I am with Straight Talk and pretty happy with the unlimited text, talk, and data for $45. My daughter has an iPhone, but has had all kinds of problems with it. Thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate it.

Lots of choices! To answer your questions more directly, you want an unlocked phone if at all possible. An unlocked phone can be moved to a different carrier if you have issues with your current carrier's service where you need to use the phone. Unlocking also can let you move to a carrier offering a lower-cost plan.

Some phones can be unlocked by the carrier after you pay for a number of months of service with them. These might be an option if you know you'll be happy enough with that carrier for as long as you need to use them.

In your price range, it will be hard to find even a recent iPhone. If you're looking at smartphones, you'll be considering Android phones. Or you'll be looking at "feature" phones (the old non-smart kind). There may still be a few Windows Phone models that look like screamin' deals. Don't do it -- Windows Phone is a great OS but it is a technical dead end.

You could buy a refurbished phone; that will save some money and some potential grief. Several manufacturers sell refurbs at their Web sites; carriers do, too. Usually this is a recent-model phone which has been cleaned up and batteries replaced so it is, effectively, a new phone for you; they carry the manufacturer's usual warranty.

You also could buy a used phone, but, in your situation, I don't recommend it. For one, smartphones often are tied to cloud storage provider accounts and/or bought on purchase contracts which must be satisfied before the phone can be moved to another account. Many sellers don't clear things up appropriately. Second, phones live hard lives. Buying a phone someone else has used for a couple of years exposes you to however they stored or dropped the phone and/or abused the screen and battery. Paying to fix that negates much of what you save in buying a new phone. And you likely will have no warranty recourse on a phone that old.

I'm not really familiar with the Android smartphone landscape (we're an Apple house). Features you could look for: removable battery; slot for additional memory; the quality of the camera (if you plan to take pictures with it); a bright screen that renders colors accurately. Consider screen size -- bigger screens are nice to look at but it makes the phone harder to stow in a pocket or even for those with smaller hands or limited mobility to use.

If you can, find out if the phone you're considering will get future Android operating-system and security updates (no phone will be supported forever, but the older the phone and the smaller the manufacturer's phone business, the less likely they'll bother accommodating updates).

Good luck!

Straight Talk, which is owned by TracFone, seems to offer several phones in your price range. I'm not sure what problems your daughter has had with an iphone but ST seems to have refurbished ones at reasonable prices. Or, one of their Android phones should also provide reasonable service.

Not that it matters, but Straight Talk, TracFone, and the other similar second tier providers don't have their own network but rather piggyback on the networks of the big guys. Depending on where you live and what phone you have, the carrier could be Verizon, or AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.

TracFone can be cheaper than Straight Talk, depending on what plan fits your usage needs. Good luck.

I'm in a location where the only provider is Verizon. Sometimes I have friends visiting me who have phones which use the Verizon network, but they don't work as well - I think these shared carriers don't always work too well. Before I had Verizon, I had AT&T but I moved to a location where there is no AT&T service. I bought a Verizon "pay-as-you-go" phone, which did work, but not as well as a contract phone. My wife and I are now the happy owners of two iPhones, on Verizon.

The secondary carriers who use the infrastructure of the bigger guys will tailor which phones (using which networks) they offer to a given customer for use, depending on the location.

I may have mentioned in another thread but for those who may have inconsistent cell reception at home, newer Android and iPhones from mainstream carriers have a telephone Wifi mode that can be enabled. After turning this on (on my 7.0 Android version, it's at Settings, Advanced Calling, Wifi calling) simply enable Airplane Mode, then turn on Wifi and connect to your home system. Besides the obvious data connection using Wifi, your phone calls and text messages will also route over Wifi and you will enjoy a much better connection. I do that myself just as a matter of course.

Thanks, everyone, for all the information; lots of things to think about; I think shopping for a new phone is like shopping for a car: too many colors, too many bells and whistles to consider. Thank you all very much.

I think phones are easier. Choose the carrier, then decide what system you want - Apple or Android, just two to choose from - and then pick the model that would seem to meet your needs and price range.

I think cars are easier - just two brands to choose from - Lamborghini or Maserati, color Red, then pick the model - Blonde or Brunette.