Cell phone options for college-bound son

[raz]

Agreeing with the above ...

My college bound daughter texts constantly (though not as much as her cousin). Her younger brother texts a bit, but get a constant flood from his friends.

Mom and Dad have a firm rule that phones seen at the dinner table will be confiscated.

So there.

[graylocks]

whatever you get, i recommend your son signing up for a googlevoice number and distributing that as his own. that way he can change phone/providers easily when he ascertains what his actual needs are. i do have a feeling that he's going to find that texting is a very expedient form of communication.

[davester]

microchip wrote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/fashio....html?_r=2


Honestly, I don't even know if I'd bother with voice, if you had the choice. (Use Skype or something else). I don't particularly want to say that SMS is the future, but various forms of text messaging are.

I thought that article was absurd and unrealistic. While I acknowledge that text messaging is very convenient in some situations, it is incredibly cumbersome if what you're calling about has the need for a lot of back-and-forth communication. SMS is old tech...it's the past, not the future, and is also absurdly expensive considering the virtually non-existent cost the the telecoms (but that's OK, the main users are teenagers whose parents foot the bill [smirk]).

[rgG]

You can change from one Page Plus plan to another very easily. I would try the $30 plan, see how it works, and then switch to the unlimited, if he needs it. If he doesn't text that much, yet, the 2000 texts on the $30 plan should be enough for him.

Also, you can save a little more buying by buying your PINs for any of the carriers from CallingMart.com.

[davec]

raz, graylocks- thanks for your posts and input. I do realize that my son's use of a cell phone may change quite a bit while he is at college. We will need to closely watch how much he uses the phone and consider changing plans if needed. I will check into the google voice option. I have much to learn about cell phones, VOIP, etc. davester-I avoid driving anywhere near our high school at the end of the school day. It is terrifying to see the number drivers with their heads down (apparently texting) as they are pulling out of the school parking lot at the end of the day. Iowa just passed an "anti-texting" (while driving) law. We will have to see how much difference that law makes... rgG- thanks for your insights and advice. Thanks for the calllingmart.com suggestion.

I sincerely appreciate all the input and advice!

Dave

[macphanatic]

Is his campus completely wireless? If so, what about Heywire for an iPod touch? It offers free texting. Not sure what other VoIP options are available that would work as well.

[davec]

macphanatic-my son does own a 1st gen iPod Touch. I am assuming that much of the campus is wireless. Heywire would be something I will look into if he should text more frequently. At this point, he is texting less than once a month. Thanks for your post!

Dave

[vision63]

davec wrote:
macphanatic-my son does own a 1st gen iPod Touch. I am assuming that much of the campus is wireless. Heywire would be something I will look into if he should text more frequently. At this point, he is texting less than once a month. Thanks for your post!

Dave

Congratulations on your boy going to college. That's special.