I use to get this from friends and family.
"The computer takes 10 minutes to start up."
"The printer won't print"
"I think I have a virus."
"How do I look at the photos you sent me?"
"I can't find the file I downloaded."
"I think I have a virus."
My advice: Forget the traditional Windows-powered desktop or laptop. It's overkill, especially considering the relatively modest needs of some users, and modern PCs are still fraught with the kinds of issues identified above.
Consider what some need or want from a computer. Email. Web access. Facebook and YouTube. Maybe a simple word processor.
You know what some don't need? Drivers. Viruses and malware. Blue Screens of Death. And all the little idiosyncrasies that plague Windows users, novice and expert alike. (Examples? The sign-in screen. File associations. Windows updates. And don't get me started on Settings vs. Control Panel.)
OK, boot times tend to be shorter, especially if the system has a solid-state drive instead of a hard drive, but Windows always gets slower over time. Always.
All this adds up to my recommendation: Instead of steering some to a new PC, steer them to a Chromebook or a tablet and keyboard.
The Chromebook option
These are the advantages:
They boot quickly.
They're effectively impervious to viruses (though not phishing).
Generally speaking, they're very inexpensive -- usually anywhere from $200-400 depending on size and features.
Voice commands: You can say "OK, Google" from the launcher to invoke Google's voice-powered assistant.
Tight integration with everything Google: Gmail, Drive, Calendar and so on. That means any document created in, say, Google Docs is automatically archived to Drive. It's like full-time, automatic backup for nearly everything the user does.
I need a PC and a Chromebook. 99% of the time I use the Chromebook but the PC is like an old pick-up truck that is nice to have around just in case. I don't write very well so I borrowed the above from C/Net and took some liberties deleting patronizing language.
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