Which iMac for elderly mom...

[rgG]

Don't get a G5 iMac. My 83 year old mother-in-laws had the dreaded bad capacitor problem. I think they also replaced something else at the same time, maybe power supply or video card. It was covered under an extended warranty program, but I would not buy a used one.

I think any of the Intel iMacs would be fine. I would definitely have it running Leopard because of the remote control issue. If you don't use the one built-into Leopard most of the others need at least Tiger and Leopard would be even better.

My in-laws have the 17" iMac and, since surfing and email is all they use it for, even that is a large enough screen. You just make the window for FF/Safari and Mail as large as will fit and it is fine. 20" would be better, but if you need to save the cash, 17" is fine. IMHO. I think a mini and a monitor would also be a good choice. I bought my husband the 1.83 mini and a nice 22" monitor for less than $700 a few months ago, he had a keyboard and mouse, and that $399 mini at MicoCenter is about $100 less than I paid, so you might be able to get out closer to $600, depending on the monitor, tax, shipping, etc. HTH.

Edit: The mini at MicroCenter for $399, no rebate, is for the 1.83 version. The one with the rebate a week or two ago was the 2.0 version with the SuperDrive. The 1.83/Combo would most likely suit your needs just fine, IMHO.