Yes, most of the people I know from the Boomer generation, and keep in mind I'm on the young end of that so they are mostly 10 years older, tend to simply ask their kids, or someone they trust, what to buy. And yes, the person usually recommends what they have. That makes sense as it makes it easier to help them set it up and keep it running, not to mention it is easier to answer their questions and correct their booboos when they accidentally hit the self destruct button. I have a friend with a LG smartphone and he is always asking me questions about how to do this or that. I started out with Android devices, but that was long enough ago that I really don't remember the menu system, and since I don't have an Android device, I cannot look it up for him. I have to just guess and give him generalized hints. It is way easier when my sister asks me how to do something on her iPhone though. (She is 8 years older than me, BTW.)

I was a straggler on both sides of the family. I'm 4 years younger than the next oldest sibling or cousin. Most of my surviving siblings and cousins are now in their late 60s to mid 70s. So I'm like a half generation out of place with them. One of my best friends is 10 years younger than me, and though he is Gen X he, like you, feels like he doesn't really fit well into that categorization. In my case though, I'm solidly a Boomer since my dad and all my uncles served in the military during WWII, and my mom was one of the millions of Rosey the Riveters working to keep industry going during the war. But I too really feel like I fit into Gen X better than I do with the Boomers. I'm that 70s generation depicted on TV during the calm decade, whereas most of my cousins were that 60s generation during the turbulent decade from hell. "Hey man, want a hit?"