Best Phone for a 15-year-old

L

lovelygirl

New member
I am looking to purchase a cell phone for my son.

For cell phones with QWERTY keyboards, I am looking at the LG VX-9900 enV and the Samsung U740.

For cell phones w/out QUERTY keyboards, I am looking at the LG VX-8500 and VX-8600, and the Samsung U620.

Here is what he intends to do with his new phone (no order):
Text Message
use V-Cast video and music
Use Mobile-Web
Call people
take pictures
Maybe some Navigator
IM

Please suggest one of the following phones above for his needs.

If you have a different suggestion, please remember that I have to be on Verizon, and suggest taht phone WITH one of the ones that I listed.

thanks a lot.

Jester
 
9900 is a good phone. and it's priced less than the 9800. which suprised me. 9800 has been flawless for me. and it's a "cool" phone for someone who's 15. maybe too much phone. something that he can break. 9800 was more rugged and it was a bigger phone. maybe consider that?

for the chocolate i think a 15 year old would scratch it all up in a minute.
same with the 8600. it's pretty thin. i think a 15 year old would break it.

phones just get thinner and thinner... at a younger age. i'd stick a child with a bigger bulkier phone.
 
I would not put him on your contract plan. He probably will run your bill up into the stratosphere. He needs a prepaid plan (sorry, Verizon's is too expensive) where you can control his use (and the resulting cost). If you can afford to pay $100 at a time (for 1000 minutes, enough for a reasonable person for several months) and the GSM phones work in your area, try T-Mobile's prepaid plan. I would say the time has to last three months, he uses it up he is SOL until the next quarter. That limits your expense to the affordable range. If you need a CDMA phone (what Verizon uses), try Tracfone or Alltel, thereby avoiding the Verizon dollar a day.
 
Wow. And why not? I'm 16, have had a phone on a contract since I am 13, and have never gone over my minutes or texting. Some people can trust their kids you know. Also, the M2M between parents & children can save quite a few of those minutes that would go 'wasted' on a prepaid plan.

Anyway, I would suggest either the Chocolate or the enV, as they're popular phones teens know. I'd pick the one on whether texting is worth the size difference. I personally like the 8300 though, and a lot of teens I know with it are more than satisfied.
 
The V or the enV is what I would recommend as well. They have all the features you want, they look awesome and impressive, and the 9800 will take a lot of damage.

I have a 9800 that I have dropped countless times on hard floors. So far no major problems aside from my SD card reader has bugged out but I may try to get that fixed. If you are worried about the breaking factor just pay the extra 5 dollars a month for insurance.

If he wants to text your minutes should be safe as long as you supply him with enough and his friends have Verizon. I haven't went over yet and I am 18 in college where I do not use a land phone... I also split 700 with 4 people. Just tell him to keep it to a minimum and if he texts like I do you will be fine.
 
Okay one thing straight your son can use the chocolate with out getting it scratched Im 15 my self and own a chocolate but i bought this phone with my own money so i added a crystal clear case to protect it its a good investment

and get him a gsm model not verizon one get him on prepaid
 
my first phone was a v710. ooh that was a good phone. the successor, e815, was also great. then they released the chocolate and krzr crippled junk, and i am thankfully switching to gsm. the phone selection is muuuuuuuuch better,..
 
I'd be pumped to get any Verizon phone at 15 and not have to pay for it. If he's going to text the enV would be the best option...obviously. I think someone 15 is old enough to know how many minutes they can use and how many texts they can send...if they go over take away the phone for a certain amount of time or make them pay or work off the difference in their mistakes.
 
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