Telephone Reviews

I purchased this product so that distant grandparents in NY can see their new granddaughter. After researching and testing all of the vendors (Starview, Motion Media, Metaeye, Infoview and Aiptek) I purchased this product. It is extremely easy to use and my computer illiterate parents had no trouble getting this hooked up. Here is the scoop on picture quality: All of the competing products are going to display the video at about the same speed. Since a standard telephone line is used for 2-way communication with video, a 33.6Kbps modem is all that is needed. Don't get fooled by the marketing gimmicks of 56K modems since they can only transmit at this speed in one direction and this is too much bandwidth for a standard telephone line. Picture quality of a TV broadcast is around 30 frames per second (fps). All of the products I tested broadcast at 15fps maximum and this quality looks good and is very clear (I was surprised!!). I could easily see my parents and the delay was only very slight. The key with this is, if you use the smallest picture size the video will transfer very fast and you wont notice any delay. I use the middle size and it works fine. Although the screen is 4" in diameter, you really can see a lot. Of all of the products I tried, the AIPTEK was the easiest to use and again picture quality was great for all of these products. Cost for AIPTEK was lower than some of the other units.
Bottom line: This product and concept is amazing and it makes my parents feel so much better when they can see their kids and grandkids 3000 miles away on the videophone versus just a phone call. I was a skeptic at first but now I am sold and will be buying more.!!!
PS. After having used this product for several months the item that I did not note was that the AIPTEKs do not have external video jacks which would be used for hooking up external videocameras / vcrs ... I would never use this feature but if you are looking for remote video surveilence this probably is not the best choice. The meta-eye ..., televyou ... and the tele-eye are probably your best choice for this type of operation. I am still amazed that more people have not purchased these products - we are having a lot of fun talking with relatives.

Upon receiving an Aiptek 2000T video phone from my grandmother for her birthday, my mother decided that it was an impossible item to use, but I took it under my wing and rigged it up in my bedroom. It is a source of much enjoyment, even though I only know a couple of people with video phones it is a great experience watching people talk to you! I have to wholly recommend the 2000T video phone to anyone, not just people who want to be at the cutting edge of technology!

Wow. I'm a computer geek for a living, and I'm really impressed with this product. I bought two, one for the house and one to use on the road while I'm out travelling for business. The image quality is about the same as any other low-res camera, but what is great is that there is no delay. The audio is right with the video. This is one of the great features of H.324. Compared to NetMeeting or the like, this product is great.

Because of the simplicity of use, this is a great product for your non-technical family. I could never get my family to use NetMeeting because it just wasn't as easy as using the telephone. This product IS a telephone. You dial, talk for a minute, then hit #1 to start the video. About 20 seconds later, you are in a two-way video conference call.

If you've used video conferencing over an ISDN or T1, you may be disappointed in the quality. Otherwise, you'll love how easy it is to use and how reliable the unit is. The only problem I've had is that my two year-old can't hold still. She is SCREAMING at the phone with excitement. It's nice to see the family each night!

I've also bought an Aiptek 2000C unit, which is the same as the 2000T but without the built-in phone. This should make the unit easier to pack in my suitcase. Check these units out. Aiptek has a winner with this product line.

I have one base system and 4 additional headset in different rooms. We had no problem at all with the system inside or outside of the house (single level). That covers around 20,000 sq ft area. Caller ID works great. Answering system is OK (we only use one in-box and didn't even bother with recording our own outgoing message). No problem with 802.11b/g wireless computer network. Works with filtered DSL telephone line. Handset substained multiple drops by the kids and myself on hardwood floor.

Some minor things that I think can be better:
- make the handset lighter
- have a clock on the handset
- have a mode that distribute the phone list to all the handset automatically. Right now I need to add a new number, then manually send the new phone list to each remote handset one at a time.
- have more colorful handsets

I agree with all the positive reviews. My wireless network is unaffected by these phones and having a speaker-phone built into the handsets just floored me. The only gotcha which I haven't seen mentioned is the way numbers are stored in the phones. The maximum number of digits is 32 which isn't enough when using my calling card. You can't use multiple memory locations to store everything either since once the phone is dialed the phonebook isn't accessible. It's a nit but an annoying one on an otherwise fine phone.

