Orange - which "animal" for my 11yo daughter?

[MaryBS]

Have just bought DD her first phone, ready for starting secondary school. She gets extras, apparently, through joining dolphin, monkey, etc etc. I don't know which one to choose for her. She won't be accessing the internet but extra free texts are useful. She also likes music, but does she need internet access for that or can we use the PC to download then put it on her phone?

Anything I should be aware of - eg if we choose music downloads, will she use up all her credit inadvertantly by using this feature?

TIA

Why don't you let her choose? Give her the information and let her make her own decision? You just set a limit for top up each month and she then chooses which she feels is best for her.

It will give her a sense of independence, she'll probably like the responsibility and appreciate her parents trusting her to make this "important" decision.

The problem is, understanding the choices! She doesn't, and to be honest neither do I (although I am IT literate).

For example, if she has free music, does this mean that she has free access to the music on the internet, or does it mean she can download the music to her phone?

I think the music option is for download into the phone (not via laptop),

I saw *> this

When buying an 'extra' the 5 pounds for "unlimited" texts (actually a fair use limit of 100 a day applies) for a month only available for Dolphin, Monkey or Canary customers, which might influence the choice for your DD, as she will no doubt still want to text some friends from her current school and will want to be able to exchange texts with new friends too...

well, since new phone... still want to contact existing friends, and given they may also now have mobiles...

*> Animals

Just for info - a heavy graphic web page might use 1 MB alone, so 2 MB/day "free" is almost useless, and I'd avoid Monkey as a package, though it might be easy enough to switch after trying it for a month, say...

Thanks, thats really helpful :)

DS and I both have dolfin. We top up by £10 every month and get about 10 hours Internet free, we mostly use Facebook and random google type Internet. 400 free texts a month and then the 10 pound goes towards actual calls. We have had this for over a year and neither of us have gone over yet.

I don't see why she can't understand the choices. Surely she knows what minutes & texts are.

If she chooses one and doesn't like it after a month, she can change it (with your help). The idea is to teach them to make their own decisions and understand that if you make a mistake, change it.

Soft lessons like that are far more important as they get older than academics.

Niceguy - DD has (presumably) not had a mobile phone before (or that's how it looked to me!)

The information on the Orange web site is sketchy, for those who aren't familiar with what to look for - if you've seen a comparison table laying out the 5 packages and how much internet traffic, how many texts, how many free minutes, and what they all cost, please give a link, because that seems sadly lacking in their marketing, AFAICS.

Obviously Orange isn't the only player in town, and depending on the mobile, there may be close to nil useful information to help a customer set up their phone (I have the Alcatel OT-606 on Orange, and know it can be used for the web [as I have used that on my unlocked OT-606 with an Asda SIM] but can I see how to get the settings from Orange, can I hell, and their 'automatic setup' doesn't include my model, presumably as it is bargain basement end!).

For MaryBS - like missnevermind I'd be inclined towards the Dolphin account though in truth, you can get a SIM and choose later - the online account facility reminds you to choose (but I suspect that's because they rather like the idea of regular income - at 10 quid a month, it moves from being 'PAYG' to a 'tenner a month but no contract').

People like me just top up with a fiver or tenner every few months, and don't boost their coffers that much - and I've never paid a monthly fee in 15 years with different PAYG mobiles.

As networkguy says (thank you again!). She hasn't had a mobile before. Yes she knows what texts and minutes are, and also knows to ignore the annoying junk texts she is already getting. What was not clear, for example, is that if you sign up to music, it appears it doesn't download the music to the phone, rather it streams it over the internet. And like Networkguy says, usage and usage costs aren't clear.

Yes I could let her make her own mistakes, but in an informed way, rather than uninformed "lets pick this one and see what it does". She is having a phone primarily so that if she gets stuck, she can phone for help. If she uses all her credit by downloading too much "stuff", then she will learn a lesson, but also it will leave her without the lifeline that the phone is there for in the first place! And lets not forget that she is only 11!!!!!

Don't forget there is the 'reserve tank' of 250p (which should allow for emergencies, and I assume does not automatically start being used without the user confirming they wish to use it), so she should not get into a position to be completely bereft of service even if she had managed to use up all the month's credit in the first week...

It has to be repaid so the next top-up repays Orange the 250p (admittedly that's only 12.5 minutes of talking or 20 text messages, but 1 text home should carry enough if she was stuck without any easy way to get back home).

Yes I saw that, thanks, although I don't think thats available on all tariffs, also the magic numbers (I am also on Orange/T mobile, mainly because it works in our house, any other provider and we have to go outside!)

reserve tank not available on Racoon, I think, which is the one with no magic numbers, pretty much nothing but cheaper per minute calls and no 'free' texts / 'free' minutes added when you top-up.

I know the feeling about different networks. My mobiles switch Orange/ T-Mob/ Orange from upstairs down to the kitchen, while Asda (Vodafone) works in part of the kitchen but not all through the house.