Not The Highest Technology, But It Certainly Gets The Job Done
Written: Jul 21 '06 (Updated Aug 28 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easily portable for students, good range, easy to operate, lightweight, compact.
Cons: Not the most advanced technologically advanced, no display, only one color to chose from.
The Bottom Line: Its a great buy for an extra phone or for a college dorm/apt. If you're looking for inexpensive and easy to use this couldn't be a better match for you.
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| ace3502's Full Review: General Electric 27990GE3 2.4 GHz 1-Line Cordless ... |
I purchased the GE 27990 Cordless Phone just before my sophomore year at college. It was a rushed day and I needed a phone on the run and I happened to see this cheap phone with an answering machine on the display rack at Circuit City. Being the poor college student I was, I wasn't shopping for the highest technology and best quality phone so the price was right at less than $15 and I purchased it.
Once I took it out of the box I was surprised at how compact it was. The base was less than 5 inches wide maybe 5 inches deep, and less than 4 high at its peak (the base slopes downward from back to front and the base is in the shape of a right triangle of sorts.)
The Buttons
The phone itself was very light, very simple and concise. A volume control with a talk button to turn it on and a mute button parallel to it. The standard numbers of course, with a redial button and memory button, above the standard numbers, which is used to program frequently dialed numbers.
The memory is easy to program with the help of the manual and once you do it once or twice it's easy to get the hang of. There are 10 different slots for memory numbers corresponding to the numbers 0 through 9. The only down side to this is there is no display or indication of which number is where so unless you have an excellent memory I would recommend writing down the names and corresponding numbers next to the phone for easy recollection.
At the bottom of the phone there is a channel button used to change the frequency of the signal received from the base. This option I didn't use very often because I had good reception almost all of the time. The few times I did have to use it, it made very little difference. Next to that is the option to turn the ringer on or off, and finally the flash button used to click over for anyone with the call waiting option.
The Answering Machine
I was quite shocked at the ease of use and programming/setting of the answering machine. It is extraordinarily easy to record your greeting, and turn it on or off. The buttons couldn't be more simple on the base to review your messages, threes a play/stop - used to play or stop the messages which lights up when the phone is on and blinks when you have messages (there is also a small clear LCD display in red telling you the number of messages that are on the machine which also flashes when you have new messages), skip or reverse - to cycle through the messages, answer on/off - to turn the answering machine to your desired setting, announce - which records your greeting on the answering machine, and erase - to erase the messages that were left for you by callers that you no longer need to listen to. The side of the phone also has a few buttons on it, day/min/hour - which allow you to set the appropriate date and time which it will read off at the beginning of each message, and a simple volume control which allows you to turn the volume of the base up or down when listening to your messages.
The base also has an option on the back that says 3 or 5, this simply lets you select the number of rings you would like to go through before the answering machine picks up.
The memory on the machine is surprisingly pretty good. At one time I had over 15 messages saved on the machine that I just hadn't deleted and it never gave me a message saying that the memory was full, which I was pretty happy about. That at least allowed me to save the paper and just cycle to the appropriate message I needed to hear again for various information.
One feature I found is when someone leaves you a message, after your greeting has played, which you can not hear but you become aware that the machine has picked up due to a tiny click which engages the greeting, you are allowed to screen the call and hear the message being left for you, which is certainly nice seeing as how the phone does not have a display for caller ID.
There is an optional security code, which you can set that allows you to call the phone from any location, input this code, and listen to your messages when you are away from home. This is a handy little feature which is very easy to use and the concise instructions on the back of the base and in the manual walk you right through using it.
The base has a small, approximately less than a half inch, antenna that sticks up towards the top of the base which is great because it keeps bulky antennas from getting in the way, and the phone also has the same small antenna on top of it to receive the signal, making it compact and as I said before, less awkward since it does not have a long antenna you have to pull out.
Two tiny features I did like, and they're so simple and stupid, was that the top of the phone, the antenna, flashes red when the phone is ringing. It made things easy for me in my dark dorm room if anyone called at night to find it and get a hold of it. And the second was that you can chose different ringers when people call so that is acoustically pleasing to you when you are getting calls from people. I suppose simple things amuse me. :)
The Range
The phone did pretty well range wise. Certainly sufficient for an apartment, but might be a little static if you have a large house where you would be considerably far from the base. As you advance farther and farther from the base it worsens very quickly and becomes almost inaudible if you are too far, but as I said for a dorm room or apartment it is more than sufficient.
Battery Life
I used it frequently, over 2 or 3 hours a day sometimes and never got a low battery signal or lost any audio quality due to the battery. It lasted me pretty long and was sufficient if I left it off of the charger for a day or so. But like any phone I would recommend you keep it charged.
The Very Few Downsides
Honestly the only downside I can see to the phone is the LCD display. Since it doesn't have one you are unable to see who is calling if you have the caller ID feature, also when dialing a number you aren't able to see if you made a mistake in dialing. Also, from what I saw in the store, the phone only came in black, which isn't a big deal, but if you are looking for variety you may not find it here.
Thanks so much for reading if you lasted this long, (who knew a cheap little portable phone would take up such a long review) lol.
Please Take A Look At My Other Electronics Reviews:
Car Stereo - JVC KD S550
Cell Phone - LG VX 9800
Clock Radio - GE 7-4894
Cordless Phone - Vtech VT-1922
DVD Player - Panasonic-RV300
DVD Player - Toshiba-SD2109
Home Stereo - Aiwa NSX-115
© Copyright 2006 - ace3502
Recommended:
Yes
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ace3502
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Member: Andrew
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
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