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[jay-ell]

So, Pedro's been trying to restore my mom's hard drive for a few days now, and we're pretty sure it's fried (possibly with motherboard damage as well).  It's a seven year old compaq and has very little in the way of useful parts -- no DVD burner, outdated graphics and sound cards, etc. -- and Mom has another computer at their summer home (an ancient Gateway they bought when I was in high school) that she wants to replace as well.  She wants one computer that she can transport easily back and forth so that she can have all her files in one place, and also to not have to buy two computers when only one gets used at any given time.  So it's looking like time for Ma to get a laptop.  She is farsighted and has trouble reading small text, so if she had a laptop it would have to have a very large, bright, high-resolution screen. 

Anyway, I'm looking for two kinds of suggestions here: First, what make/model/style do you think would suit Mom best?  (Requirements below; sorry, no Macs.)  Second, what software should we look into when we're setting up her new machine?  (see "how this machine will be used", below.)  She is, to use the old car analogy, a pretty good driver on familiar roads, as long as someone else changes the oil.  In other words, she's pretty proficient for a sixty year old lady. 

Hardware requirements:

- Compatible with specialized software for various craft and sewing machines ([ur=http://www.xyron.com/enUS/Products/Xyron_Wishblade.htmll]Wishblade[/url], Embroidery Machine, photo printer, etc.) -- so no Macs, unfortunately.  Prefers XP, but will take Vista
- Bright, large, high-res screen
- Large hard drive (what's large these days?  She has literally hundreds of 600+ dpi pics of her children and grandchildren that she uses for digital and manual scrapbooking, not to mention embroidery designs for her sewing machine.) 
- At least 4 USB ports, for the above-mentioned devices
- DVD burner
- Floppy drive (and unusual request, but her sewing machine accepts floppies)
- Bonus if it's a Dell; Pedro gets a discount there through his job. 
- And, of course, sufficient memory and graphics processing to facilitate light photo editing, word processing, web browsing, & other general-use types of activities. 

How this machine will be used:
- Digital manipulation of photos, mainly in Picasa (cropping, redye reduction, etc.)
- Storing, retrieving, and printing said photos
- Downloading, designing, and transferring embroidery patterns to her sewing machine
- Extensive web browsing & online shopping
- Occasional word processing
- Light gaming -- mainly arcade-style puzzle games like the many offerings at popcap.com. 

So, suggestions welcome, both in terms of affordability(we're looking at a max of around $1000) and function, hardware, software, and peripherals. 

Thoughts? 

[CortJstr]

Have you considered using a docking station? It sounds like she already has two sets of working monitors, keyboards, and mice. So that eliminates a lot of the cost. Plus most laptops that I'm familiar with top out at 3 USB ports, but a docking station will often add 2 or 3 more.

[jay-ell]

Yes, if that doesn't raise the total cost to a prohibitive level. 

[CortJstr]

Yes, if that doesn't raise the total cost to a prohibitive level. 

You can get away with a laptop that has a smaller screen if you plan on docking it to a big ol' monitor most of the time. Smaller LCDs are always lighter and generally cheaper. But then you'd either have to buy two docks or factor in the weight of carrying it back and forth as well. I remember VAIOs used to have these super tiny docks that weighed like half a pound, but the SOs curruent VAIO dock is like the size of the laptop.

But as I said, I'm not a laptop guy. I like a comically large tower that's easy to tinker with.