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IPad gift for elderly interstate parents.

upnorth

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Hello all, I apologise if this is a common thread and already answered. I am not that computer savvy.

I would like to buy my elderly ( interstate ) parents an Ipad. Xmas present. Keep their minds active.

Main tasks would be Skype (video calling ) to keep in contact with children and grandkids, internet browsing,

ebook and other simple tasks. If I purchase one and set it up here QLD., and send it down to them ( Vic ) can they keep the

Ipad updated through my I Tunes Acc. I will be covering the internet usage fees ( pre-paid ).

My father has a basic desk top, in a study. Not apple. I like the idea of them having a tablet in the lounge at the ready.

To summarise - Is an Ipad practical ( user friendly ) for them as stand alone unit.

Once set up how hard to keep it updated and backed up. ( without another mac in the house. )

Alternatives - macbook air 11 inch. or android tablet.

Thanks for any help or suggestions. Johnny B.
 
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goofy8275

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I am truly sorry, but unfortunately, I cannot help you with this. However, I assure you that one (or more) of our friendly, informed, helpful members will come along and help you out soon enough. In the meantime, it's about time I properly greeted you.

Bonjour, bienvenue sur le forum! (Hello, and welcome to the forum!)

The iPad Forums (called iPF for short) is the largest online forum dedicated to the revolutionary piece of technology that is the iPad. This forum, as you way expect, contains a wealth of information that is at your fingertips. This is the reason why the search tool can be your best friend, as there is a wealth of information spread across a variety of threads. It is likely that you will find a thread containing an answer to your question, but if not, then by all means, post your question. Be sure that your are in the correct section before doing so, by selecting the Forum index button and selecting the forum that your query falls into (most likely iPad Help) before clicking the New Thread button. Since we have a community full of friendly, helpful members that are only too willing to help, your issue should be solved in no time! It is likely that there are others who have the same problem, but have not posted a thread on it, and you will all benefit from the information gained, plus others in the community who always love to learn more about the iPad. Don't feel that you're the only noob and everyone else knows more; we have plenty of new members who are learning about the iPad quickly, thanks to the online community known as iPad Forums.

We have our own app for the iOS operating system; it is very easy to navigate and is a great way to harness the power of iPF on your iPad. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discu...412896524?mt=8
We are hoping to get an app for your computer sometime in the future; for now, visit this site on your computer.
iPad Forum
A great place to start is the Apple iPad manual. Please get a copy of this and read it prior to posting your question.
Apple - Support - Manuals
We have a few threads here that you can greatly benefit from if you are interested in learning tips, tricks, and shortcuts for the iPad. If you have read through the three following threads and know of a tip/trick/shortcut that is not mentioned on them, feel free to add it!
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/21590-tips-tricks-those-us-who-dont-know.html
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-os/49581-ios5-tips-tricks.html
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-help...shortcuts-helpful-places-people-new-ipad.html
Like any online community, we do have rules. Please read them through before making any further posts. http://www.ipadforums.net/forum-rul...um-rules-everybody-please-read.html#post14697
Also, for your iPhone-related questions/comments/tips/etc., please check out our sister site, iPhone Forums.
iPhone Forum
You should feel right at home there, as the website has the same interface, and you will find that many of the administrators, moderators, and members from iPad Forums are also on iPhone Forums. Mainly the same rules apply cross-website, but please read them as well. Visit the iPhone Forum website for more information.

Encore une fois, nous vous souhaitons la bienvenue et sommes très heureux que vous nous avez rejoint! (Once again, we welcome you here and are so pleased you have joined us!)
Keeping all of this information (and the community rules) in mind, please enjoy the forum; we love having new members to contribute to this wonderful community and database of information. Remember, the three objectives are to help others out/learn something new, enjoy the forum, and HAVE FUN!

We really appreciate you joining us. Our most benevolent thanks go to you.

