I hear Hussein is giving them away. Tracking may be mandatory.
Tracfone. I think you can get tracking with some of the prepaid minute plans.
Oh, I thought you said a dumb phony.
I bought a little Samsung flip phone today for about 20 bucks. Got it at Best Buy.
It seems to work just fine.
I don’t do texting, either. People will either have to call or send me an email.
Trying NOT to make an 0bama phone joke.
Fully understand the no text/no internet access. I did that, once. Thought I would be nice to the kid. NEVER, EVER AGAIN. Anywho, I have a LG non-smart phone. Have had it for two years now and it’s great. Holds a charge well, camera and video phone, etc. Less than $50.00. I have Verizon. The phone will access internet and text, but you can quarantine those features through the provider so you won’t get heart attack bills like I did and almost get sent up the river for murder.
On the other hand, the girlfriend has SmarTalk. She has a great phone, unlimited internet access, unlimited text and the monthly bill is around 60.00 (perhaps a little less) Not bad and she gets great reception here in Southern Illinois.
https://wbillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/nos/safeguards/SafeguardProductDetails.action?productName=usagecontrols
One of my coworkers uses this with his teenagers and seems happy with it.
Interesting. I’m looking for almost the same thing. I’m hearing impaired, so a cell phone is absolutely no use to me except for calling 911 in case my car breaks down, etc. My state used to have a law that any store that sold cell phones had to sell ones that were set up to dial ONLY 911, and does not have to be connected to any monthly payments. It no longer does.
However, I’ve been researching for the next cheapest thing. But since I don’t qualify for food stamps, etc. I haven’t yet found what I need.
But, I’ll email you and perhaps we can help each other out. Good luck to you.
Check into Jitterbug.
They specialize in phones for older folks, who have a lot of the requirements you list — easy to use, operators 24X7, tracking (think Alzheimer’s), etc.
I remember seeing ads for them in various publications and have no personal experience, but the match seems good...
Bought 2 cheapo “Pay2Go” phones at Best Buy for the missus & me. They cost $20, and they’re $20 a month with Virgin for basic (no text, internet, etc.). The phone is sophisticated enough to handle them (and it has a camera, which could be handy in an emergency), I just don’t buy the service.
I don't think Tracfone offers phone locating services. AT&T does, you can get it with family plans which are the best deal for most situations. It is handy to find where the phone, and therefore the kid, is.
I recently got a Samsung M400 through my landline phone company, serviced by Sprint. Pretty basic, does have tracking you can turn on or off. What I like is the large buttons, and you can enlarge the screen fonts for far-sighted eyes like mine.
General:
http://fpaxson.acndirect.com/default.asp#
North Carolina:
http://fpaxson.acndirect.com/services.asp?CO_LA=US_EN®ion=NC
I would look at virgin mobile. Buy the phone at best buy or target. If you don’t like it, the phone is easy to return. No contract, pay as you go service.
Check out ConsumerCellular.com . Great company, no contract, change plan minutes on the fly, basic phones.
My wife and I got 2 top of the line(about 12 yrs ago)
Motorola phones-paid a few hundred + 100.00 up front minutes and since then we put in about 20.00/yr for minutes that we never lose—T Mobile. Works great as basic phone with camera,etc.
sorry for the assholishness of the replies but this could fit the bill
What you want is something hard to loose with gps and basic phone. more specifics and non jerks can help point you in the correct direction. (Sorry I hate the stupid posts on threads looking for real help) Some of us actually care.