Blackberry on PAYG for 12 yr old qustion.

silvercar

magpiesnest wrote: »

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?

I think you choose between unlimited texts or the call credit.

BBM is quite safe, providing you realise to only accept as contacts people you know. But it is virtually unheard of for non-friends to try to become contacts in the way that facebook friend requests surface.

Your only concern may be that the phone can be used to go on the internet, so the dangers are the same as a computer accessing the internet in terms of inappropriate sites.( though downloading viruses is not a problem). There are numerous Apps including facebook that can be freely downloaded. Using the Blackberry to surf the net is slow and painful but facebook and other apps are fast and addictive. They will incur data charges. Provided that you don't start downloading video etc the data charges won't be massive but they will exist.

I don't think you can turn off data without turning off BBM - which defeats the purpose of having a blackberry.

jamespir

whats wrong with a normal phone why does a 12yr old need a blackberry for ?

grumbler

For BBMessaging to the friends with BBs I guess. It's like a contagious decease.

TakeThis

silvercar wrote: »

I think you choose between unlimited texts or the call credit.

BBM is quite safe, providing you realise to only accept as contacts people you know. But it is virtually unheard of for non-friends to try to become contacts in the way that facebook friend requests surface.

Your only concern may be that the phone can be used to go on the internet, so the dangers are the same as a computer accessing the internet in terms of inappropriate sites.( though downloading viruses is not a problem). There are numerous Apps including facebook that can be freely downloaded. Using the Blackberry to surf the net is slow and painful but facebook and other apps are fast and addictive. They will incur data charges. Provided that you don't start downloading video etc the data charges won't be massive but they will exist.

I don't think you can turn off data without turning off BBM - which defeats the purpose of having a blackberry.

T-Mobile has a unsuitable content block. It's on by default.
It's certainly isn't slow for me to access the Internet using my BlackBerry.
Data is also included in their package, so no worries in using FaceBook apps and others.

Hope I have covered the salient points.

TakeThis

magpiesnest wrote: »

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?

Yes, or you could choose:

6 month blackberry internet / email
£10 credit for whatever you choose.
100 minutes of calls.

or

6 month blackberry internet / email
£10 credit for whatever you choose.
60 free international minutes

chanz4

argos have the 8520 on o2 for £100

TakeThis

chanz4 wrote: »

argos have the 8520 on o2 for £100

Really? Do you know of even a single person who has obtained one at that price?

xbrenx

jamespir wrote: »

whats wrong with a normal phone why does a 12yr old need a blackberry for ?

It's the girl's choice and she has waited patiently while she saved to be able to afford it. So proving it's not a whim, she really does want it. If she'd been saving for a Wii, an xbox or a laptop you wouldn't bat an eyelid, if it turns into an expensive flash in the pan, it's her choice. She's chosen something with her own money.

To the OP, sorry don't really know much about BB and it's needs but do have a look at GiffGaff :-)

Stuart_W

You may want to have a look at Orange's £100 free credit offer on the Blackberry 8520.

If you top up £10 a month for 10 months, you get £100 free credit.

With Orange Dolphin/Monkey, a £10 top up would get 400 text messages as a top up reward and the credit could be used to buy a £5 BBM extra each month, leaving a further £5 credit to either leave on the phone to use as and when, or to buy another extra for 100 minutes, or perhaps for unlimited texts if 400 really isn't enough.

If she only wants access to BBM and isn't much of a texter or talker, the T-mobile 6-monthly pass (which is usually £20) is the cheapest PAYG option I am aware of. As already referred to here, you can get a free SIM initially with 6 months blackberry access. After this, 6-month booster costs £20 from your credit. Topping up £10 each month gives access to either unlimited texts or 100 minutes for free (choose which) for a month. Worth making sure that you realise the 100 minutes or the unlimited texts only last for that month, and only recur each month if you top up each month.

You could also consider T-mobile's You-Fix plan. It's a fixed monthly contract that you'd pay. It comes with BBM included, and 75 minutes and 75 texts. If these run out, then it needs to be topped up just like a PAYG phone. A bigger bill cannot be run up. You can get the 8520 on a You-Fix plan for £39.99 (but £40 cashback available via Quidco, cancelling the cost out completely) and then £15.50 a month for 12 months. That includes BBM each month and works out less than buying the phone and topping up £10 per month. You DD could pay you from her savings, and after the 12 month contract, it can be converted to "PAYG proper" so she can top it up as she'll already be used to, but just also need to buy a 6-monthly BBM booster for £20.

albionrovers

My 12yo has a Blackberry 8520 on Tesco for 15/month for 250mins/5000txt/500MB. She rarely grazes her data allowance, all they want is BBM which is inclusive in the contract. Picture messaging is extra but she has been told this by me and hasn't sent any pics in 5 months now. As long as the child is disciplined then there is no problem. She was previously using 15/month PAYG on a Samsung Monte anyway.
Gotta laugh at the moaners above, funny as. Need to get out more.