The Great 'granny In A Glovebox' Hunt

antylilla

My granny has a very cheap PAYG for emergencies (sorry can't remember make, I bought it a while ago and she keeps it in the glove box!) but the problem is she can't see the buttons too well and her fingers, being arthritic are too big for the buttons! I'm sure she can't be the only one. Does anyone know of a larger size not-quite-so-mobile phone? She is totally uninterested in whistles, flutes, bells and game playing functions!

FF99

Best for Granny is the Nokia 1100 (see post above) which has specifically been designed by Nokia for the needs of the elderly. Good sized buttons and large screen font size. Incredibly easy to use as Nokia have reduced the key buttons for all functions to just 1 button.

BNU_2

madmamma wrote:

you definately don't have to top up on orange. My daughter has my old pay as you go phone for emergencies, I use it for the cinema 2 for 1 deal, last put £10 over a year ago!

And does this still work for the Film Wednesdays? I was considering buying a PAYG on the Orange network (just for emergency use) hoping to get this perk but see from their site that you have to spend £5 per month on calls to qualify.

student100

stupascoe wrote:

People throw good working phones away because they don't have the latest bells and whistles. If you can get one of these off a friend then just get a sim card.

Orange sell the a sim pack for £2.99, O2 are free but require you to top up each month and Vodaphone sell them at about £5.

http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/sim_connection_pack
I think delivery is free too.

I think emergency (999) calls work with no credit I also heard they work even without a sim card.

If the phone is locked to a particular network, they may charge you an awful lot to get it unlocked so you can use a different network's SIM card. My mum had an old O2 mobile which she wanted to buy a Virgin SIM for - however O2 would have charged her £15 and taken 28 days just to unlock the handset so we could use a different network's SIM in it. We decided it was a better deal just to buy a new phone...


I believe that, although you can *dial* 999 or 112 with no SIM, the call won't be connected. (The network won't connect the call without a SIM).

Q6.7: Can I make emergency calls (112/999) on a phone with no SIM? Not in the UK. The handset will attempt to make the call, but there is no legal requirement on the network to accept the call. None of the UK networks will accept the call. (uk.telecom.mobile FAQ)

Symon_2

queensway_boy wrote:

you don't have to top up each month

If you don't use your phone for 6 months (By leaving it in the glove compartment) they cut you off and steal your credit!

queensway_boy

student100 wrote:

My mum had an old O2 mobile which she wanted to buy a Virgin SIM for - however O2 would have charged her £15 and taken 28 days just to unlock the handset so we could use a different network's SIM in it

On this site somewhere there is links to sites that unlock your phone for free.Also there is a member of mse who can do it for you but i forget who it is.Anyone shed any light on this matter? I have actually used it to unlock one of my phones free.

lipidicman

Anyone recommend a cheap handset on vodafone (already have a sim but it might be worth buying with a new one and selling that SIM on) ? I have a 3330 and want something similar (my battery is dead and it minimum £20 for a Li-ion one). It must be new and from a reputable retailer - preferably on the high street.

oldboy2000

mypinknee wrote:

Not a source for a cheap phone, so you will need your old one but...

Try https://www.easymobile.com/ for very low prices 2p per text and 6p for voice calls until end of June. I haven't tried it yet myself - but when my T-Mobile credit runs out I probably will - unless of course someone here knows better!

I signed up with them...picked my own easy to remember number (Only mobile no. I've ever been able to remember) for Free...

So far excellent service it is using T Mobile Network

You have use a fiver every 3 months or they charge you 78p ..

njm_2

Not the cheapest so far, but still a good deal.... and it's triband, just in case Granny drives to America!
Siemens A60 £29.99 + £15 Free Airtime (£10 credit for buying online and £5 on sim card) = £14.99

RightRevBod

One thing to bear in mind if this is going to be left in the glove box for months: Is the battery is going to be flat when you need to use it?

Li-ion batteries have a much lower self-discharge rate than NiMH. So even if it will cost a bit more, it is worth getting a phone with a Li-ion battery.