First, congratulations to your daughter! (And you; behind every great student is a great parent.)
Second, I can really relate to your computer frustrations. I bought a refurbished laptop from Dell about a year ago ($150 on sale) and it's doing the job for me - but that's luck. Apple products are far more reliable.
My 4 year old smartphone is no longer supported. It texts, makes calls, and the email works, so I'll hold onto it as long as I can.
Maybe we should budget a certain amount each year for tech stuff? How much would be reasonable for the average user?