mob phone for text addict with arthritic hands?

[chickchickchicken]

can anyone recommend a mobile phone with a decent size keypad as i text a lot? I have arthritis in my hands so needs to be easy to use.

I would like it as light as possible. I would prefer to stay with vodafone as reception better where I live.

I currently have a monthly rolling contract (use own phone which is now broken, get 100 mins which is plenty for me, unlimited texts which i need, free calls to vodafone which is important for contact with son) at a cost of £20 per month.

So is it best for me to buy a phone and continue with current contract or change to a contract which includes a phone?

My main priority is an easy to use phone. My current (broken) phone is a samsung slide and I have found that easy to use. I like the qwerty keypad on the Blackberry but it seems very expensive, are they worth it?

iPhone? If you use it sideways you get a large qwerty keyboard, upright you get a smaller one.

iphone or other touch screen phone might be worth looking at.

There are other phones with QWERTY keyboards (some pull out so the phone can look like a 'candy bar' type with numbers and minimal function, but slide it apart and the lower half is a keyboard.

Phones like the Alcatel OT-255 should be back in stock at Carphone Warehouse or their online stores like www.e2save.com, www.obil.co.uk or www.onestopphoneshop.co.uk

See the (pink) Alcatel OT-808 on Vodafone.

See LG KS365 at OneStopPhoneShop.

(Very annoying - I planned to buy a black OT-255 (which is a chunky phone with the keyboard showing all the time, and was 4.90 on Vodafone for me, and one in turquoise on Orange for my sister, from OneStopPhoneShop but this week they no longer show them, and last week they were showing as "expected in 7 to 14 days" but I could not order one... Now they are not shown except on Carphone Warehouse and prices go from about 15 quid to 25 quid !!)

I was also looking at the OT-606 for my sister (as it has a camera and radio) but even that is not now being listed by CPW or its online shops.

Ah, seems that Phones4U has the OT-606 (as well as the camera I wanted to find one which could play music /MP3s, had 3.5mm earplug socket rather than special micro-USB or fiddly little maker-specific plugs).

Alcatel phones on Vodafone - see the OT-606 and OT-802 - 24.95 and 29.95 respectively (and while you have to buy a 10 pound top-up, you could perhaps sell the SIM pack on Ebay for 7.50 or more).

Ah - found the OT-255 for 4.90 on Vodafone

www.thephonenetwork.co.uk/Alcatel_ot255_pay-as-you-go_p.asp

Sorry - never heard of the firm before but shame I cannot find the black model I was wanting to get, so I could use my Asda SIM in it (cheaper for PAYG but as you have a contract it won't be important to you).

Just so you can have a look to see how it compares and whether the buttons are suitable size - compared with the OT-606 or OT-808.

You can find photos of the OT-606 and OT-808 to get an idea of the keyboard layout if you check Ebay, or post here if you have problems and I can dig out some photos as I have been looking at QWERTY keyboards for several days now!

The weights for different phones can be found on www.GSMarena.com - I don't know how they compare with the iPhone but certainly will be somewhat cheaper :)

I know one advantage of the OT-808 would be that it closes up so no accidental phone calls by being crushed in your pocket or handbag (and pink, too, so not something many lads would try to nick... they do a dark chrome model too, but I have not found one yet!!

Gosh - 20 quid a month?

I know you get 100 minutes and unlimited texts, but 100 minutes would cost 8 quid (8p/min to landlines or mobiles) using the Asda PAYG SIM, and then texts costs 4p each, so you'd get 300 for 12 quid, making a total of 20 pounds, but clearly the mix could be different if you sent more texts and used fewer minutes, and you'd only pay for what you use.

Asda SIM works in Vodafone network phones, and you could transfer your Vodafone number to Asda so no one would know it was Asda anyway... and network coverage would be the same.

I suppose the only difference might be if you want internet access in future...

thanks for all the advice. i've learnt lots.

thanks

thanks again for all the info.

mdelindt,jbellingham - i got a touch screen phone today. never tried them before as thought they must be complicated but found it really easy. thanks for the tip

network guy - thanks for all the info and websites

Don't know which smartphone you've now bought, but there can be a number of different "input methods", i.e. how you type. There's the ABC, DEF tap style, QUERTY tap style, but also others such as things like Swype which I use. Something like Swype may be more comfortable for you. You get Swype by registering and downloading the App to your phone.

My Mum and Dad both have arthritic hands. They asked for Nokia 3510 as they had had them before. Bought 2 reconditioned ones from Ebay for £30 and they are getting on fine.