First mobile for kids?

rwalton159

kiwichick wrote: »

Hi All,

Am after some advice please. My daughter will be moving up to secondary school in Sept and I want her to have a mobile so shes able to contact me in case of emergencies etc. I am currently with Tesco Mobile so would like to get her a contract through them but dont know what I need to be looking at. It doesnt need to be all singing all dancing fanciness, just needs to be practical (and not pricey!). Any ideas?

Thanks,
Al.

If its for emergencies why would you want a contract at the outset? Just go payg and stick £10 on and see how long it lasts.

If you're flush then buy her a fancy phone but the more expensive the phone the more chance of it being pinched plus there may be a school policy on phones (she may need to keep it in her school bag when at school as it could get confiscated)

My daughter uses her phone as an mp3 player more than as a phone. £10 on giffgaff payg lasts her months. With gg she is able to make free calls / send free texts to my wife and I (that's the most important element of her having a phone)

keith1950

Hi my 11 year old grandson got the HTC Wildfire on a capped tariff from Tesco last year, 500 mins,5000 texts and 500 GB data for £7.50p/month.

Whilst it is not a mobile I would want he has found it just the right size for smaller hands.

He is using very little of his call allowance, mainly using texts and data ( social networks ).

kiwichick

Gosh its hard isnt it? I want her to have one more for emergencies than anything else but am well aware of the teen culture and the 'cool' factor. I know she'll want to be listening to music etc and thats fine but am not keen on her having access to facebook/internet etc as I dont want her getting in trouble at school over it. ARGH.........So not looking forward to these teenage years!!!!!!

FloFlo

Another vote for Tesco capped mobile, this is what we did for dd although she did choose the handset as her birthday/Xmas present.

DH and I are also changing to Tesco in the next couple of weeks on a capped tariff - I like knowing we can't go over and you can also buy a topup to cover non-inclusive calls etc that lasts until you use it.

FloFlo

kiwichick wrote: »

Gosh its hard isnt it? I want her to have one more for emergencies than anything else but am well aware of the teen culture and the 'cool' factor. I know she'll want to be listening to music etc and thats fine but am not keen on her having access to facebook/internet etc as I dont want her getting in trouble at school over it. ARGH.........So not looking forward to these teenage years!!!!!!

Blackberry curve £15 http://shop.tescomobile.com/mobile-phones/pay-monthly/blackberry/curve+9360?deal=7923

davenport151

Recently had this dilema with my son for his 14th birthday. I have a payg phone with 3 which i've had a few years. I top up £5 when required (usually this is every few months). I have internet access with this. Then free data each time I top up.
I could not find anything similar to this as I did not want to fork out any set price a month. In the end I got a reasonably priced unlocked handset and sent for an Ovivo sim card (similar to Giffgaff) after recommendations on here.

sillygoose

Another point is that, and you will see weekly 'how do I get out my contract' pleas on here, and the answer usually is you can't you have to pay it to the end.

In these times being made redundant can be a surprise around th corner for any of us at any time, why enter into a contract unneccasarily when there is no financial advantage to it?

Imagine the worse happens and a years time your struggling to make ends meet, Vodaphone, Orange or Tesco won't care and if you can't cover the payments it will be the bailiffs at your door.

Its sometimes unavoidable getting in to credit for cars, houses.. but for a phone? not me.

pmduk

Why not make a shortlist of phones for her from the tesco capped contract selection, then let her make the final choice? Eliminates the risk of buying an unfashionable handset

davenport151

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

A quick look on Tesco Mobile's website would suggest you can get something for £10 a month, have a look.

HTC Desire C seems good, £10 P/M.

Thats the thing I would be wary off. £10 a month is still £10 a month. If this is just for emergencies/to let you know shes late etc, surely a payg top up when required is a better option?

balletshoes

My DD is in year 7, first year at secondary school, and almost all of the kids she knows have BB curves. DD got hers for Christmas, its payg on tmobile, I bought a 6-month BB booster for her £20 for 6 months use, and apart from that I think I've topped up £5 in the last 4 months. She uses whatsapp to text me, and a very quick phone call is around 30p of her credit. She does everything else on her phone using BBM. So far, its worked out fine.
If she started needing more minutes or non-whatsapp texts, I'd be looking at giffgaff.