OTish: considerations for new TV for elderly mother

[jkn]

Hi a bit OT I confess, but I know quite a few here have elderly parents... I'm thinking of buying my 80-year old mother a 'slimline' (as she calls them ;-) LCD TV to replace her old CRT one.

The replacement will be relatively small (22-inch or so), but since I'm doing the purchase/delivery remotely I'd like to get it right. I am thinking that her (unstated, as yet) criteria might be a bit different to most purchasers.

so specifically: - are there any models with specifically large/accessible buttons? - are there any with remote controls easy to use by the elderly? - anything else that I might take into consideration?

Thanks for any thoughts

Jon N

[Davey]

I can't help with answers, but you might get more views by moving to uk.tech.digital-tv

[dennis]

Are you sure you want a small one? Eyesight gets worse with age and pep[le go deaf so a big screen with subtitles is better for many.

Adli had some big button remotes a few weeks back, like 12" x 5".

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A 22" widescreen will have a (subjectively) smaller picture than just about any recent CRT set.

You need a 24" to roughly match a 21" 4:3 CRT.

[Bill Wright]

I should push her towards getting a bigger screen than she thinks she wants. My experience of this situation is considerable, by the way.

When she gets the telly make sure she uses HD. It's an odd thing but HD seems to help people with poor vision.

Bill

[Chris Hogg]

Like others have said, get it bigger than you/she think is needed. Over the years, we've bought progressively larger TV's for my elderly mother (94). We are happy to take the discards! Also think about the sound quality. We actually got a sound bar with her last telly (it was a package), but the bar had it's own remote, and she got confused by the whole thing so we removed it. Bear in mind also that in reality, she might only watch two or three channels in total, rather than the whole gamut of channels available. Might be worth setting up a 'favourites' list for her so that she doesn't have to remember which individual channels numbers or button sequence to press, but a simple ascending sequence. HD channels can be included here, which would seem a good idea although we haven't actually done that for mum.

[Brian Gaff]

Well, how are her eyes? If you go to a bigger more up market Panasonic you can now get them that talk to you so if you do press the wrong remote button you can hear it. Panasonic remotes are far easier than Sony or Samsung ones for older people it is claimed.

Also, you can of course get big button remotes that can be programmed for the most used functions of most appliances these days i notice, in much the same way ou can get big button phones.

Brian

[Robin]

Another recommendation to go for a (much) bigger screen for viewing (espec. captions) and hearing.

It can be v hard when people resist a TV they think will dominate the room. But I can't recommend from a sample of only one the tactic of getting the (cough) wrong one delivered just before Xmas and explaining they can't swap it for a smaller one until after the New Year holiday.

[Adrian Caspersz]

This one.

Apart from quality of speakers, I'd guess most of these at that size would not really have much discerning relevant features other than already mentioned.

[harryagain]

Look out for power consumption. There are massive differences. Factor of four in some cases) Makes a big difference if it is on for long periods.

Virtually no TVs have any buttons, it's all done with the remote. I have seen after market remotes with big buttons. More inportant to have raised (not flush) buttons I think.

You might be better with a wall bracket, saves having to move for cleaning etc. Available fixed or swivelling.

You can get TVs with built in Freesat and Freeview. Also TV on demand, and pay TV. Some needs internet connection.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Any TV today without FreeView is likely to be a very old model. As without FreeView, it is no longer a TV as most would think of one.

[jkn]

Hi All thanks for all the comments. I had already planned to get a slightly bi gger screen than her current one (21" IIRC), but I take the points about (a ) aspect ratio, and (b) a bigger one being better anyway for visibility pur poses etc. She has cataracts and I suspect sees less than she lets on...

I had more-or-less planned on getting a custom remote with large keys; as h as been suggested she pretty much watches only 1, 2, 3, 4, ...

She doesn't want one on an arm, screwed to the wall (a pity).

I'll take a look at the Panasonics etc. for the remotes. It's a pain I have to do some of this remotely, she is quite likely to take 'agin' anything t hat is presented to her! ;-/

I may also post in uk.tech.digital-tv, thanks for the suggestion Davey.

Cheers jon N

[dennis]

So its a 50" minimum then!

[Clive Page]

Well I don't know about the other brands as we use a Panasonic ourselves, but I got my elderly father a Panasonic too and he doesn't find it at all easy to use the remote. It has to be aimed rather accurately at the sensor on the TV, and the buttons have to be depressed for a certain amount of time, not too rapidly but not held down too long (or you get auto-repeats in some cases) and he doesn't seem to find it easy to get the duration right. It may be that the other brands are even worse, but I wouldn't bank on it without testing them e.g. in a shop (if suitable shops still exist).

That seems a good idea, but worth checking that the popular brands of big-button remotes will actually work with the brand and model of TV that you select.

And I'd also support the suggestion of getting a much larger screen than you think is required.

[The Natural Philosopher]

+1. Not a good remote at all. Sony not much better.

Think LG is the best i've seen to date...

is a good place to look at different models of remote control

The other thing I go for these days is the ability to edit the humongous list of programs down to a manageable set you actually use. Panasonic and sony seem better at this.

Then if hard of hearing is an issue, how easy is the subtitle button to find?

A quite afternoon in a store that lest you fiddle is indicated...

+1 to ALL of that..

[Davey]

Agreed. I have a Toshiba and a Samsung. To switch the subtitles on or off on the Samsung requires:

1. Press Subtitle button.
2. Press > button.
3. Press 'up' or 'down' button.
4. Press Subtitle button. Note that each step requires a different button to be pressed.

The Toshiba requires:

1. Press Subtitle button.
2. Press Subtitle button again.

That's it. The Humax PVR is the same as the Toshiba.

[Chris French]

In message , Davey writes

Yeah our Samsung has an annoying number of button presses.

Not actually a problem for us as we don't really use subtitles much (and don't watch much broadcast TV anyway). but it would be annoying if I did.

It is also very fussy about the direction of the remote. It's a 51" TV and from across the room (say 4m - 5m) you have to very deliberately point it towards the bottom left corner. Even after over 2 years it can catch us out.

Our old Sony remote could be pointed in pretty much any direction and it would work.

and yes, another vote for bigger than you think. not only the issue of different screen ratio, but modern TV's are a lot less bulky and so don't have quite the same physical presence in the room.

[Martin Brown]

OK. But beware of change and don't throw out the old one until she is really comfortable with the new one. Same make, larger size and same remote has been my solution to this upgrade conundrum. We got my parents slightly larger sets as their eyesight gradually declined.

Why so small? Is her room tiny or does she really not want a larger set?

I wouldn't consider anything less than 32" to allow space for subtitles and declining visual acuity. My mum can't read the program details on anything smaller (in fact she needs a pair of 2x magnifying glasses to read them at all now on her 37" set) so HD is obviously pointless.

You can get aftermarket remotes with bigger buttons.

One by the same maker as their existing set.

22" is awfully small unless it is for a bedroom and very close to her.

[Chris Hogg]

Just to follow up on that, was over at mum's today, and the telly we bought her most recently was a 42" Samsung, model UE42F5000. She's very happy with it.

[Capitol]

Go for 32", remember that you are going from 4 x 3 to 16 x 9 sometimes, so the height of the picture is greatly reduced. I made the 22" mistake a few years back and gave it away.