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Cell phones forum: Good study phone for teenager?

by: msheky January 16, 2012 1:24 PM PST

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Good study phone for teenager?

by msheky - 1/16/12 1:24 PM

So we had the Pantech Pursuit for my 12 year old for a year. Screen just went black - 3 weeks after the warranty expired, of course. AT&T contract doesn't allow for a new phone til August. I was looking for an inexpensive unlocked phone. He texts a lot and would prefer a touch screen - so I bought the LG Xenon at Best Buy but it arrived with a cracked screen (colored vertical stripes on screen).
Is an unlocked phone the way to go? Any recommendations? Should I go back to the Xenon and take the chance with it? My concern is that the screen might be easily breakable in the hands of a 12 year old boy. I didn't want to spend more than $100. Am I being unreasonable? Please help!!


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(NT) Meant to say STURDY phone for teenager....

by msheky - 1/16/12 3:11 PM

In Reply to: Good study phone for teenager? by msheky


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I recommend a non-touch screen option

by Pepe7 - 1/17/12 7:14 AM

In Reply to: (NT) Meant to say STURDY phone for teenager.... by msheky

If he beats the snot out of his phones, I would eliminate the touch screen option until he's mature enough to understand how the lifespan of such devices is somewhat proportional to how they are used/treated. Some sort of QWERTY device may hold up better.

Another option would be to let him pick from a few different phone models (either unlocked via Amazon, etc), but have any replacement from this point on come partially from his piggy bank.

FWIW, you could also 'gift' one of your ATT family plan lines upgrade status to another family member currently on a line that is not eligible (e.g. your son's line). A simple call to a customer service sales rep takes care of this. (My wife took my upgrade status to get her iPhone 4 last year.)

I honestly don't see anything particularly sturdy in your price range, or higher for that matter, in ATT's currently offered stable of handsets. It's going to be more or less trial and error to determine which one he can't easily destroy. Proably another Pantech if you already are comfortable with its functionality. You could upgrade another line to a refurb model for free right now. There are other full keyboard phones like the Samsung Solstice for free or nearly so. There's also the HTC freestyle.


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Here, for not much a month.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 1/16/12 3:29 PM

In Reply to: Good study phone for teenager? by msheky

My son has a Virgin Mobile Android phone. It's 35 a month now with lots of data and text and 300 minutes voice per month. The set is 99 bucks or so but I can't find any smart phone that will meet your goals.

Maybe it's time to get some tracfone until later.
Bob


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