Cellphone for Grandma

January 9, 2009 4:03 PM

Which of 3 cellphones should my mom (75) pick -- Motorola Moto W755, Samsung SCHU430, or LG VX8360?

Her carrier (Unicell) is folding into Verizon, and those are her 3 free choices. She wants the simplest, and as her technical help desk, I heartily agree. (To be fair though she is not scared of tech and is game to learn new stuff.) She will probably use this only for phoning, texting and as an address book.

I realize there was a similar previous question but the models and user needs are different.

posted by msalt to technology (4 answers total)

I would suggest if she has previously had a phone from any of the offered companies to go with that one merely for continuity's sake in the OS.

There aren't a myriad of requirements that the phone has to fulfill so far as I can tell, so they are all pretty much on equal standing. If there are any preferences besides being able to make phone calls and have an address book, those would be good to know to help narrow down the choices.
posted by kirstk at 5:47 PM on January 9, 2009

Perhaps she should consider which one has the easiest to read screen & buttons, & which one has the best sound quality.
posted by TDIpod at 11:09 PM on January 9, 2009

Thanks. Really no requirements beside phone text and address book, just readability and minimum number of clicks required for tasks + most intuitive interface.
posted by msalt at 1:21 AM on January 10, 2009

Go to a verizon store and see which she prefers in terms of style, size, feel, etc.

Those are all fine little phones - I was in a similar situation and got my mom the VX8350 which has intuitive UI, a reasonable size, loud speakers (in ear and ringer), and looks "normal." My mother in law ended up with the Moto 755 which she is also fine with.

If I had to buy one today I'd get the LG simply based on my personal success with them and limited success with Motorola ... several great LGs and some problems with Motorolas.
posted by unclezeb at 11:48 AM on January 10, 2009