In general, I have found that whatever you can do from the base phone you can do at the handset also, including erasing all caller id at once, rather than one by one. This particular issue on how to erase either one or all the caller id's is on page 33 of the manual. The manual can be found on Amazon.com's web page for either of the base phones that are required for this handset.

I support and install internet telephony solutions for a broad range of business customers. I have tried many headphone solutions. This is by far the best headset I have ever used. My customers all report 5 star feedback as well.
The sound is crisp and clean... Suprisingly rich audio.
The microphone is crystal clear to those listening on the other end. I would recommend this headset to anyone that needs professional quality. And the price is great too!
Thanks Amazon!

This is a great little headset! It is light and comfortable, which are two very important factors if you plan to use it for long stretches of time. More importantly, the microphone delivers excellent sound quality for both voice recognition and for voice recording, such as for narrating presentations or movies. The microphone is quite directional; you can have music going at a reasonable level in the room, and the microphone will pick up your voice with no problem. This headset is a great value.

If you are looking for a good headset at a good price, this is the one!

I purchased this headset about a year ago. Anyone who uses a headset on a regular basis knows that most reasonably priced headsets are not so reasonably durable. This headset, however, is well-made and has stood the test of time for me.

The headpiece is rubbery soft and adjustable. The earpieces are extremely comfortable, do not cause uncomfortable pressure on the ears, and provide clear-as-a-bell sound quality. The mic allows 2-way adjustment. It can be moved horizontally and vertically to allow the best position for speech reception and comfortability.

I have used this headset to communicate with friends and family over the internet through voice-enabled (VOIP) messenger services such as MSN Messenger. Those individuals reported they could hear me just as clear as if we were talking to one another on the telephone.

The manufacturer provides added convenience to this headset by including a USB adapter. This eliminates the need to unplug your computer speakers in order to plug in the headset.

Also, the headset cord is lengthy enough for those who need the ability to stand up and move around their desk space.

I am please to say that out of the many headsets I've used, this one is the best performing, most comfortable, & most durable.I'd even go so far as to say that it is of higher overall quality than other name-brand headsets that cost much more. The Telex H-841 USB Digital Computer Headset is a true bargain at this price.

The Easy Hang up system beats caller ID by 100%.

I love this little gadget. It's small and out of site but yet handy any time you need to let an unwanted call to stop. Since I have bought this Easy Hang Up gadget it's been easy for me to push a button and let this little machine do the talking for me. I'm ready to order one for my mom and another one for me to use downstairs. It's the greatest little gadget, and I love it!

I love my hang up so much that when my first one died I searched for one again. It is absolutely great.

Extremely secure. Extremly high clarity with the speakerphone. At work we actually used this phone and got equal speaker phone voice quality on both ends. The range was also great. I tested it to about 1/4 mile before it started to break up.

The range on this phone is 3 times farther than any other 900DSS or 2.4ghz phone I have tried. Clarity is excellent to the limit of the range. Haven't noticed any 'echo' when talking. Speakerphone is average quality. Not many bells and whistles except for the very handy speakerphone on the handset, but a must buy if you want range and clarity.

I've had a Sanyo 900mhz cordless phone for over 4 years now and just couldn't be happier with it. Typically a sceptical consumer, I agree with most of the statements in these reviews. This phone is superior! The buttons in the handset do light when in use, but the ones on the base do not. The range is unbelievable and the speakerphone on the base and in the handset are much better than I expected. This phone REALLY does work fine without being charged constantly. My four year old Sanyo still goes a week between charges. I read reviews prior to ordering this phone and was a bit concerned about the echoing that others have mentioned. I've never noticed echoing in either of my phones. If it does have an echo it's not worth mentioning. Friends have been amazed with the first phone's audio quality, the same as a corded phone, and this new one is no different. If I needed another cordless phone, I'd run right out and get ANOTHER Sanyo.

