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Our son wants a Droid 2

M

mountainlover

Android Enthusiast
He is eligible for an upgrade and with the current promo Verizon is offering, it's a good time to upgrade him to a smartphone. I don't know that I want to spend $150 on a phone for a kid though. I'm also not too crazy about the Droid 2. (no offense, we all have different taste) I love my Droid x and I like the look of the Incredible and the Fascinate.

Do you think that's too much phone for a 14 year old? Would you buy him the phone he wants or pick what we think would be the best phone for him?
 
You are asking a lot of questions that have to do with parenting styles and not phones. When I was 14 I had a regular phone. From 15 on I have had smartphones, but I also worked a real job that required me to have access to email, even when I was at school. Most kids aren't like that.
It's a really cool phone, and has a lot of features that he will probably use. It could also dominate his life. Spending all day texting or playing angry birds. It really depends on the kid and your parenting style.

Talking about the phone specifically, if its a physical keyboard he wants then the Droid 2 is the way to go. If he prefers touch screen only, then the other phones you mentioned would be great options, but would still carry with them the same questions about giving him a phone with that much capability.
 
I don't have to worry about a phone dominating his life...nothing could take the place of his video games. I guess I just don't like the Droid 2. I had the Droid, didn't like it so I returned it and went back to my Curve. Then I got the Droid X and love it. I found the Droid too clunky. He loves texting so he thinks he wants a physical keyboard. However, I think he could adjust quickly, just as I did. I guess I would like to buy whatever I could get the best deal on between the phones I mentioned. If he had put this on his Christmas list it wouldn't have been a big deal, but of course he just brought this up today and we've already bought all his Christmas presents.
 
The software on the DX and D2 is near identical. As far as I am concerned, it comes down to personal preference. I wanted a physical keyboard and I am very happy with my Droid 2. If you post this in the X forum, you will hear the opposite. As a side note, the D2 will probably be cheaper.
 
loomer said:
If video games already dominate his life, what harm could a smart phone do?
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I didn't say they dominate his life. lol Although he does use all the time we allow. He also considered a gifted student, enjoys writing computer programs and was on the football team. When I asked if it was too much phone for a 14 year old, it was because we have parental controls set on his computer. Is this something we can do on an android phone? If not, i assume he could get to inappropriate material...
 
My own parenting style is: my daughter isn't 14 just yet, but when she is if she's responsible and respectful and earns it, i'll get her whatever phone she wants. It's also good cause it gives you more power over them. "You didn't take out the garbage? Oh. Have fun with your old brick phone this weekend, cause the d2 is going on craigslist!"

I haven't seen any parental controls for the browser. For you that may be an issue depending on your kid's maturity, but at 14 they're approaching adulthood anyway. He could look up whatever inappropriate/shocking crap online from his friends' computer or anywhere else if he was really determined to. If you decide to give him this kickass piece of machinery, you're gonna have to just trust him with it. If you see monkey porn on there, maybe take away the phone for a couple days and ask about his taste in...uh...primal woman

I don't think you mentioned. Is he working? Earning stuff? I make my daughter beg for stuff. But that's just for my own fun. Nothing to do with parenting at all
 
Well i am 18 and i guess a spoiled brat haha
But i also have a job and buy my stuff for myself(have for the past few years)

IDK much about a Droid 2...

But my first question would be
if you were buying a smartphone for your son
wouldn't it be what phone he'd like that is within your price range?

meaning, you don't like the droid 2(because of your opinion of the droid 1) but if he likes it and its in your price range...what's wrong with him getting it?

Maybe i am misunderstanding but anyway
why dont u look into buying the Droid 2
from walmart
for 39.99

I saw it in there just a few days ago...
Even the Droid X is cheap as well as an Incredible is Free...

Or look at Wirefly, Dell, Amazon, and best buy
 
CaptainObvious said:
I don't think you mentioned. Is he working? Earning stuff? I make my daughter beg for stuff. But that's just for my own fun. Nothing to do with parenting at all
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Working? He will be 14 later this month...still too young to work. He does chores around the house for an allowance. He's not begging for this phone at all. He's begging for either a new gaming computer or upgrades (new graphics card, power supply and memory) for his current computer, and for Call of Duty Black Ops for his xbox. lol With that said, he would still love to get a new smart phone.
 
carmendiva said:
Well i am 18 and i guess a spoiled brat haha
But i also have a job and buy my stuff for myself(have for the past few years)

IDK much about a Droid 2...

But my first question would be
if you were buying a smartphone for your son
wouldn't it be what phone he'd like that is within your price range?

meaning, you don't like the droid 2(because of your opinion of the droid 1) but if he likes it and its in your price range...what's wrong with him getting it?

Maybe i am misunderstanding but anyway
why dont u look into buying the Droid 2
from walmart
for 39.99

I saw it in there just a few days ago...
Even the Droid X is cheap as well as an Incredible is Free...

Or look at Wirefly, Dell, Amazon, and best buy
Click to expand...

