Fourth phone in four years, I finally got it right!
Written: Mar 28 '02 (Updated Mar 28 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good voice quality, easy to use, speakerphone on handset
Cons: A few user interface annoyances
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a cordless phone with speakerphone on the handset and integrated answerer, look no further. The Costco package is a great deal.
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| isewell's Full Review: Vtech VT 2461 2.4 GHz 1-Line Cordless Phone |
This is my fourth cordless phone in as many years, and I think I finally have a keeper! This time, I was looking for a cordless with speakerphone on the handset, an integrated answering machine (since eVoice died!), and preferably wall-mountable. I looked around at all the local electronic stores, comparing the models I liked there with epinions reviews. None of them seemed to have been written up well and fit my specs. Then, one day, while munching on samples at Costco, we happened on this phone, for $150 including two handsets.
In this review I will discuss the voice quality of the unit, the answering machine, setup, the user interface, the multi-handset, aethetics, and ruggedness.
Voice Quality
This is of course the most important characteristic of a cordless phone. This VTECH doesn't disappoint. We live in a 2000 square foot home, and there really isn't any corner of our house where it drops out. Even if it did, there is a handy "range-booster" feature which increases the power usage of the phone, but also increases the range.
Of course, I can still tell it's a cordless. I have yet to hear a cordless phone that is indistinguishable from a corded phone. But this phone comes the closest I have heard.
The only complaint I have about voice quality is that yes, sometimes, the sound does become garbled and the caller's voice takes on a harsh quality. In these situations, I would like to have a "Scan" button that would search for another frequency to use, but this doesn't exist.
The Answering Machine
The digital answerer is very good quality. Setup is easy to do, checking messages remotely is easy, with voice guided instructions. You can have multiple mailboxes, but for us simple folk, one is just fine. The only complaint I have with the answerer is that I can't check messages from the handset, so the base station has to be in a fairly prominent location. Also, there is no indication on the handset that there is a message waiting.
Setting Up
Because this cordless is multi-unit, it is necessary to enter the base code ID into the handset the first time you use it. This is only once, and instructions guide you through it. Setting the time/day is easy (although I noticed the other day that it had lost the date, maybe I didnt install a battery)
The User Interface
The user interface is well done. There are some annoyances I will mention:
- Volume control on handset is on the main face of the phone, not on the side, so you can't change the volume without letting your caller know what you're doing.
- There is no simple one-button "redial" button. You have to first hit redial, then scroll down at least once (??) to the most recently dialed number, then hit dial. Who thought up that one??
Speakerphone
The speakerphone was one of the main reasons we bought it. It's not great, but I've heard much worse from other phones. The belt clip attachment unfortunately covers the back of the phone where the speaker/mic is, so taking off the belt clip helps. It would sure be nice to have a muted speakerphone option where I can still use the handset, but also pipe the sound out through the speaker. No such luck. Overall though, the feature works as expected and is certainly very usable. You have to talk "towards" the phone though, so if you're doing something else, you still have to be aware of where the phone is.
Multi-Unit
We were not looking for a multi-unit phone, so this was just sort of a bonus, but we're sure glad we have it. Of course, the two handsets embarassingly often end up sitting next to one another in the room farthest from where we are when it rings, but overall, we're glad we have it. Paging from one handset to another is easy. It's strange, however, that even with two handsets, I have to scroll up and down to indicate which handset I want to page! I'm guessing that part of the UI firmware was written by a co-op student...
Ruggedness
The phone seems pretty tough, although in the few months we've owned it, we've already managed to break off the belt clip (they mailed us a new one free, no problem) and one of the covers for the headset plug in. Nothing too dramatic.
Aesthetics
The handsets are small and compact, but are very easy to hold, they feel comfortable in the hand. When resting face down, I've noticed the phone actually rests on the bottom row of the plastic number buttons, which is odd, but I don't think it'll break anything.
Technically, yes, the base unit wall-mounts. But not in a way that's visually pleasing or that useful! It doesn't rotate to sit flush with the wall. Instead, it has an attachment that lets you clip it to the wall, but it just stands away from it, leaving an awkward space underneath.
The handsets and base are a greyish black. We would have preferred an all-white phone, but they seem to be few and far between. It's certainly not supremely ugly like some of the black monstrosities we've had in the past, but it's not winning any cordless pageants, either.
The recharger unit is small and nondescript, but remember that it's just a recharger. It doesn't ring, or serve any other purpose.
Comparisons
As I mentioned, this is my fourth phone in four years. Others have included a crappy $30-after-mail-in-rebate VTECH special, a Panasonic KXT (see my review), and a SONY SPP-ID910 (see my review). This has the best sound quality of all of them, and is worth the extra money I spent to get it.
Hopefully, this will be my last epinion review of a cordless phone in a very long time! Thanks for reading.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
isewell
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Ian Sewell
Location: Santa Rosa
Reviews written: 57
Trusted by: 19 members
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