I need to get my son a mobile phone. What kind should I get? (in australia)?

In my opinion, prepaid is not worth it.

How old is your son? if he is a teenager, start with just the basic cellphone and see what developes from there. i have a Nokia fliphone and love it. i have no need for all the fancy gadgets, since i normally just talk to my wife and family. every situation is different. i have had T-Mobile for five years and love it. things to watch out for: set a strict limit on text messaging. you can keep up with his useage on the internet. overlimit talking is very expensive, so decide on the amount of talk time he will require and make sure he understands the limitations. you are going to have to bestow a lot of trust in your son for the first 60 days. that he will abide by the restrictions you give him, concerning phone useage. it can get out of hand really fast, so you keep a watchful eye. if his safety is your main concern, you can have only 911 installed and thats it. your son will not like this, but the decision and payments are up to you. be a watchdog over the phone bill you are going to have to pay. trust is the name of the game with a child and a new cellphone.

he’s 14 and he’s already had trouble with the bill on the landline- for some reason it’s really expensive there-I’ll keep looking around

For someone young that wants something relatively techy I would consider the Samsung Genio touch?
It’s quite cool, nice removable backs to help ‘free expression’ and the phone itself is very capable whilst not being too over the top in terms of price.

I have a Nokia 3120 – prices here in Australia are now down to around $100, and it does everything I need to. It has a camera with video and a flash, 3G reception, bluetooth, and expandable memory. Of course there’s no craze over it like an iPhone, but I am naturally prejudiced against everything Apple makes so I wouldn’t want one anyway. Oh, and its on prepaid which is always the best option for anyone not paying their own bill.

@FireMadeFlesh , @ModernEpicurian what sort of service do you have? I mean is it telstra? So if I buy the phone online can I buy service with it?

LG. cheap nice and strong

Need??????????????
Is he holding you to ransom?

(England). Our youngest daughter Jesica loves slobbering on all my wife’s phones, she got fed up have to shell out pounds on a mobile phone, and bought one from the local supermarket. Its an E2100B an cost 15 squid from ASDA.

Bargin!......

Takes pictures an evrithin!.......

@Pazza 15quid man thats cheap, thats a good one. I’m gonna buy one online, nah, but you know, sorta like your daughter..I’m still lookin

@trailsillustrated I’m with Optus. I’ve got no idea bout buying online, I went to the shop to get it.

@FireMadeFlesh er without being too sticky beak, can I ask how much per month is it? I mean is it alot lot? ( I’m hoping to get the phone + calling for about $50 a month- possible?

@trailsillustrated Back when I got it, I paid $220 up front for the phone locked to Optus and a 2GB micro SD card. I have seen it advertised since for $99 up front, although I have a sneaking suspicion it has been discontinued in favour of the Nokia 2730 as per this list. I can’t really give you a monthly usage estimate, because I’m on pre-paid so it really depends on my usage.

@FireMadeFlesh thanks!!