Need wireless phone advice

[wgseligman]

My father's birthday is coming up, and he'd like to get himself a new phone. I'm doing the research to recommend a phone for him. I could use some advice. Here are the requirements:

The absolutely non-negotiable parts:

• Pay-as-you-go voice/text and data plans. He makes a call on his cell phone about once every six months, maybe less. His only use for text is to occasionally send a message to his grandchildren, who generally never pick up on rings but will respond immediately to text.


• QWERTY keyboard. His current non-smartphone uses a standard keypad for text entry, and he can't stand it.

The potentially-optional parts:

• Wi-fi access, to make it easier to download audiobooks, because...


• The only app-related activity he'd do with the phone is listen to audiobooks from Audible.com. This means the phone has to run iTunes or Audible's app, since all of Audible's books are DRM-protected.

That last bullet point requires a smartphone running iOS, Android, Windows Phone, or a Blackberry. The pay-as-you-go requirement appears to limit it to Android phones from T-mobile, using their GoPhone plan. (I know about the trick to get a GoPhone plan working on an iPhone, but I think that's too much of a hassle for him.)

So my first question is: Are my above conclusions correct?

My next question is, which of AT&T's phones to get? I see two likely candidates:

myTouch Q. It's relatively inexpensive, but it gets medium reviews. The best I could say for it is that my father has low expectations, so this might satisfy him.

Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G. Full-featured but pricey. Of course, all smartphones are going to cost a lot up front in exchange for a pay-as-you-go plan.

Any recommendations?

Comments

Galaxy

[(Anonymous)]

I don't have a lot of expertise, but the Galaxy 4G (I have the Sprint version) is an awesome phone. It is feature heavy, has a beautiful, easy-to-read screen, and you can reset the home page to a simple, low-tech version for tech-phobic users.

Deborah