do have some questions on getting her started without much trouble.

Should I get her a trackpad instead of a magic mouse?
I figured the trackpad offers a different but more intuitive experience than a mouse. Also the position of her hand is different when holding a mouse.

She prefers large letters and icons. Is it a good idea to put the screen in a lower resolution so that everything seems bigger?
Or is it a good idea to enlarge the finder icons and text in Safari or any other internet browser?

Advice on settings or other things are much appreciated. I just want to set everything up for her so she can get by without much trouble.

 

[jenzjen]

In the 2 days you waited for an answer, you could have spent 10 minutes with your grandparent and simply ask her what she prefers. Her opinion carries more weight than all of ours combined since she'll be using it.

 

[Bernard SG]

Wirelessly posted (IPod Touch 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

For Grand-ma, MacBook Air or even iPad is better unless she has eyesight problems.

 

[jijoya]

There is absolutely no one who can give me some thoughts regarding this?

What I'd do is get her a Trackpad and a mouse - a PC one though, not the Magic or a Mighty (my mom still can't get used to her Mighty and is using a PC mouse with her G5 iMac).

That way your grandma can feel comfortable trying out the Trackpad without worrying about admitting she's not fond of it (in case she isn't). If she likes it, she might give up the mouse altogether (in which case it wouldn't have made sense to buy an expensive Apple mouse). If she doesn't like it, though, and she's anything like my grandma, she'll bend over backwards trying to make sure you'll spend no more money on her after such a generous present. So you won't get to hear a complaint even if one is in order, and would need to watch her to figure out how she feels.

Re: resolutions and enlarging text, I'd just spend the first hour or so of using the comp with her and find out what she finds most comfortable. Even if you know in advance that she's short- or longsighted, I've found the experiences my grandparents find comfortable vary a great deal in a way I can never predict. So I just customize depending on feedback.

 

[szolr]

My grandmother is in need of a new computer. Since she needs something simple, safe and intuitive I thought a new iMac would be a good idea.

The large screen and the everything in one package would make it very easy to set up and use.
She originally used an old windows PC with XP. Even if she should get a new windows PC she'd have to get used to windows 7. Which in terms of getting used to a new OS isn't much different as getting used to OSX.

So I do have some questions on getting her started without much trouble.

Should I get her a trackpad instead of a magic mouse?
I figured the trackpad offers a different but more intuitive experience than a mouse. Also the position of her hand is different when holding a mouse.

She prefers large letters and icons. Is it a good idea to put the screen in a lower resolution so that everything seems bigger?
Or is it a good idea to enlarge the finder icons and text in Safari or any other internet browser?

Advice on settings or other things are much appreciated. I just want to set everything up for her so she can get by without much trouble.

Lots of questions. Let's go through them.

An iMac's a good starting point to enter the Mac world I've always thought. Big screen, powerful for the average consumer and all in one simplicity. Good idea.

Mouse v trackpad is a tough call for a grandparent who's moving from Windows. My Magic Mouse drives my mother crazy when she sits at my computer: she can't get over the fact that there's no scroll wheel and "funny things happen" when she swipes her fingers on it. lol. The Trackpad is even worse. She's used to Windows laptops and so wants to know how to click. I say press down slightly harder til you hear a distinct click sound. Then she asks "how do I right click?" "Click with 2 fingers Mum." It's hard to explain.

So I'd be inclined to get a universal style mouse with no touch gestures and a standard sort of scroll wheel. Simplicity wins every time.

I'd also advise you to stick with the standard resolution. When you get it go the Universal Access in System Preferences and have a fiddle about to change things as your grandma likes.

Hope some of that helps.