mobile wanted for texts only

mrscb

Hi..im after a basic mobile phone for my son...he is deaf and i dont want any calling features at all in case he presses the wrong button!! im hoping to start off with payg until i see how he gets on with it..has to have buttons.
does anyone know if it is possible to be able to use text only(no internet or anything)..he does have other disabilities too and it would be impossible to explain to him to not make phone calls..even though he cant hear or speak..
TIA:beer:

mchale

Have a look at giffgaff, i think they do a text only deal

Just found this http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/5pound-unlimited-texts

grumbler

For a phone with a keyboard see
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/phone-finder (tick 'qwerty keyboard' box)
http://www.omio .com/deals/pay-as-you-go (tick 'physical keyboard' in 'features' tab, then sort by price)

Regarding a sim-only deal, PAYG is the safest option. The rest depends on how many texts p.m. you want. To avoid charges for accidental calls you'll probably want a handset that allows to block outgoing calls, but I don't know if it is possible without blocking texts.

ETA: as a side note, I think the phone has to have vibration alert. I believe almost all modern phones have this feature, but it's better to make sure.

GRM

I believe basic Nokia handsets still have a restricted calling feature - you can restrict it to make outgoing calls to only specified numbers. Can't think of a reason why the only permitted number couldn't be an invalid one.

Also have a read of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_Sidekick - there are a few for sale on eBay.

timberflake

As above, you could restrict the calls.

As for the internet, as long as there's no internet settings entered it won't be able to access the web.

finally, giffgaff do a £5 a month deal whereby you get unlimited texts http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/5pound-unlimited-texts