<p>Trying to decide whether to upgrade to a smart phone for my son who will be attending Colby College as a Freshman in the Fall. I've actually been encouraging him to consider getting an iPhone. Money is pretty tight though and here's my question: Would it be workable to use an Itouch with the campus wifi instead in order to save the monthly data plan charges? (And just keep the non-smart phone?)</p>
<p>You could probably get by using a wifi only type device that’s non-Apple if you’re looking to save money, as well.</p>
<p>It also depends on how extensive their wifi coverage is. If it’s good outside buildings, then it’ll work. If it’s only in some buildings, then it might not matter.</p>
<p>Depending on how much you’re paying in phone charges currently, you could also look at non-contract plans. Some carriers like Metro PCS, Virgin Wireless, T-Mobile, etc offer monthly plans for less than $40. Only caveat is you need to buy the phone up front. After a few months you’ll have made up the difference, though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! I’ve figured we will probably stay with Verizon… He has a sister at SUNY Purchase with an Iphone and we have the Verizon family plan. My son is not nearly as insistent he needs a smart phone but I want him to be able to get emails and to interact with his peers, and according to some EVERYONE has an IPhone HAHA. I myself have an IPad Mini which uses Wifi only and I have a cheap non-smart phone I which works great for me.</p>
<p>Colby’s website says the Wifi works most everywhere on campus so just mulling my options…</p>
<p>Dancincorgi – I would advise against getting an iphone, especially if money is tight.</p>
<p>There are a number of Android smartphones that do everything an iphone does and are MUCH cheaper. Using an Android, you can still text, e-mail, create calenders, use wi-fi to search the web, access social media (facebook), etc. I have a Samsung Galaxy S III powered by Android, and it works great.</p>
<p>[iPhone</a> or Android? The Case for Each - Digits - WSJ](<a href=“iPhone or Android? How to Choose The Best Phone for You - WSJ”>iPhone or Android? How to Choose The Best Phone for You - WSJ)</p>
<p>I suggest you speak to someone at BestBuy about the difference bewteen an iphone and an Android. If you end up buying an Android, you’ll save a bunch of money.</p>
<p>Also check out this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1497757-smart-phones-college-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1497757-smart-phones-college-students.html</a></p>
<p>I have an Android and I love it. It is true that pretty much everyone has an iphone. I was in my history class (of about 40 students) and one girl asked a question about an iphone update and literally there were only about four or five of us who didn’t have iphones. The large majority of students are going to have smartphones.</p>
<p>I would go with an android if you’re looking to save money. Verizon is incredibly expensive, so you might actually be able to save money taking your son off of the family plan, but I understand wanting to stay.</p>
<p>I would definitely want to have smartphone before going off to college. While an ipod touch could do the necessary work, I would personally prefer to just have a phone, because there are times when I don’t really have room to carry two things. It’s also more difficult to keep up with two different devices.</p>
<p>A smartphone isn’t necessary though. My roommate only just got an iphone about a month ago. (So she made it through almost four semesters without one.) Before that, she just had a regular texting phone that was about to fall apart because she had had it for four or five years.</p>
<p>I used your model - feature phone for calls and texts and an iPod Touch on WiFi for other things and it was a bit of a pain carrying around two devices and keeping them charged. I got an iPhone 5 with a pricey data plan and now just carry around one device - so life is easy. My son got my iPod Touch and he does the two-device thing.</p>
<p>Our daughter has an Android smartphone that I got her last summer for a trip. She had a prepaid feature phone before that with AT&T. It cost $100/year for service - she doesn’t make a lot of phone calls or text messages on the voice side. I took the SIM card out of her feature phone and put it into the unlocked Android smartphone and it worked. She could call or text on the smartphone and she disabled cellular data on it and only uses the data features when she has WiFi. This works well for her on campus. She can use the cellular network for data but it is relatively expensive compared to plans that include data. So she has cellular data access if she needs it in an emergency.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you can do this on an iPhone with AT&T and Verizon. The SIM card in the iPhone 5 is different from the feature phones that we’ve had in the past and the major telecom carriers may lock iPhones down or require higher levels of service compared to other phones.</p>