With poor Wifi (2.5 Mbps--rural area), what spec's are most important laptop spec's to get good video & internet streaming?

[page_1]

Hi. I am getting a laptop for an elderly friend who has a very slow internet WIFI connection--2.5 Mbps.

She loves to stream videos and watches livestreaming classes on the internet. She also does some typing in Word and a bit of Excel. Lots of email. She doesn't save much to the computer. She usually sits at her desk to use it.

Her current system is slow & choppy...awful actually...and really old. Max spend is around $300.

This is 2018. Looking at an i3 with 4G RAM and at least 128 G HD. A DVD writer would be nice but not necessary. 13-15" screen. Does she need a dedicated graphics card or more RAM?

With such a terrible WIFI, what spec's are most important to get good video and streaming? Thank you so much!

 

[smorizio]

with low end laptops that use intel or amd ipgpu you need to add more ram. some of the system ram is used for video ram. look online and ask local senior center see if there any non profits that give pc for older people. you may be able to get a newer pc for free or low cost. another thing to look at is newegg/micro centerr/dell outlet and hp outlet when there clearing out older pc or refurbed units. next year or so keep an eye out for 5g hot spots if they pop up in your area. there going to start rolling out 5g soon.

 

[ryzenlover2017]

Maybe a Chromebook... For 200 dollars you can get a pretty solid Chromebook for web browsing and video watching.

 

[hang-the-9]

When you say WiFi, do you actually mean WiFi or are they using a cell data plan? Who controls the network setup? You can do quite a lot to increase WiFi speeds, given some options to work with.

Also keep in mind the screen size and resolution. If they are older, they can have issues with high res 13" display. I would suggest a used 17" system that is on the budget side so the screen resolution is not too high. Should be plenty around.