Sincerely yours/Best regards,
Goofy
 

leelai

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Hi and welcome to the Forum!

What a wonderful idea......yes I think they'll love it and find it easy to use, we have many older members enjoying their iPads here....once it is set up for them all updates are now being done OTA (Over the air) and they can use iCloud for backups. Do they have wifi though? If they have a pc I'm thinking they would have. Make sure you have our App downloaded for them, if they run into troubles, we can help them here. ;). You never know they may enjoy it so much, you'll have to buy them 1 each!
I've moved your thread to our Help Section where more members will see this thread and have suggestions for you.
 

skimonkey

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Hi upnorth...

Recently, we bought iPads for both of my parents. We set up their apple Id accounts so they had their own and they can buy apps to their liking. We have not set iCloud since they use their iPad mainly for web surfing, reading books and also playing their games. As Leelai stated the OTA is a wonderful asset to have. We have been successfully updating both iPads from 5.0 to 5.1.1 and than again to ios 6. No issues whatsoever. We love it they love it!! :)

Hope that helps!
 

KaitlynnTyo

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Just make sure to teach them everything they will need to know.. maybe write it down for them at first. Pre-install appropriate apps for them and disable the marketplace afterwards.
 
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upnorth

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thanks

thanks leelai, skimonkey & kaitlynnTyo ,

that information makes me feel comfortable to proceed with a purchase. My father enjoys the new

technology available now but mum is taking a little longer to become interested. I am hoping an Ipad

will encourage her to dabble a little more. I have a young nephew living near them and he has been waiting

all year for his first laptop. Macbook Pro. I am sure he would love to go around and help them out. I will

direct them to this site. It seems there is great online community out there willing to pass on valuable information.

Should I wait till closer to Christmas to purchase? Do you believe there will be any upgrades, ( software or hardware )

between now and christmas ? ummm just one other thing, both parents are avid readers, what would be the best way for

them to access a diverse range of reading material ? Free and pay for view. I could google the questions but I find information

from people with have actually had some experience in these matters more valuable.

Thanks again for the help so far. Johnny B. Sunny Cairns.
 

leelai

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I think the iPad is just the device to get your mum more involved in technology, it's really so simple to use. Having your nephew nearby is a plus also and I'm sure he'll like a play on an iPad too and of course this site, where they will find many members here only too willing to walk them through any problems they are having. They may even like to join in the chat in our Off Topic threads.

iPads in the past have always been released March/April, but there are rumors that an iPad mini may be released as early as next month but only time will tell on this. We don't know much about this new device as yet or what features it may have compared to an iPad. As far as updates for the iPad itself, these can all be done over the air now and it's as easy as pressing a couple of tabs and it will update itself in a short period of time.

You will find many Book apps, you should download iBooks for a start, it's free and they can also save PDF's here. Kindle is also a great app, also free but you will need to register at Amazon Kindle on the net for an account. I will attach a link about this below. Goodreads is also a great site and they can input their preferences on different books and receive weekly emails on books they may be interested in, they have a large selection of free books too. Books can vary in price between companies also, so just tell them to compare. Hope all this helps you and let us know if you have any more questions.
http://www.ipadforums.net/new-member-introductions-site-assistance/57934-ipad-kindle-help.html

Oh and I'm from Brisbane! Although not too sunny today!
 
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upnorth

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thanks again.

thanks again leelai,

that is very helpful advice. You are right upgrades/ new models is continuous so i will jump in now and try

and find a good deal. Do you recommend any accessories. I was looking at the magnetic covers.

I will check out those book apps and kindle. Sounds interesting.

Thanks Johnny B. p.s. I dont visit Brissie much but family down south have a holiday unit at Redcliffe

to escape the southern winter.
 

Bennettb

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Hi upnorth, I'm an elderly parent (74 years, 4 grown kids) and I love my iPad.i love email, Facebook (seeing pics of my grandchildren), borrowing books from my library on line, searching for information or something else I need, and best of all I am enthralled with the fact that there are people from all over the world on the forum. I bet they will love having an iPad and if they have problems they can do what I do. Ask a 2 year old.

