Scanning Slide Photos

The Problem:

My parents took hundreds/thousands of pictures over the years using a 35mm camera with slide film. Dad has been gone for many years, and now my Mother is going through the first phases of dementia which may turn out to be alzheimers.

The Goal:

To scan these slides into my laptop and then go through them with her while she can help to sort and put names and places to them all. This will become something that all of my kids and grandkids will get to suffer through like I did when I was their age. It's family history that I don't want to lose.

The Question:

A quick Google search turns up a few machines/software to do this, but prices range from $200 to $1,500. I want to make sure that I don't get burned by paying too much or by buying too little.

Has anyone ever purchased this kind of thing before?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.