Yeah, he's kinda spoiled too. It's just so fun to make our kids happy. (yeah, yeah, we do spend time lots of time with him, but we also enjoy spoiling him as long as he appreciates what we do for him.) We have looked at Best Buy and they have the Incredible for free. When I mentioned that, he said he that would work too. However, when I did the online chat with them, they said they can't do the smart phone upgrade promo. I'm going to our local Best Buy today to ask in person. I was also planning on checking with Costco. You have a good point about it being for him and not me...truth be told, when I laid my eyes on the Fascinate last night, I thought about giving him my X and buying that for myself. lol Then I remembered how much I love my X...but that Fascinate is sharp!

I didn't look at Walmart, maybe I will. I had read on here (I think it was on here) that Walmart has good prices, but that they change your plans to more expensive ones. Is that not true?
 
choose the one you think fit him.
smile.gif
 
ArthurIhde said:
choose the one you think fit him.
smile.gif
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I did! I got him the Incredible at Best Buy for FREE! :cool: I was also able to take advantage of Verizon's current upgrade to a smart phone promotion, so we don't have to pay the $9.99 add a line talk for his line anymore. Long story short, he now has a smart phone and it's only going to cost us $10 a month more and I only spent $40 or so at Best Buy buying him a charger and screen protectors. Love it!
 
I think the D2 would be an excellent choice; I just got one myself and I'm very happy with it. I didn't think I would like the physical keyboard, but having used it for some time, I just can't go back to an on-screen keyboard.

Performance wise I think it's on par with the Droid X, so if he likes that phone, he'll probably like how the D2 runs.
 
When I was 14 I had a Samsung not-so smart phone. I finally got a BB Storm when I was 16 (worst experience with a smart phone EVERRRRRRR! and too bad it was my 1st smart phone at that. way to start me off blackberry! haha).

Anyway, I cleaned my smart phone slate and jumped to Android by picking up an Eris which was another sour phone. Then a DROID which popped my rooting and hacking cherry. Now I have a DROID2 which is my best Android phone so far. I love it so freakin much!

The thing is, with all these new smart phones out today, many teens are skipping the NOT-smart phone stage and jumping into smart phones for their 1st phones (if they already didnt have a phone before they became a teenager).

I would say the DROID2 is a pretty good phone for him.

If he has small hands, don't get him a DROIDX. I have large hands and still cant use my friends DROIDX with one hand. Your son will have to use it with 2 hands with all the time which isnt really convenient. trust me.
 
Since he will be driving soon and will be texting in driving I would recommend a physical keyboard. I am able to completely type messages without looking at my phone when I use a physical keyboard. When I use a touchscreen keyboard I find myself swerving quite often.
 
Thornfullessrose said:
If he has small hands, don't get him a DROIDX. I have large hands and still cant use my friends DROIDX with one hand. Your son will have to use it with 2 hands with all the time which isnt really convenient. trust me.
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I have the X and love it, but it wasn't really a consideration for him. I am a female and I manage to do a lot of stuff with one hand, but not everything. It just takes some getting use to. He wanted the Droid 2, but since I was able to get him the Incredible for free at Best Buy today, that's what I decided to go with. He will be home from school soon and I'm excited to see his reaction.
 
SaleenFiend said:
Since he will be driving soon and will be texting in driving I would recommend a physical keyboard. I am able to completely type messages without looking at my phone when I use a physical keyboard. When I use a touchscreen keyboard I find myself swerving quite often.
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Texting while driving? Yikes! I hope he has learned from our example not to do that. They say that's more dangerous than drinking and driving. If I did catch him doing that (when he's old enough), I would take his car away. Call me a mean mom, but I want my child to live a long time!
 
mountainlover said:
Texting while driving? Yikes! I hope he has learned from our example not to do that. They say that's more dangerous than drinking and driving. If I did catch him doing that (when he's old enough), I would take his car away. Call me a mean mom, but I want my child to live a long time!
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It's nice to hope that he wouldn't text and drive, but it's going to happen. I'm just telling you it's easier for me and other people to use a physical keyboard in this situation. I usually only text while driving if I feel it's important and like I said... I notice a HUGE diff! I usually wait till I'm at a stop sign/light to text with a touchscreen.
 
It this a question about parenting or if the droid would be good for him? Or both?

As a parent, I say no. My kid is 18 but he wouldn't be getting any phone of this caliber on my dime if he was any age, let alone 14.

That said, since you are getting him a phone, why not get him what he wants?
 
Well, good...
How did he react?
I bet if he is 13...14 next month
i think you said?

that he just loved it :)

the incredible was an OKAY phone for me when i had it :P
 
He is a teen, so by his very nature he is a douche. Ten bucks says he hates it since it isn't exactly what he wants. :P
 
carmendiva said:
Well, good...
How did he react?
I bet if he is 13...14 next month
i think you said?

that he just loved it :)
Click to expand...

You are right, he loves it! He was kissing and hugging me and telling me how much he loves me and how awesome his phone is! A reaction I don't get to see much at his age.

JustinHEMI said:
He is a teen, so by his very nature he is a douche. Ten bucks says he hates it since it isn't exactly what he wants. :P
Click to expand...

Good guess, but he loves it.

Side note: Now I'm debating on if I'm going to take him to the midnight release tonight for video game he wants. He said it would be the perfect ending for a perfect day. He even went to bed at 9 so he could get plenty of sleep for school.
 
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