<p>As of last year, ATT won’t let you have a smartphone without a data plan of at least $30 a month on that phone. Even if you don’t want a data plan and don’t buy the phone through ATT, ATT automatically senses the phone, and adds the data plan charge to your bill.</p>
<p>I would like to know more about getting a credit card for the student that’s tied to the parent’s credit so the student gets a good credit rating and the student’s spending is monitored. Didn’t know that was available.</p>
<p>I have credit cards where I jointly applied with the kids. They have a card in their name as do I. Statements are mailed to our house, but they can view on-line. I never use the cards, so all the charges on the cards are the kids. IF they kids pay timely (they view statements online), I don’t get any statement because there is a zero balance. It has worked well for me and them. When I do get any statement, I call them to confirm that the charges were in fact made by they. The few charges they have made were all very minimal and I was fine with paying.</p>
<p>I don’t get the demonization of credit cards either. Why on earth would you not pay the full balance? If you’re not ready to pay the full balance, then you shouldn’t be buying what you’re buying.</p>
<p>With our non-smart phones, D has done fine on campus with her iPod Touch and free wifi. I’m sure eventually we will all be forced into smart phones since there were barely any basic phones out there when our contracts were up last time.</p>
<p>I learned after getting printers for my first two college kids that the ink costs too much, they had networking problems, they just stopped working, and they just used the free printing. Didn’t buy one for the third kid, no complaints. No smartphones either. Ipods with wifi are the answer, no data plans required, check your email to your heart’s content. For our family, this article was spot on. I realize that may not be the case for all students.</p>
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<li><p>Most colleges I know of…including urban ones don’t operate computer labs/printing facilities 24/7. This was certainly the case at my rural LAC.</p></li>
<li><p>If the weather at my rural LAC was bad enough for me to not go to the computer lab to print my stuff, it’s because the weather was such that the computer labs ended up being closed as a result. </p></li>
<li><p>Reliability of computer lab computers/printers can leave much to be desired due to abuse by students, understaffing, overcrowding/availability*, paper jabs/printer issues, accelerated wear from having many more users in a short period of time…especially during midterm/finals. </p></li>
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<li>While it doesn’t seem to be as bad as when I was in college, I still notice the college computer labs at several colleges in the NYC area still get crowded at times and suffer occasional breakdowns at the worst possible times for their users.</li>
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<p>Sounds like you probably purchased some low-end budget inkjets commonly marketed as “budget friendly” without factoring in:</p>
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<li><p>Expense of replacing ink at more frequent intervals than with b/w laser printers. One startup I worked for where the main printer was a budget inkjet cost $30/month for ink replacements for printing only a few hundred pages and had many maintenance headaches/breakdowns. In contrast, my first and still working laser printer cartridge works out to less than $7/year…and that’s printing several hundred pages/year. In 20 years…I’m still on my second cartridge and I print plenty of stuff out for myself over those years. Moreover, the print quality is better and I don’t have issues with inkjet printer head issues, ink drying out, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Build quality being so cheap many from what I’ve seen barely last six-months-year before they breakdown to the point I often see them dumped in garbage disposal areas by residential buildings and college campuses.</p></li>
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<p>Cobrat, once again, things have changed drastically since you were in college. Oberlin has multiple 24 hour printing facilities.</p>
<p>Many dirt cheap printers use a lot of ink. The manufacturers practically give away their printer and get you back when you buy the ink. One ink cartridge may cost as much as the printer.
Some printers use much less ink, (I am talking about 1/3, 1/4 the amount). You may have to pay a little more for the printers but they are worth the cost.</p>
<p>I don’t think your kid will develop personal credit on a card that’s held jointly with a parent. But a joint card can be quite convenient even if they don’t build credit. Kids may be able to get cards in their own names, but the credit limit will probably be low. (My son just got a Macy’s/AmEx card with a credit limit of $300.)</p>
<p>Personal credit can be built on a joint account but the kid has to be the primary card holder (not the parent).</p>