Nicer basic phones??

[milomlo]

Is it possible to get any nicer basic phones?  I would love to upgrade both my kids phones however the phones that Verizon is offering don't look very nice and they reviews aren't that good.

Can Verizon PLEASE think about kids wanting cool phones, and the fact that parents don't' want to pay for data.  So basic phones it is.  Or else offer some nice choices for basic phones w/ wifi so us parents don't' have to pay for data.  There is no reason a kid couldn't use an "iPhone" type phone without the data package.  EXcept that Verizon (or whoever makes whatever rules) is too GREEDY and wants all that money.

PLEASE HELP US PARENTS

[lewisr13]

Talking and texting is what basic phones are for, you want more you gotta pay more. Buy your kids an iPod Touch. Then they'll have everything they "need" of for the same price.

[AZSALUKI]

what you don't get is that there's no way to disable the radios to keep your kids off the data network. do what lewis suggested and get them an ipod. if they are really only going to use wifi, then an ipod will accomplish what you want. they tried selling cheaper, limited data plans and guess what happened? parents threw fits when they got $300 bills from verizon and didn't think they should be responsible because there kids used the data. my son has the lg octane (he's 12 years old)and loves it. i loaded all of his music on it and he can take pix and shoot video with it. what more does a kid need to do with it?  when he wants to play around with apps or video call or whatever, he uses our pc, tablet, or my phone. by your reasoning, you kids would have to be within a wifi network to use it....so just use an ipod or tablet or pc.

[rcschnoor]

milomlo wrote:

Is it possible to get any nicer basic phones?  I would love to upgrade both my kids phones however the phones that Verizon is offering don't look very nice and they reviews aren't that good.

Can Verizon PLEASE think about kids wanting cool phones, and the fact that parents don't' want to pay for data.  So basic phones it is.  Or else offer some nice choices for basic phones w/ wifi so us parents don't' have to pay for data.  There is no reason a kid couldn't use an "iPhone" type phone without the data package.  EXcept that Verizon (or whoever makes whatever rules) is too GREEDY and wants all that money.

PLEASE HELP US PARENTS

Verizon may be GREEDY, but it seems you are teaching your kids to be just as GREEDY. But mom, I want want want the cool thing. Get me the cool thing.

I am also a parent, and I take offense to your plea for Verizon to help you to teach no self control to your children. I have a hard enough time teaching my children self control. Not everything in life should be available at the exact moment you want it. You should work for it and earn it. Just because my child WANTS something does not mean I am going to give it to them. I will first determine if they NEED it, whether or not they deserve it, whether or not I want to provide it and last, but not least, whether or not it fits into my budget. Then, I will make my decision.

[ddcfamily]

nice.

just an fyi, some of us adults would like a wifi enabled phone also, without the data packagae costs.  It's not greed, it's practicallity. 

Did the OP say they wouldn't pay for the phone?  Did they say they wanted it for free?  No, they would just like the option.  An option that companies don't want to provide. 

get. a. freaking. life.

[jayare]

At one time, they offered decent phones.  They called them Multimedia phones at the time.  They had a decent camera, ability to hold music, keyboards for texting and a nice screen.  You remember them, the LG EnV Touch, Samsung Reality, et al.  My wife and daughters all have Realities.  They like them, but they are aging and may need replaced some day.  When that happens, they won't have a good choice.  They don't want data, so we block data.  They can still use them for quite a bit.  I don't know why it's too much to ask for decent non-smartphones.  Data for smartphones is sky high.  If they offered shared family data, we might be interested, but they won't do that either.

I will say, it's not just Verizon.  No company offers good non-smartphones.  It's the manufacturers, though the carriers might be in collusion with them on it, to get more people on smartphones.

[AZSALUKI]

the lg extravert looks fine. decent cam with video, qwerty, and music play. what more would someone need that doesn't need a smartphone? the problem is that these "in between" type of devices are difficult. they have data/web/app capabilities, but most users don't get them and pay for data. parents don't realize that they need to block data on the plan and the next thing you know their 11 year kid has been using a facebook app, the browser, and email on it. then the parents don't want to pay the $300 overage bills resulting from the data use. and i suspect you are correct. none of the carriers are requesting more and nicer feature types of phones because i'm guessing that they would rather have everyone on either a smartphone or VERY basic phone. not sure if it's quite collusion.....but they are definitely pushing smartphones.

[baubillious]

I wish Verizon would offer smartphones with cheap plans like AT&T. Maybe $15 for 250MB like AT&T. I know the problem comes up with people going over but Verizon just wants to sell cell phones so I don't see why they couldn't.

The Samsung Brightside looks pretty decent too, for a "basic phone"

[Tidbits]

$15 for <1gb of data isn't worth it. As soon as you go over you will pay more than $30 in the end. At less than 500mb it is very easy to do.

[rcschnoor]

Yes, adults may indeed want that and I have no problem with it.

My post, however, was in response to children's phones, so your response leads me to believe you don't like following your own advice, just like to preach but make different rules for yourself!!!