I Got It Mom, It's For Me!
Written: Dec 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 10 number memory, headset, clear reception, inexpensive
Cons: Doesn't not have a speaker phone feature
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| mar6732's Full Review: Vtech VT 9111 900 MHz - Cordless Phone |
Last month we celebrated my daughter's 12th birthday with a small family party at home (a big party with her friends would follow in a few more weeks). She was in a wonderful mood, in fact probably the best mood she had been in for months. That wonderful mood soon turned sour, and we could not understand why. In fact at one point when her cousins began playing games, she ran up to her room & slammed her door. I was completely puzzled! After all, she had received many nice gifts for her birthday, ones that she had been asking for, so why in the world would she be so upset? So I decided to venture up into her room to try to find out what was troubling my oldest child (brave aren't I?). I found her in the corner of her room holding a "sale paper" in her hands, crying. She said "Mom, I told you I wanted a phone for my birthday! In fact I circled one that I liked in this sale paper, and you didn't even look at it." And then I realized, that the one gift my daughter had said that she wanted most of all, she didn't receive - a cordless phone.
About 6 months ago, after spending the night at her best friend's house, my daughter came home & informed us that she needed a V Tech cordless phone (preferably the blue one) for her room. "What? A cordless phone? No, I don't think so! First of all you're too young for a phone in your room; second of all we already have four phones in this house & you know you're allowed to use any of them at any time. Why do you think you need to have one in your room?" "Never mind Mom! You just don't understand" and off she went to her room, the door slamming behind her. Thus began 6 months of bargaining, begging, pleading & scheming on my daughter's part, to convince us that she "needed" a cordless phone for her room.
Despite protests from my husband, in early September I decided to purchase one at the local Best Buy store after running across a clearance sale they were running on the VTech VT9111 cordless phones. They had purple, red, blue & green colors in stock, but the blue and the red ones were the only ones on sale. Remembering that my daughter had asked for the blue phone (as this is her favorite color), I quickly grabbed one of the last 3 available and made my way to the check out line. I was pretty excited as I had already purchased several things for my daughter for Christmas, but I knew that this phone would be one of her favorite gifts. I went home and wrapped her phone up in Christmas paper and tucked it away into the back of my closet, and pretty much forgot all about it until the day of her birthday party, 2 months later.
After I left my daughter's room the day of her party, with the sounds of her sobbing on her bed, I immediately went into my room & retrieved the VTech phone I had purchased for her, and brought it back to her room. "Hey kiddo, look I have something for you. I was saving this for you for Christmas, but I think now's a better time than any for you to open it". She took one look at that box, wrapped beautifully in Christmas wrap, and the biggest smile came across her face. "Oh Mom! I knew you bought me one, I just knew it!" Within several seconds she had the paper ripped off, the box opened up & the phone out on her bed.
Several minutes later, my daughter emerged from her room with the phone in her hand, and came downstairs to rejoin her party. Later that evening after everyone had left, my husband went into my daughter's room and hooked up her VTech phone. We were fortunate, as the previous owner's of our house had used my daughter's bedroom as a home office, so there was already an existing phone jack in place. This made installing the phone ten times easier! In fact, after several minutes of fiddling around with the phone line cord and the AC adapter, my husband had the phone all set up on my daughter's night stand, with strict instructions for my daughter to let it charge for 24 hours before she used it.
Include with the VTech VT9111 are:
* A Handset
* A Base Unit
* A Telephone Line Cord
* An AC Adaptor
* A Ni-Cad Battery Pack
* A Wall Mount Bracket
* A Headset (for hands free operation)
* A Belt Clip (to clip the phone onto your pants pocket or belt when not in use or when using the headset)
The next day after the phone had charged (and while my daughter was at school) I decided it was time to put the phone to use. I immediately noticed that this phone felt fairly sturdy & well constructed. Though it didn't seem quite as durable as the VTech phone we had recently purchased for our family room, this phone seemed like it would last at least a few years through my daughter's use & abuse. I really like the fact that this phone has a 10-number memory, simply by pressing just a few buttons, phone numbers can be stored very easily & quickly in this 10 number memory. In fact, I took it upon myself that afternoon to store my work phone number, my husband's cell phone number, and my mother's phone number into the phone for my daughter.
I also like the fact that the VTech VT9111 has a battery low warning indicator. When the battery is low the handset will make two beeps letting you know that it is time to recharge the battery. This, I am sure will come in especially handy, as my daughter is well known in our house for leaving our cordless phone handset in the family room laying out somewhere until it finally needs to be recharged. On the left hand side of the handset towards the top, is a volume control switch which allows you adjust the volume to 3 different levels. I know that this will come in real handy when my mother or my husband's mother calls for my daughter, as they have a tendency to talk in a very low voice on the phone. I am frequently asking them to talk louder, as it is very hard to hear them. With this phone, all my daughter will have to do is simply adjust the volume switch.
On the right hand side of the the phone is a receptacle for plugging in the headset. This receptacle is covered by a small blue rubber tab, when the headset is not being used. To use the headset, simply plug the headset adaptor into the side of the phone, place the ear piece around your ear, attach the handset to your pants pocket or belt and begin talking into the microphone on the headset. The ear piece very easily slides over & behind your ear & can be easily adjusted to fit most anyone.
I used the phone several times, both with the headset & without, to check my voice mail at work and to call my mother at home. Because of the 900 mhz bandwith on this phone, the reception & clarity was great, in fact my mother said that I sounded like I was standing right next to her! In fact, I was able to walk outside into my backyard a distance, and still was able to get good reception.
Another important feature of this phone, which I know will definitely come in handy with my daughter, is the "page" function. On the base unit of the phone there is a "page" key. By pressing the page key on the base unit, the handset will ring 4 times before the page is ended. The handset can cancel the page by pressing the "off" key on the handset. I am sure this feature will be used quite frequently by my daughter as she is always losing the handset on our other cordless phones!
My daughter arrived home from school later that afternoon, and within several minutes the phone hand rang. Instead of me answering it right away, I said "Hmmm...that must be for you, why don't you answer it on your phone?" She was so excited! She quickly ran upstairs to answer her phone (it was her dad) and came back downstairs several minutes later with the headset on talking to her dad. The rest of the afternoon was spent by my daughter programming the remaining 7 numbers into memory and calling her many friends.
It has been almost 6 weeks since my daughter's birthday, and she has experienced no problems whatsoever with the phone. In fact, this phone has performed so well, that I decided to purchase one for 2 of my nieces for Christmas (hopefully their parents won't mind!). I am very pleased with both the quality & the performance of the phone, and I believe that it will at least last my daughter several years into her "teens".
I highly recommend the VTech VT9111 cordless phone to anyone thinking about purchasing a cordless phone for their home. This phone available in 4 different colors (red,blue,green & purple), is both affordable in price and attractive in design. This phone can be usually found on sale for under $30 at many retailers, including "Best Buy", "Circuit City", "Walmart" and "Target", and can also be purchased at many different online stores.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mar6732
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Frederick, MD
Reviews written: 248
Trusted by: 322 members
About Me:
Secretary by day, mother & wife by night.
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