Dude! You so totally should’ve gone I-Phone!

Works with your Mac like they were an old married couple. Also: Best. Interface. Ever. Also has the coolest free stuff to put on it.

I swore I would NEVER own a Blackberry. Well, I have one, but better, and I rationalized by making sure none of my “work stuff” touch my lovely Macware.

LG Voyager Titanium?

I am a simple man, unused to the ways of you sophisticated city people. I do not understand why you need an advanced hyperdrive starship just to make telephone calls.

Creeping Firedogism. Scary, T, scary.

OOOH, that’s actually a thing? Creeping Firedogism?

kewl

I’ve got the LG Shine….love it!

Hmmm… we have some clunky dial-tone-only cell phone that we have in the car in case we get a flat. Nobody has the number. It’s for emergencies only. HEY — all you kids had better get off my lawn NOW!!!111!!!

Since I have used Bell South/ATT for years, my contract expired years ago. Rather than renew it, I pick up used cell phones. I have had the LG several Nokia’s and now I have a Sony Ericsson which suits me fine.

For those who think that you have to sign a contract with the cell phone companies, that only counts if you get a discount on a phone. I pay the same monthly rate but can cancel at any time.

There’s a lot of Voyager information and user support here if you’re interested.

I keep a Tracfone in my car, but it’s almost never on.

So, now that my 10-year old has gotten used to stealing mom’s cell phone when she’s traveling overseas (and we’ve all realized how damn handy it is for him to have one), can anyone suggest a good phone option that a) doesn’t cost a fortune, and b) can be somewhat parent-controlled? I’m reluctant to pay an exorbitant premium for one of those kiddie-specials they’ve put out (”look, desperate parent: half the features for twice the price”) but is a Tracfone the way to go? Two tin cans and a piece of rope?

Don’t know if it’s available in your area but Cricket has a good deal. You pay for the phone but the time is unlimited for around $35 plus taxes.etc. They work okay in urban areas but the coverage is limited once you get into rural/way out exurban areas. You get about 500 minutes long distance and you can get more long distance but you have to pay upfront so it would be hard for your kid to run up a $500 long distance bill. And you pay prepay monthly. They usually have at least one phone available for $50. Also, no contracts. But they aren’t everywhere in the country. And no I don’t work for them. I’ve had enough friends who have gone throught the Tmobile,Sprint,Verizon,ATT, Alltell 1200 anytime minutes free weekends and nites but we’ll screw you at 35cents a minute at 1201 minutes and we’ll also miscount the minutes trials and then switched to Cricket.

Tracfone’s not a bad deal, imho. I’ve had one since ‘91. Don’t know if it’s
fancy enough for a kiddo, but I just ordered one that takes pix & does a few
other things which is currently on sale for under 30 bucks and includes a
life of the phone “double minutes’ deal. I spend maybe $60 a year on minutes and always seem to have about 400 minutes available.

Sooo…if the phone isn’t too ‘dorky’ for the ten year old, it might be
the way to keep costs in check?

Cricket deal sounds good, but we’re in rural VT/NH, so probably not gonna work here…

brook, the tracfone has gotten more than a sneer or two when we’ve passed it at ye olde phone shoppe & wireless emporium. Basically, anything shy of an i-choco-razor-berry that can’t take pictures while switching ring tones is going to be seen as seriously lame n’ dorky. Which may mean it’ll only be used for emergencies etc. instead of being flashed around like bling, so could actually be a nice side effect…

Look on craigslist/ebay for the phone. Alltell has that circle of friends deal for $50/$60. Lots of carriers have prepaid plans. Because its a kid I would just be worried that they are going to way over the minutes without realizing it and you’ll get stuck with a $500 bill. Make sure texting is part of the plan.

Good job. And glad you didn’t cave on that have-to-get-AT&T-so-you-can-get-an-iphone thing. That trend has to be nipped in teh bud.

I tried keeping my ‘telephone’ in the glove box, but there was this little tug when the car and I left the driveway, and the dial tone stopped.

Hrm. I don’t think that I would have gone with a BREW phone, but if you’re happy with it, groovy.

Any neat toys in the packaging? The iPhone 3G came with a little paper-clip-esque SIM card extractor, which I’ve had no use for, but it’s pretty; it’s like a spare part for the cyborg enhancements that keep Steve Jobs alive.

Ooops. Thought BREW stood for Brotherhood of Retarded Electrical Workers.

But on the cellphone topic, this outfit may be worth a look, if you don’t want to support corporate entities that are turning everything you say & type over to the gummint.

And thanks to our contract buyout offer, you don’t need to stick with a company like AT&T©, whose political action committee donated to the McCain campaign and gave the maximum amount to Bush/Cheney – twice. Or Verizon© Wireless, who tried to censor NARAL Pro-Choice America’s text messages.

They use Sprint, & of course who knows what they’re up to. Nonetheless…

I have a colleague who has one of those LG things with the keyboard – she got it last summer, so not as advanced, one presumes, but still – she LOVES it. So there you go.

I’m sticking with carrier pigeons, myself.

I have a new Itouch running a free app (fring) to access my Skype account over wifi connections using the microphone built into the headset I bought from the Apple store to go with it. Not even sure if it originally comes with headphones that have a mic. Can access voicemails missed traveling from wifi hotspots as well as outbound calls (SkypeOut) to any number. Works..not the best, but I think this is the wave of the future. Screw cell phone contracts. That said, if you GOTTA HAVE ONE and you own a Mac, you’d be crazy not to consider an Iphone. Some of the apps are freaking GREAT. Remote control of your Itunes on your Mac is one I love. I’ve got Pandora and GOOGLE EARTH on my Itouch.

The new Blackberry product is getting hugely negative reviews….Vista quality reviews….

Enjoy.