It's inexpensive but not cheap. VERY easy to use, even remotely. It's amazing that such a good answering machine can cost so little. The remote operation uses voice commands, so you don't even have to remember the codes, just follow the voice.

Highly recommended.

I used this answering machine to replace my $8 a month voice-mail from the phone company. I have no major complaints from this great product, and it's even a cool looking see-through blue. Very easy to set up and operate, and I was pleasantly surprised that accessing messages remotely is as easy as with voice-mail. Very intuitive voice-prompted instructions on how to skip, delete, or save messages. Price cannot be beat if you ask me.

One of the reasons I like this one is that it allows callers to leave messages of up to 2 minutes (pretty sure), I hate those ones that cut people off after 30 seconds or so. 18 minutes of total recorded time for all messages.

If the item says out of stock, you may want to wait a couple of days and try again, that's what happened to me...a few days later it was available within 24 hours.

This small machine is a marvel. It does everything I wanted plus many other tricks I have not used yet. It is siimple to connect and is a great value for the money.

What D-Link does not tell you is that this device will not work if your ISP is AOL, because AOL constantly changes your IP, and the I2eye does not address this. Also, as you know if you're on AOL, when you connect, you also sign-in to AOL, and again, the I2eye does not have "sign-in" software on board. We spent three hours on the phone with D-Link, AOL and Verizon, and there is NO work-around. Also, if you call D-Link, they will claim that they support "all ISPs" but when you tell them how AOL constantly reassigns IPs, they admit that they don't address this. Bottom line: you can't use this with AOL broadband.

I bought a pair of this vidoe phone and fall in love with it.

I am relocating to another city. Really missing my sons since we could not have the whole family moved until summer. So I decided to buy a pair of i2eye.

We ended up with turn them on whenever we have a chance. My 6 year old also loves it. Most time I call, he will shut down his cartoon TV and jump up and down for a few minutes. Compare to a regular phone, he would just talk with me one sentence.

Something nice to have (not in the set yet): autofocusing or remote focusing. S-Video output to TV set (so higher resolution).

We are in the process of buying more for my parents and my wife's parents...

I have this product at my home and one at the office and it works both with my earthlink ADSL at home and the SDSL we have at work. The video quality is great, although not totally awesome, it is better than you expect. The audio is perfect with a phone plug into the back of this device. And amazon is wrong when it says; "Microphone required for sending audio." The i2eye comes with a built in mic, but it isn't the best of quality, that's why we use phones connected to them (cordless is preferred).

As far as AOL Broadband goes, yes this probably doesn't work with it. But either does XBox Live, some PS2 online games, and other devices like these. This is because AOL Broadband doesn't let you go online like everyone else. They keep you on their network so they can control advertisements, parental controls, and pop ups, etc. This is fine for regular web browsing, if being restricted on the Internet is fine with you, but for devices like that are gaining popularity, this is going to be a problem with AOL Broadband.
Technical Babble: AOL Broadband is basically software they make you use that "signs-in" to their internal network (VPN like) and you get a private IP like 10.x.x.x and everything you do goes through them and they can block any port or domain they want. Almost like they are a proxy you can't get rid of.

So the bottom line is that this product is great, but it isn't D-Link's fault AOL Broadband decided to go this route. So you can't blame this VideoPhone from D-Link for AOL's choices. If you really want to be able to do what you want on the Internet, get a real ISP, that gives you a real IP address, and doesn't make is mandatory you install their software.

I like this product and will recommend it to anyone, even if they have AOL Broadband, because this alone is a reason to switch ISPs. That's what AIM is for.

