Blackberry on PAYG for 12 yr old qustion.

magpiesnest

Hi All

i'm hoping you can help me with this? My 12yr old DD has asked for a Blackberry, she has saved her money for ages for one and is now in a position (with a little help) to go ahead and purchase one. I have read on here a little about the Tesco PAYG Blackberry deal for £10 pm but can't seem to find it anywhere? i really want her to get the most out of her purchase as she has saved for so long, so reaaly want her to feel she has gained somehting out of it, but i don't want her to be topping up silly amount a month.

all advise will be greatly appreciated.

grumbler

magpiesnest wrote: »

... I have read on here a little about the Tesco PAYG Blackberry deal for £10 pm

Are you sure that a contract on your name with unlimited credit is what you want?

They do a capped sim-only deals though. Yes, I see the cheapest one is £15 p.m.

A recent thread about Blackberry on PAYG (ignore the title): Orange Dolphin pay as you go con

magpiesnest

no, i was hoping for a non contract PAYG deal, buying the phone outright with her savings and the topping up around about £10pm at the most. Would she need some sort of Blackberry bolt on or something?

Buzby

PAYG and Blackberry don't work well. The BB uses data extensively and is not like most other PAYG phones whereby it doesn't cost you until use it. A BB and it's BB Messaging and push services can push up the cost without the owners knowledge. Indeed, for a 12yo I'd sugesst it is a wholly inappropriate handset - it is simply peer pressure, nothing more, and should be resisted. There are other handsets that can provide security of the person to make calls, gaming and not be a liability.

grumbler

Buzby wrote: »

PAYG and Blackberry don't work well.

AFAIK, it costs £5 p.m. on Orange PAYG

Buzby

This is an additional bolt-on, that can be exceeded through over-use or forgotten, to wipe out any credit at vastly higher data transfer rates. I'd really question the need for a 'toy' with this level of connectivity, and potential for malicious action, bullying and the rest. By 14 they are more capable of knowing when they're being manipulated by their peers.

TakeThis

Buzby wrote: »

PAYG and Blackberry don't work well. The BB uses data extensively and is not like most other PAYG phones whereby it doesn't cost you until use it. A BB and it's BB Messaging and push services can push up the cost without the owners knowledge. Indeed, for a 12yo I'd sugesst it is a wholly inappropriate handset - it is simply peer pressure, nothing more, and should be resisted. There are other handsets that can provide security of the person to make calls, gaming and not be a liability.

This is quite wrong. I don't even use 1 MB of data per month on my BB and my partner who uses her Blackberry all of the time, including FaceBook and YouTube, uses less than 7 MB per day from her allowance of 750 MB per month.

TakeThis

Buzby wrote: »

This is an additional bolt-on, that can be exceeded through over-use or forgotten, to wipe out any credit at vastly higher data transfer rates. I'd really question the need for a 'toy' with this level of connectivity, and potential for malicious action, bullying and the rest. By 14 they are more capable of knowing when they're being manipulated by their peers.

Sorry, but this is just scaremongering and actually, nonsense. I believe you have never actually owned a Blackberry.

TakeThis

So back to the original question.

A good way to get started with the BlackBerry is with a T-Mobile BlackBerry SIM. Completely free to use all BlackBerry Internet services for six months after the first £10 top up. The is a fair use limit of 500MB.
So you can dismiss Buzby's exaggerated claim.
Plus you can choose a plan with the £10 topup, say a free 100 minute call bundle.
So now you have the BlackBerry Internet Service, 100 minutes of calls and £10 worth of credit for your initial £10 topup. You can choose unlimited text messages instead of the call bundle.
You do not have to top up £10 every month to continue to receive the BIS for the next five months. You do so to take advantage of the free call/text bundles.

After six months is up, you can purchase another six month subscription to BIS for £20.

RightyTightyLeftyLoosey

TakeThis wrote: »

So back to the original question.

A good way to get started with the BlackBerry is with a T-Mobile BlackBerry SIM. Completely free to use all BlackBerry Internet services for six months after the first £10 top up. The is a fair use limit of 500MB.
So you can dismiss Buzby's exaggerated claim.
Plus you can choose a plan with the £10 topup, say a free 100 minute call bundle.
So now you have the BlackBerry Internet Service, 100 minutes of calls and £10 worth of credit for your initial £10 topup. You can choose unlimited text messages instead of the call bundle.
You do not have to top up £10 every month to continue to receive the BIS for the next five months. You do so to take advantage of the free call/text bundles.

After six months is up, you can purchase another six month subscription to BIS for £20.

I was looking around for a new deal after I bought my new BB and I came across this deal with T-Mo. Its the best PAYG deal for BB out there at the moment and if something better comes along, you are not tied into a contract and can move within a couple of days.

magpiesnest

so am i right in thinking that for the £10 top up we would get:

6 month blackberry internet / email
£10 call credit
unlimited texts

sorry for asking so many questions but not had a BB before and a little unsure of how it works! so, to clear my mind from so called scare mongering, how safe is it online? are there any restrictions we could put on it?