What kind of cellular phone should I get?

One of the most common questions for a good reason. Before you can even start trying to answer this question you will need to know who the cellular phone  is for.

If the cellular phone is for an elderly person you may want to get a simpler cellular phone. Most elderly cellular phone consumers are used to the home wired phones that had a dial tone and then dial the phone they are calling. If you notice that many times before they even use a cellular phone they will put the phone to their ear to see if there is a dial tone.  Even though we find it amusing  its not, its just years more like decades of using the home phone and listening for a dial tone before calling.

Motorola V551

For an elderly consumer we would suggest to get a flip calm-shell cellular phone. The clam-shell cellular phone will give the user the ability to flip the phone open to answer and to hang up. When the old home phone was put down it would hang up the phone call and picked up to answer the phone call. The flip cellular phone gives them the closest solution to what they are used to. The will flip to make calls and flip cellular phone to make a call (with bar phones the elderly will have more problems using them). Some of the more like able models with the elderly are the Motorola RAZR V3,  (BUY MOTOROLA V3) Motorola V300, V400, V500, V525, V551,  (BUY MOTOROLA V551)  or LG older flip phones C2000, L1400.  

If you rather go with a phone that has some more features like memory card slot & MP3 player a good choice will be the Motorola K1 also called the KRZR. (BUY Motorola K1 KRZR)

The elderly will use the phone to make calls. A very small percentage will use text messaging and almost none will use the internet on a mobile phone.  There are many plans that can work for the elderly and most likely it will be cheaper to use a smaller plan then an unlimited plan.

Cellular phone carriers with good plans for the elderly will be

  • Virgin mobile
  • Page Plus   – (one of the favorites due to minute plans that will last 120 days)
  • Boost mobile (minute by minute plans – NOT the monthly/daily plans)
  • T-Mobile  (would not be one of our picks – others have better plans)
  • For the low income elderly Assurance Wireless will offer a free cellular phone with 250 free minutes every month.  (THE BEST DEAL FOR AN EMERGENCY PHONE ONLY)
If the phone you are looking for is for yourself you may want to consider first the carrier that you would like to use. If you use lots of minutes and want to use the web you may want to study some of the new companies that are available.  The price for the cellular phone will be greatly reduced if you choose to sign a 2 year contract. If you decide to go with the prepaid service you will end up paying full price for the mobile phone making the newer models very expensive.
  • Simple mobile – (Prepaid unlimited everything at $40 per month or $50 per month with 4G internet. (using T-Mobile towers) Preferred for prepaid due to better customer service help 
  • H2o – Prepaid unlimited talk (web is not unlimited) (using At&t towers)
  • T-Mobile – Prepaid unlimited everything starts at $50 per month
  • At&t – Prepaid unlimited starts at $60 per month. (web not unlimited)
IF YOU ARE NOT A PHONE PERSON AND WANT TO JUST USE MEDIA
  • VIRGIN MOBILE HAS A PLAN FOR $25 PER MONTH
OR
For the newer more expensive cellular phones – A 2 year contract may be your best option due to approximately $300 savings in the cost of the phone. Bear in mind that the monthly bill will be higher then prepaid services (carrier will get back the savings you get for the phone during the contract…lol) 
YOUR FIRST PRIORITY is to check the cellular phone coverage to the destinations you travel to.  Do not forget to check coverage in areas you travel to during other seasons such as a summer home, skiing destinations etc. You may also want to check coverage on the highways you take regularly.
UNDERSTAND the plan from the cellular phone company. Make sure you know the limits (if there are any) such as text, web and cellular minutes.  If  you go over the extra usage will be ridiculously priced!!!
If you are a heavy user, compare the price – if unlimited is not much more of a difference go with it.

Some phones you may be interested in (not elderly friendly)

  • Blackberry 8310 unlocked world mobile phone GSM  (Best deal – through Simple mobile $50 per month unlimited talk, text, web & BBM) BUY NOW
  • AT&T LG GS390 Unlocked cellular phone GS-390 (only $99.99) BUY NOW
  • BLACKBERRY BOLD 9700 Cellular Phone unlocked world GSM  BUY NOW
  • T-MOBILE HTC MY TOUCH SLIDE Cellular phone ANDROID Unlocked BUY NOW