Here is my recommendation

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PSLX250H-Turntable/dp/B00005T3XH/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=aht&qid=1256750790&sr=1-4

It has a high user feedback and it has RCA outputs.

Check the back of your dads Bose for RCA inputs. They will be two round plugs, side-by-side one red and one white. If it has those then this will plug into your dads Bose.

This turntable does NOT have speakers. Make sure the RCA plugs are on your dads Bose before you buy it.

2. The Ion iPtUSB you mentioned is complete and utter junk. It has a flimsy, poorly built tonearm and cartridge (the tonearm is the long metal rod-thing and the cartridge is the thing at the end of the tonearm with the needle–the "stylus"–on it), and the tracking force is too high, which means it will wear out your records more quickly.

3. Anything by Ion Audio, Numark, or Crosley will also be of poor-quality and junky. In fact, some of the Crosley turntables are actually of worse quality.

So, since you said you don’t know much about record players, here is a bit of a tutorial:

The actual sound waves of the songs are carved out onto the surface of the record. The needle (called the stylus) follows in the grooves carved out and picks up the sound waves. Then, by physics and mechanics, those are converted to an electrical signal which is sent to a receiver/amplifier, strengthened, and then sent to speakers to be played.

Now, there are a few things to watch out for. The stylus is essentially creating the signal by picking up movement as it follows along the grooves. Therefore, it is important to make sure the turntable does not get bumped or anything. For example, when the speakers play the record, you have to be careful that the turntable is stable, because if it’s not, the bass from the recording can make the stylus vibrate more and introduce extra sound waves into the signal–then those sound waves are played through the speakers, again picked up by the stylus, sent through the speakers again–and eventually you get an endless loop of this. So, to avoid this problem, you make sure that a) the turntable is placed on a very stable surface. Placing it on a heavy table (as opposed to something lighter) is a good idea. It is also a good idea to make sure the base and platter of the turntable (the base is the thing that holds the mechanism and everything of the turntable; the platter refers specifically to the part you place the record on top of) are sturdy and heavy. All the USB turntables I’ve seen (probably including the iPTUSB table you mentioned) have very flimsy, light bases and platters, which is a very poor design. Additionally, all the Crosley players I’ve seen have the same issue.

I’ll add more detail, along with some recommendations, as I have time.