This would be for my 70-something year old father-in-law. He specified that he wants to be able to check his stock prices and compute the value of his portfolio from time to time in a spreadsheet. Yes, I'm very aware that there are apps and other simple electronic ways to do this without using a spreadsheet. He's old-school and wants to do it himself and I don't feel like arguing with him. He might also want to check email from time to time and read a newspaper or periodical.

My mother-in-law has a notebook that he swears is all screwed up from misuse, so something that he can't easily foul up with spyware or viruses would probably be good, hence my question about the iPad. But the lack of a standard keyboard might be bad. He only has vision out of one eye and I don't know how comfortable he'd be using a touch screen keyboard.

So, FT techo-experts, what recommendations do you have? Oh, and he's pretty cheap, too, so dropping more than $400-$500 on this will be a non-starter.

Netbook for sure. He will be frustrated with the lack of keyboard on the iPad.

Get a Netbook with Windows 7 on it, make him a limited user, and it will be next to impossible to get malware on the computer.

I'll take the other side here and say DEFINITELY ipad. I do all this with my ipad and don't really miss the keyboard much at all. Runs better, longer, faster and doesn't have any software update headaches

Yea but trying being 70 years old, try to update an Excel spreadsheet on the iPad, while trying to copy and paste data from the financial websites / software. That'll drive even me mad, and I'm even close to 70.

A keyboard is the way to go for sure.

I'd show him something like CBS Marketwatch app or ETrade and show him how easy it is for him to track his portfolio on the iPad.

I have an ipad but I'd say go for the netbook because copying and pasting data on the ipad is a pain in the dirties for me and I have 20/20 vision.

Sometimes the text to be copied and the cursor appear under my finger and I cannot see it, it is fiddly. Sometimes the data refuses to be copied.

Plus, I think the ipad has some caching issues, say you want to copy 3 different bits of text from one website then you go back to it and it often needs to reload itself again.

Netbook for sure. Tablets are much more of a "novelty" item that you can't really do any real work on. If you want to just browse the web and watch some videos, get a tablet (I'd suggest an Android rather than the iPad), if he wants to edit anything then go for a netbook.

Lenovo X210 (New version X220) with touchscreen. Mine is i7 plus 8G /256G SS. best of both world.

I confess to leaning this way from the beginning, but didn't want to sound biased. How do you feel about the iPad not running Flash sites? How much is that an issue?

Yeah, that's what I would do, too, but, like I said in the OP, he's old-school and will want to do it himself. It was one of the first things he told me when laying out his specs.

Cost, please?

Edit: Holy smokes! I guess you missed the part where I said spending more than $400 to $500 is a non-starter. Looks like the most basic X220 will set him back in the ballpark of $850! Thanks, but this isn't gonna work.

What I'm trying to say is that if you show him, rather than tell him, what he can do with these apps, he may come around. If he was really old-school he'd be using a slide rule and checking a ticker tape. He's obviously graduated to the world of using computers so helping him see how powerful and easy these tools are may do the trick. You can always get him an iPad and a BT keyboard.

An onscreen keyboard without depth perception just sounds miserable.

this is not difficult to do, with say numbers and a web browser. Granted, copying from a web browser, is never too easy even on a desktop, but on the ipad it is just as easy. The two will persist just fine,

but why not just help and build him an auto updating spreadsheet.

trust me, the removal of the system and OS headache will overcome any UI or having to use an onscreen keyboard learning curve. Also, simply buy a bluetooth keyboard if one has to do a LOT of data entry.

I can only speak for MY 77 year old dad, (and 72 and 78 year old PIL) and the adoption has been as seamless as I could ever want. The entire group CONTINUES to ask/call/need help with their respective OS (mac AND PC) systems, but I get hardly a call about how to use, how to do something with the ipad - except for things like "I wish I could do X is there a way" to which I am usually happy to say "absolutely."

oh man, this is just so not true. I update documents, spreadsheets, powerpoints, databases, attend and contribute to live video conferences, use it to update several salesforce instances, use it as a secondary monitor, not to mention all the media consumption that is is used for. Movies, slingbox, live streaming video, netflix.

As well, it is simply the BEST way to consume a newspaper like the wsj and magazines bar none.