I'm looking for a laptop for my mom who has zero knowledge about computers-- the main purpose is for her to use it to communicate with her children and grandchildren through chatting, VOIP, webcams and the like. She's staying at her patient's house most of the time so she needs wireless internet service. What she hopes to get is a laptop that's ultra user friendly: a laptop that she'll just have to flip open, instantly connects to the internet, and will just allow her to click at the icons on her screen and communicate. She doesn't care much for any other feature that a laptop might have. So what's the best laptop in the market right now that fits my mom's criteria and brings the most bang for the buck? Follow up: most, actually all answers, recommended an apple macbook. are there other brands or choices so at least we can shop around?:-)

APPLE.

get a macbook. albeit pricey, she doesn't have to worry about anything else. no virus concerns so she doesn't have to install an anti virus program & the dock on macs screen makes it point & click easy.

Definitely the Apple Macbook! Simplest laptop there is. Most user friendly, fewer problems, no viruses! Check out the refurbished ones at the Apple Store - Special deals section. She can save a couple hundred bucks.

Glad to see there are a bunch of "cool" Apple folks here. I have to agree, Apple is the best choice for someone new to computers. The interface is so much more user friendly than Windows, the hardware seems to last forever, the laptops now come with a built in web cam and the iChat program couldn't be any easier. You can set the preferences to automatically get on-line no matter what network it's seeing. (If the network has a password, she'll have to enter that the first time she logs on, but that would be true with any computer.) One of the Mac Books is what I'd recommend. I'd do some looking on Craigslist to find a good deal on a used one. I'd also look for system 10.4 as opposed to 10.5 just because we've found a few glitches with 10.5 since it's so new. 10.4 is very stable and most used machines you'll find, will probably be version 10.4. If you do run in to any problems, Apple has a great support forum where you can ask questions, get answers and learn what others are doing with their Macs. I'm a grandma myself, but with a lot of computer experience. I wouldn't even think of ever buying a PC for myself, my kids, or my grandkids.