Need help with cell phone decision for DD

[iluv2go2disney]

My 12 year old daughter is wanting a new cell phone for Christmas but she isn't due for an upgrade until next summer. My husband and I are both eligible for an upgrade now. I was wondering if I could get an upgrade on one of our phones, then jsut change the sim card between the two phones. We've had phones break and had to change sim cards. Will this work or not? I'm not trying to do anything wrong, just trying to get her a phone without having to pay 400.00 for it.

Also, does anyone have experience with the Blackberry phone? What kind of sim card do they have? She wants a phone with a "querty" (sp?)keyboard, and would also like to have e-mail and Facebook.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mjkacmom]

We have verizon, so no card, but when it was my mom's turn for an upgrade, she gave it to dd13 (she got the voyager - I don't know of any teens with blackberries - I don't think they are "cool?"). However, for some reason, this changed the date of her upgrade (didn't bother to ask - my mom has no desire for an upgrade).

 

[iluv2go2disney]

They probably aren't cool. I really have no idea. I'm sure an iphone would be cool but she would break it or have it stolen.
I'm glad to know you were able to make it work. I guess now I need to figure out what phone is cool?

 

[Thumper_Man]

I work for our local state government and we have Verizon. I oversee our cell phone accounts and have a little knowledge in this department. Yes, you can upgrade your phone and give it to your DD. You cannot just change the SIM card to do this though. The SIM card is mainly used for International Service (at least with Verizon that is). I don't know who your service provider is, but when you buy the new phone, you need to tell them you would like to do an ESN change. They will know what that is. This is what moves the phone number from one phone to another.

As far as BB's go, our office uses those quite a bit. The main BB of choice for our office is the 8830 World Edition. These phones have been overall trust worthy and the employees here have had no problems connecting to the internet. Main problem I've seen with this phone is the roller ball in the middle of the phone. I've had a few employees that this has stopped working for them. So I would recommend getting the insurance for the phone to get it replaced or fixed, just in case it stops working.

 

[beattyfamily]

We did something similar for our DD this past summer. She got her phone last year for her 12th birthday. Well, this summer her phone was accidentally dropped in the pool. She was not due for a free upgrade yet.

However, both DH and I were eligible for an upgrade. DH waited for the new iPhone to come out (a week after her phone died). So he got himself the new iphone with his upgrade credit. He then gave my DD his old iphone and she just took the sims out and we switched the sims cards. He did later call AT&T just to make sure everything worked properly.

They do not care who uses the phone after you buy it. At least AT&T anyway.

 

[clutter]

What plan are you on? Phones are carrier specific.

ATT's popular QWERTY phones are LG Xenon (dd and I got one and both of us hated it!), Propel and LG Neon.

Verizon's are NV3 and the LG Versa (which is also a touch-screen and probably much like the Xenon).

Kids I know with phones seem to be happiest with Propel, Neon and NV3.

Don't know about other carriers. Do you have to do this now? There will probably be cooler phones coming out by christmas.

p.s. for my dd12, picking out the phone was half the fun, so maybe just give her the 'ok' and let her choose?

 

[mjkacmom]

p.s. for my dd12, picking out the phone was half the fun, so maybe just give her the 'ok' and let her choose?

Both dd and ds knew exactly which phone they wanted. Dd8 is always picking them out at the store, not that she's getting one!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

Our carrier is AT&T. DD wants the phone now, because all her friends are getting one now. Of course she thinks she's the only one who doesn't have a new one. I know this isn't true. I gave the "be thankful for what you have speech", but I don't think it set it in. She really is a good kid but this age is about to kill me. I thought we would get her a new phone for Christmas since it seems to be important to her. I really don't want her to pick it out because she thinks we're making her wait until next summer. If she knows we're getting it for Christmas, all I'll here is "why can't she go ahead and start using it?"

She has told me whe likes the 3 phones the PP metioned above.

 

[clutter]

With ATT, it is super easy to simply switch the SIM card. (But I don't think with an iPhone.)

Of the phones available, my dd12 had the Xenon and hated it. She was trying to figure out how to get a new phone out of contract. Any of the phones on eBay were still $$$. She got lucky. My old sitter had an insurance claim on her Propel, but she 't like it and they traded. They both seem to be happy.

My dd was angling for the Neon or the Propel, based on conversations with other 12 year olds. Also, my co-worker bought the Xenon for herself and her ds11. They both switched back to their old phones after about 2 months. (It seems you don't start to really hate it until after your 30 day exchange is over. ) I switched to an iPhone, I hated the Xenon so much. After switching, I realize how bad the Xenon's touch screen is. The difference is amazing.

So my recommendation is the Propel or the Neon. (Or if you want a red Xenon, PM me.) Also, I hope you have unlimited texting. My dd wanted to add internet access for ringtones and wallpaper, so I added that, but took the extra out of her allowance.

 

[ErinBug]

With AT&T, if you are all on the same plan, you should be able to use one of your upgrades that's up now for your daughter's number, not needing to switch sim cards or anything. I did this last november and the man at the AT&T store set it all up for me.

As for phones, I don't reccomend the pantech matrix or really anything with windows mobile on it, after quite a few bad experiences with these in my family. (Phones would always freeze and not get texts or emails when they should have been coming through).

Hope this helps!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

I appeciate everyone's respnoses. Now does anyone have any recommendations on phones. I've gotten bad reviews on the Xenon and the Matrix. Does anyone have experience with the Propel or the Neon?

 

[HeatherC]

We have Sprint as a carrier, but AT&T may work the same way. With Sprint you can pick a phone and return it anytime for any reason within the first 30 days. So if you pick it close to Christmas she could always exchange it within the first 30 days.