Don, I have an HP desktop and a high powered Dell Laptop but, use my iPad way more than the others.
Would this be a first time computing experience for your mom, Don? I ask because several years ago, before my mom's boyfriend started suffering from dementia, I bought him an Apple iMac, the all-in-one computer at the time. He just couldn't understand the user interface, how to use a mouse, and typing was a big hurdle, too. Those are skills that most of us take for granted, but for someone that grew up with paper and pencil and dial telephones, "it's too much button pushing", as Steve (boyfriend), would say.
I'm not familiar with the latest Windows versions, but if they or a Mac laptop could be configured so that only a few icons appear on the desktop from which she could launch a web browser, email reader, instant message client, etc. that could work very well for her. But you'd have to be her tech support, so be ready to answer her questions with patience and understanding.
I've had my iPad for almost a year, and have to confess I get frustrated almost every time I use it. Some things it does OK, like browsing the web, but there are times when I try to do something that is easy on a laptop and I just can't figure out the iPad way. Yet at the same time I don't seem to have the same problems on the iPhone. I had plans to travel with the iPad instead of a laptop, but now I think that would be a mistake. For me at least, the iPad hasn't been a very wise purchase, judging from the amount of use it gets.
Apple products rarely go on sale, and even the Black Friday deals offer only small discounts, or credits good only on other Apple products of limited usefulness that are way overpriced compared to what they sell for elsewhere.
:2cents: