1718 Digital Answering Machine

Pros: Caller announce, user-friendly, lots of great features
Cons: hard to delete messages on time

I was actually quite surprised when I read the negative reviews of this machine. This is the best answering machine I have ever owned, and if this one ever dies, I'll buy the same one again. I originally bought it because it was the cheapest ...

Pros: Sound quality, easy control, clean look
Cons: Longevity

I have read some reviews criticizing the sound quality but I experienced good sound quality both in greeting message and recorded message. The reason I bought it was I need a answering machine. I had cordless phone already and I didn't want to ...

Pros: Not many
Cons: Screwy interface and lousy sound quality

I bought one of these machines at the local Circuit City. I wanted a stand-alone answering machine and they only had two machines to choose from: this AT&T model and a GE model. The AT&T model was about $10 more and advertised "excellent sound...

Pros: one of the cheapest answering machines you'll find.
Cons: you get what you pay for.

my experience with this product
I bought this answering machine at Ames department store, and I got it on a Tuesday with my grandpa, and made him use his senior citizen's discount so I could get it for 10% off the original price of $25.
...

Pros: time and date stamp
Cons: poor recording,remote access doesn't work, customer service a joke, piece o'junk

this machine functions very poorly; the quality of the recording is awful, the machine picks up when ...

Pros: Takes up little room.
Cons: Difficult to maneuver and bad design.

I bought this answering machine from Best Buys a month ago. It is easy to set up. However, the logic of operation is somewhat awkward and difficult to use. For example, the a red light will blink when one receive a new message. However, after the...

Pros: Fair price,good performance.
Cons: Lousy technical support from AT&T

I bought this item because it was one of the only answering machines that gives one the option of ha ...

Pros: cheap
Cons: very bad sound quality

For an answering machine to be useful, it must be able to record people's messages well enough that ...

Pros: Easy to Use, lots of features
Cons: 19 minutes of digital recording time

I bought an AT&T model 1718 answering machine last week.
I got the black colored model, very sharp.
Right out of the box it was a snap to set up.

The operation instructions where easy to read and understand
the machine even has...

Pros: The price is Low. Easy to afford.
Cons: Interface is difficult to understand. Don't loose the manual.

I bought this answer machine because I needed a simple answer machine to go with my house line. The ...

Pros: It beeps when you need to check messages...no need to see the machine.
Cons: It doesn't allow you to delete unless you've heard the message in its entirety.

We bought this machine to replace an old one about a year ago and due to necessity, we bought what was available in Circuit City's limited selection. We have not struggled with sound quality as much as trying to adjust to the quirks of the machine. The ...

Pros: No tape to bother with.
Cons: Way too easy to delete unheard messages.

It takes messages reliably but the design of the interface makes it too easy to delete a message you haven't heard because if you haven't hit the delete before the end of the current message it assumes you want to delete the next message before it has even started playing. It is difficult to delete very short messages without good reflexes.

Unfortunately, I forgot that and deleted an important message that I can't get back and have no way to respond to so I am really sensitive to this shortcoming.

This is an otherwise fine machine if you remember to never try to delete a message until you are sure that you are done listening to all messages and have no need to save or replay them.

Pros: Very easy to read instructions and display is a very bold red digital readout.
Cons: This item only came in the color white

I purchased this particular product because the display is so easy to read. It also has the best volume control I have experienced in answering machines.
I love the easy set-up instructions.

Pros: Inexpensive
Cons: Does not perform basic functions in a reliable manner.

In my mind, AT&T in general had a good reputation for telephone related products so they came to mind when I was interested in an answering machine. I was looking for something very basic with no frills and ended-up picking this product as it fit this description.

Basic operation was fairly simple and straight forward. The overall recorded message sound quality was not great, but was what I expected for the price paid. However, the problem was that the unit often cut off messages in the middle of recording them (and this is its main purpose for being). Additionally, when checking messages from a remote location, it would randomly cut off messages in the middle of playback and also randomly not let you listen to all the messages. If you hung up and called back a few times you could eventually get all the information.

Pros: easy to use and set-up...compact...good layout...quality sound
Cons: bad word of mouth makes this machine a risky venture

This is an exceptional little unit for the price. I owned a Casio answering machine before and the thing constantly gave me problems. I bought this answering machine before I read the reviews and when I read the reviews I started fearing that I had wasted my money on it. Turns out I didn't. 25 dollars Canadian is very reasonable for an answering machine as accessible and easy to use as this one. And although the sound quality isn't excellent, it is superior to the Casio model I owned prior. I recommend it. If you happen to buy this answering machine off ebay or something don't fret. It's fine.