This is the AT&T classic princess phone model that was marketed as an extension phone for teenagers up to 1984. At that time "The Consent Decree" (Justice Department) forced AT&T out of the local phone markets and broke up their equipment monopoly. But these phones have hung around since they provide dynamite voice quality and reliability. They are rugged. And in this era of unreliable utility power service, this phone will work when the electricity is off! Your fancy wireless and electronic phones won't. For the price, keep a couple in the house and awe your neighbors with your telecommunications savvy when the power is out.

This is a magnificent little phone for the price. The sound is crystal clear. This phone is simply made and doesn't have a lot of complicated features that can make it difficult to use or tear up. This is just a standard old reliable phone. I also like the classic design. Everyone needs at least one corded phone because cordless phones do not work during a power failure. This AT&T 210 is an excellent choice for a corded phone. The lighted keypad is also a plus. I keep this phone in my bedroom, and it's so handy for waking up in the night and needing to make a call. I would definitely recommend this phone for any household.

This is a fantastic little phone for the price. The design is simple but the sound is crystal clear. It isn't loaded down with a bunch of complicated features that make it difficult to operate or that can tear up. Everyone needs at least one corded phone because cordless phones don't work during a power failure, and this AT&T phone is an excellent choice for a corded phone. I use it in my bedroom, and I feel secure in knowing it will work if I wake up during the night and need to make an emergency call. I would highly recommend this phone.

After reading tigger221's review I ordered this unit. My house had recently been hit by a surge and I lost tv's, but not the PC since it was on a surge protector. The TV's went because the surge went through the cable lines, so I needed a cable modem surge in addition to the lines and phone. Its a substantial amount of protection, 1080 jules is double what I had. The prior unit did protect, but also failed and needed replacement. The plugs are far enough apart in two socket to take the big plugs for the printer and other peripherals without blocking another plug. The directions were clear, and the cord was sufficiently long. It was a little expensive, and that held me back from five stars. Still a good value. I hope to not use the protection claim offered, which is very good coverage.

When I purchased this unit for 1/3 the list price I thought it was a steal! I would consider it a great deal, even at a considerably higher price.

It comes with 1080 joule lightning protection, a 6' power cord, 8 three-prong outlets (2 of which are more generously spaced), and $100,000 connected equipment warrantee. Its protection for 1 phone line includes a splitter so you can connect two devices. It also has protection for 2 coaxial cable lines (in case you have both satellite and cable TV, for example). Finally, it comes with bonus phone and coax cords (1 each) to help you connect and protect.

I consider this a very functional and feature-rich product.

What I have to say will be short and sweet. I'm currently having some contractors install sheet-rock in my basement where I have my computer. When the contrators kicked on their saws the lights in the house dimmed and so did my monitor on the computer. It was so bad that I decided to shut my everything down. Fortunately for me, this surge protector that I had bought from Amazon arrived on the mail. I decided the construction in my house would be a great test for this outlet block. I plugged it in, and plugged all my accessories into the block . . . one of the workers just now cut a 2x4 and I haven't received even so much as a blink on my monitor screen.

The other reason I bought this protector is that lightning came through the phone line here the other day and burnt out my modem. The modem cost me 54.00. Now, however, I can plug in the phone line into the surge protector and it will save my modem the next time a lightning storm hits.

This plug-in block is well worth your money. . . oh, it comes with a ... warranty as well. I don't think you can beat that.

The price for this phone is just amazing. The sound and range are better than the Siemens we first bought and then brought back (that was a $120 phone). It is easy to dial, compact look but does not feel cheap. I am VERY happy with it and glad that I read the previous reviews.

Surprisingly Good! Great Sound Quality! Cute! Not Bulky! Buy it!

This is a great phone, Ive had mine for a while and it works great. The battery seems to last forever, I've only got it to begin to go dead 1 or 2 times, and that was only because I left it off the charger for a while. I also went on vacation for a week and I forgot to put it on the charger and it was still wasn't even near dead. You can also save 10 phone numbers on it. It has a long range too. It is also hearing aide compatible, has call waiting and many different channels in case the one you're on begins to break up. For the prize I highly recomend this phone.