Bobbi
 

leelai

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upnorth said:
thanks again leelai,

that is very helpful advice. You are right upgrades/ new models is continuous so i will jump in now and try

and find a good deal. Do you recommend any accessories. I was looking at the magnetic covers.

I will check out those book apps and kindle. Sounds interesting.

Thanks Johnny B. p.s. I dont visit Brissie much but family down south have a holiday unit at Redcliffe

to escape the southern winter.

I have a magnetic cover and a clip on clear cover on the back. Very simple and it doesn't bulk out the iPad. Although if I were to drop my iPad, it doesn't provide much protection. (touch wood) I also have a leather envelope type satchel for when I travel. We have many threads on this type of thing and it really is a personal choice. Do they use a camera? A camera connection kit is great for downloading photos from a camera to your iPad. I'll include a link on some accessories, as you'll see there are many!
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-accessories/67676-official-ipad-3-accessories-thread.html
 

wench

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Hi All,

I know I am visiting an older thread but this is what came up in my search.
My dad 83yrs has decided he wants an Ipad. Almost bought him one for Christmas. He is looking at an ipad 4, 16GB wi fi only, I suggested the Ipad 2 yet he feels like it is buying a 1998 Chevy compared to a 2013 BMW. He wants me to pick out his Ipad, so I told him I would do some research with you all. 3G is not an issue because they do not leave the house that much, (sorry to say),. I do think he would like the Siri function on the 4, just yesterday I showed him how to hit the mike on Google and he cracked me up, asking questions like it was Siri.
Anyway, any help in directing him would be appreciated.
P.S. should I jailbreak him on the sly?
Thank you all
The Wench
 

skimonkey

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Hi All,

I know I am visiting an older thread but this is what came up in my search.
My dad 83yrs has decided he wants an Ipad. Almost bought him one for Christmas. He is looking at an ipad 4, 16GB wi fi only, I suggested the Ipad 2 yet he feels like it is buying a 1998 Chevy compared to a 2013 BMW. He wants me to pick out his Ipad, so I told him I would do some research with you all. 3G is not an issue because they do not leave the house that much, (sorry to say),. I do think he would like the Siri function on the 4, just yesterday I showed him how to hit the mike on Google and he cracked me up, asking questions like it was Siri.
Anyway, any help in directing him would be appreciated.
P.S. should I jailbreak him on the sly?
Thank you all
The Wench

I think that's great that your dad wants an iPad! That's wonderful. I'd say, let him pick his iPad and agree with him to go with the current iPad that is out. I'm not sure about why you would want to jailbreak his device-unless he wants it. Since it is his device and he will need to learn how to use it, keep it simple and keep it in stock form.
 

wench

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I think that's great that your dad wants an iPad! That's wonderful. I'd say, let him pick his iPad and agree with him to go with the current iPad that is out. I'm not sure about why you would want to jailbreak his device-unless he wants it. Since it is his device and he will need to learn how to use it, keep it simple and keep it in stock form.

Thank you, that is what I was thinking in the beginning. Do not want to complicate more things for him
 

skimonkey

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Thank you, that is what I was thinking in the beginning. Do not want to complicate more things for him

You're very welcome, Wench! Let us know how your dad likes/loves his iPad! Both my parents are in their mid-70's and absolutely love their iPads! My mom couldn't part with her iPad for any given time for my dad to use it...so we ended up getting one for him! They both love it for many things. It truly has opened up a new world for them! :)
 

wench

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Thank you, that is what I was thinking in the beginning. Do not want to complicate more things for him

On top of that,,he is always pushing buttons and goofing up his pc. He is doing better off on my I pad, can't mess it up so much, thanks for the input, gonna go get his Ipad 4 on Monday.
Thank you again!
 

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