Advice on drawing tablets for nearly 80 year old

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arnprasad

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Hi all,

My mom is 77 yrs old and for her age, by gods grace, pretty healthy and active. Although she is a traditional South Indian, who would rather not spend but invest that money in FDs to earn interest, I have made sure I get her the basics for today's life even if she prefers to save that money like a mobile phone for the last 10-12 years.

She spends a lot of time on her mobile - mostly on youtube food videos and also anything that comes on whatsapp. She being an ex-teacher and a very curious person, loves new knowledge/information and while she does occasionally go to wikipedia - for her to use a computer to use wikipedia is pretty tedious and wikipedia on a 6 inch mobile phone is not that good either. The other area she has interest but doesnt like spending any money - is painting. Ten years back I brought her a proper painting kit - stand, professional paper, pallette, brush..etc. She never got around to use it as she felt using it means she has to buy the variables again :) and I ended up donating it someone in family who was into arts!!

Anyways after the long intro on how difficult it is to buy things to elderly folks - I wanted to get her a 10 inch tablet as it is big enough for her to read wikipedia comfortably and also watch youtube. I have few 10 inch fire HD tablets and I have tried to use a digital pen to paint on it but its not practical. While browing for 10 inch tablets - I came across this category of "drawing tablets" which are pretty affordable as they are less than 10K and have 4.5+ reviews on Amazon like the one below:






Given the above has to be connected to a computer - you think someone her age will be able to use it for timepass drawing? anyone on this forum used these type of tablets?

My only other option is to buy a costly Samsung tablet with S pen or an ipad.......once she gets to know its price..she will straight away put it in her locker as she will think she might break it while using!!!! hence trying low cost options .

I have a desktop connected to a 65 inch TV apart from laptops and other desktops. So with a 15-20 feet USB cable...she can comfortably use this while watching her work on the large TV.

If any of you have experience - do let me know if you have any specific models in mind - she is not a professional painter - this is purely for time pass kind of drawing - I cant think of any thing else to gift her which is practical.
 
Last edited:
I would suggest an iPad Mini with a rugged silicone case. And an Apple pencil
I know that not the cheapest solution but apples has the best apps.
 
arnprasad said:
Hi all,

My mom is 77 yrs old and for her age, by gods grace, pretty healthy and active. Although she is a traditional South Indian, who would rather not spend but invest that money in FDs to earn interest, I have made sure I get her the basics for today's life even if she prefers to save that money like a mobile phone for the last 10-12 years.

She spends a lot of time on her mobile - mostly on youtube food videos and also anything that comes on whatsapp. She being an ex-teacher and a very curious person, loves new knowledge/information and while she does occasionally go to wikipedia - for her to use a computer to use wikipedia is pretty tedious and wikipedia on a 6 inch mobile phone is not that good either. The other area she has interest but doesnt like spending any money - is painting. Ten years back I brought her a proper painting kit - stand, professional paper, pallette, brush..etc. She never got around to use it as she felt using it means she has to buy the variables again :) and I ended up donating it someone in family who was into arts!!

Anyways after the long intro on how difficult it is to buy things to elderly folks - I wanted to get her a 10 inch tablet as it is big enough for her to read wikipedia comfortably and also watch youtube. I have few 10 inch fire HD tablets and I have tried to use a digital pen to paint on it but its not practical. While browing for 10 inch tablets - I came across this category of "drawing tablets" which are pretty affordable as they are less than 10K and have 4.5+ reviews on Amazon like the one below:






Given the above has to be connected to a computer - you think someone her age will be able to use it for timepass drawing? anyone on this forum used these type of tablets?

My only other option is to buy a costly Samsung tablet with S pen or an ipad.......once she gets to know its price..she will straight away put it in her locker as she will think she might break it while using!!!! hence trying low cost options .

I have a desktop connected to a 65 inch TV apart from laptops and other desktops. So with a 15-20 feet USB cable...she can comfortably use this while watching her work on the large TV.

If any of you have experience - do let me know if you have any specific models in mind - she is not a professional painter - this is purely for time pass kind of drawing - I cant think of any thing else to gift her which is practical.
Click to expand...
You can try getting the Wacom or Bamboo. We have used both at work and they are quite good for the price paid. I am sure there may be more good brands, but pls get a tablet/stylus which has got good sensitivity/variable pressure. It is useful for the intensity of shading (dark/light) as per stylus pressure while using paint packages like Photoshop etc.
These will connect to your PC or laptop.
 
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I would recommend getting an android tablet for her so that you can sideload apps as needed and she doesn't have to bother with os and connectivity restrictions

Samsung screens and inbuilt integration is the best in the industry
 
 
Hi,

It’s a great idea to get your mother a tablet.

I have some experience in this with my mother who is 82 and uses an iPad.
As she was used to an iPhone for a few years she felt comfortable getting used to the iPad OS. (If your mother used an android phone a android tablet might be a easier transition. But not to underestimate our elders. They surprise us often.
(Just need to make sure we have the Apple ID, passwords etc written down, as these get forgotten)
The iPad with accessibility features (large text size etc) is working well for her.
Models with pencil/stylus would definitely be good for your mother as she loves painting. The Procreate app on IOS is fantastic (?800/- or so) but there are several good free apps (sketchbook, adobe sketch etc) paid versions allow saving, exporting, printing and more options.
A cover with a stand or a floor stand with articulated clamp to hold the iPad is also useful (as she finds it difficult to hold it for more than a few minutes, specially while watching YouTube videos).
Oh, Solitaire and candy crush type games can help overcome the “lock it up” instinct…
 
Thanks everyone. After I got her the drawing tablet forgot to revisit this thread. As expected, she did start to draw and I over complicated it by showing her professional digital painting youtube videos and it got a little difficult and finally daily chores and some travel ensured it was packed and kept inside. With kids having summer holidays now, I will restart the whole experience again.

My mom does use her Android phone a lot - particularly to watch youtube videos and whatsapp. She also has the realme tab for larger viewing experience.

The drawing tablet I bought was (for wifi reasons which I dont use that often) - https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08YFFB6XQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
If budget is not an issue, iPadPro with Paperlike screen protector and Apple Pencil could be a great option. Pro because ProMotion makes reading very easy on the eyes. The Pencil along with Paperlike protector makes drawing experience closer to pen and pencil/brush, and you have the best art apps in the store. Also, in general the iOS is more intuitive.

Or else you can split the usage between Graphics tablet and entry level iPad if drawing is a serious activity for her. But that would mean two gadgets and a learning curve for the graphics tablet.
 
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xewecan said:
I'm tempted to buy a graphics tablet, and I'd like to ask, which tablet to take, I have no experience at all, I wouldn't want to take one of little value anyway. my dream would be Wacom's Cintiq 16, but it's too expensive for me :( are there other brands that are equally valid and less expensive? I heard of Huion, but I don't know if I can trust totally because of my ignorance. What graphics tablet do you have, is it good for you? which would be better to take for my drawing style?
Click to expand...
Have you searched about iPad pro?
 
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