Our departure is finally getting close, so my thoughts are turning to the details, one of which is how we can get my OH's 104 yr old grandad on to skype!
This isn't as daft as it sounds - he still lives on his own, and is still very mentally sharp. I suggested the idea to him when we saw him at Xmas and he seemed quite keen. However, obviously this is not an easy thing to sort out. I'm hoping one of his neighbours has wi-fi that he can use on the rare occasions he uses it, but the main issue is the technology. My OH's aunt goes to see him regularly, and despite being over 70 herself is quite tech savvy, so she could be on hand to set things up.

I was thinking the best option might be a tablet. Something as cheap as possible, as it's going to be used for nothing but Skype. Does anyone have any experience of sorting this type of thing out with friends/family, particularly older relatives?? I'd really love to make it work - grandad emigrated to Canada himself in 1928, but although his brothers stayed out there he had to come back to look after family affairs at home. (He can still remember all this vividly, he's told some great stories!) So anyway I'd *love*to get him closer to the emigration process than just letters and photos.... I'd love to be able to show him where we live etc.

Any thoughts?

A netbook might be a cheaper option and most have a camera built in.

The simple way, but not cheapest, would be to use Blackberry Playbooks. The Playbooks has a PIN code and if you input one into the other, then the thing will call up the second book, as long as you have wifi. Both have front facing cameras for video to video calls.

How about just a smartphone?

How about a kindle fire? £129, light, portable and easy to set up

I would just get a Skype Phone. These things look and feel just like a regular phone, but connect to Skype via wireless internet.

A concept that will be much more familiar to an 104yo than a tablet or Kindle.

Just Google for 'skype phone'. Skype has a few for sale through their website.

We got my 80 year old Mother in Law a Skype Phone for Christmas. We had a family member set it up for her and she uses that just fine, and she's a complete technophobe!

thanks for the suggestions everyone

the blackberry playbook looks interesting, but it's a bit of an outlay to buy 2!

the netbook sounds possible, I hadn't thought about that.... good point about the camera being built in.

A smartphone isn't really feasible - the screen is small and the buttons would be too fiddly, plus it would be quite expensive to buy a decent one on pay as you go - net connection could be pricey.

Kindle fire... didn't consider that either! The screen's a wee bit small, but it's quite a good price.

The skype phone... if it's just like a regular phone then it's not really what I'm after. I don't mind setting up a skype account to get cheap UK calls and use that, it was really the idea of being able to show him, in real time, where we live and what it's like. So something video rather than phone-based!

I did a bit of googling and there seem to be a lot of very cheap android tablets out there, but I guess you probably get what you pay for?
http://www.game.co.uk/en/busbi-7-mob...ue1=4294963444

http://www.game.co.uk/en/dgm-t-909-t...ue1=4294963444

I guess I'm going to have to take the plunge and talk to some sales people!

Having used a playbook for the last six months to talk to my son in the UK i have found it to be easy peesy lemon squeezy. We just press call and we chat while he cooks tea or is watching TV, my OH even watched that im a has bean get me outa here jungle garbage via her Playbook pointing at the UK TV...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BlackBerry-P.../dp/B004UL34EY

This won't happen without somebody else 'driving' the device, unless the 104yo in question has Einstein-like abilities.

hehe no he definitely wouldn't be operating it on his own! My OH's aunt is fairly tech-savvy and spends a lot of time with her dad (OH's grandad) so she'd be the one setting it up

I help out with a computer course at the local library and find that some older people just don't have the feeling in their finger tips to use touch screen effectively. They can ofcourse use the pen but I think a netbook would be better for this and so simple to do

How is his hearing? Does he use the phone much anyway?

You do not need 'Wi-Fi' do gain access to your skype account, 3G will do!

For example, I have a Nokia E51, to which I added the s60 Symbian version of Skype. My service provider does not block the access to Skype, (some other providers do)...

I top up my PAYG credit at 20quid a month and for this I get not only the 20quid credit, but also unlimited data for the next 30 days.
If I want to call someone in another country via Skype, I just launch Skype on my E51, log in, select contact, call...voila!!!, via a 3G connection...(or wi-fi if there's one around).

If I wish to use Skype via my computer, then that's fine too because I have the computer synced to the phone via bluetooth...therefore the free data I get with he 20quid top-up is usable not only for the Skype installed on my computer but also to browse the web via the computer...which is exactly what I'm doing at this moment. Thus I have eliminated the extra 25quid per month I was paying for PAYG internet access via my usb dongle.

And the Nokia E51 isn't even a smartphone!!, go on, laugh at me you iphone muppets!, this won't work with your 'alleged' smartphone because it will allow your provider to know you're breaking the T&Cs