is a blackberry a suitable replacement for a 2nd gen ipod touch ^and^ a mobile phone?

[chipmunksex]

DS (13) wants to trade in his old ipod (that he plays with everyday) and his phone to buy a new blackberry.

At first I thought he was mad-he doesn't use his phone very much, but I'm coming around, if it will do the job of both iykwim.

Are the apps any good? Is it easy to use/upgrade and so on?

does he want it for the apps, or does he want it for Blackberry Messenger, which all his mates probably have? BBM lets you send messages between blackberries free of charge, which is why they are so popular with teenagers.

the apps are not great tbh, there's not a whole lot available.

He hasn't mentioned the bbm, but that could be it, some of his friends have them.

I'm a bit worried that he'll miss the ipod and should probably upgrade that instead and stick with his perfectly good (less than 6 months old) samsung mobile.

He's a bit obsessed though.

That's what I'm thinking, if I could get one on 12 month contract, I might consider it, but 2 years is a long time for a teenage boy. Who was desperate for his current phone 6 months ago.

I'm getting it in the neck though- I'm so mean, his current phone is crap etc. etc. He is stamping around his bedroom now.

What's his phone and network ?

I know there's been a trend towards the BB by teens in last 6 months but no idea why, and with bottom end PAYG at around 120 you may be better off moving his SIM to a newly bought BB if model he wants is under 150 (no new 2 year contract as you are possibly paying for current phone in current monthly fees) .

He's on PAYG at the moment with tesco, he has a samsung chat (I think) it's quite a nice phone in that bracket I think. I think I've come to conclusion that in order to get a phone that would be good enough to replace the ipod aswell he would need to be spending more than the £200-250 that it would cost for the 2 things iykwim. So pointless-he uses his phone a couple of times a week, so really don't think a contract would be worth it from that point of view either.

He has £40 and ideas above his station.

Hmmm, I picked up a used Samsung Chat for 30 quid a little while ago. Yes, a nice mobile and I find it good for texting, though lots of features I don't (yet) use on it.

"ideas above his station" LOL

Think that keeping the existing kit will be best - doubt that much other than an iPhone will give same music playing ability when compared with the iPod he has, and for the love of $DEITY they're hellishly expensive, aren't they!