Telephone Reviews

Quite innovative. The headset does not touch the ears thus making it extremely comfortable! It sits on the back of the head and there are two speakers positioned away from the ears which delivers good sound to BOTH ears. I purchased it for those long phone conference calls. It worked like a charm for a phone conference that lasted over 5 hours. My only suggestion is 1) a mute button be present on the headset unit (volume & flash buttons present, mute is on the wireless remote), 2) a speakphone on the base unit, 3) able to disable the mic up hang-up feature so that I can still listen to a call and have a drink. Nevertheless, it is a great phone.

I'm a mom and housefrau, and I wanted a phone that was truly wireless, with nothing to clip on my belt - that type always falls off or gets tangled or is otherwise awkward for me. When I saw this at a friend's house, I wanted one right away. I couldn't believe it was the only such (truly wireless) model in existence, and that the company had stopped making them ???!!!

Anyway, now I have one, and I am quite (if not 100%) satisfied.

THE PLUSES ARE:

1) Truly wireless and hands-free.

2) Relatively very comfortable on my head; easy to wear for a long conversation. (Earphones not directly on your ears, but above them, so it's not only more comfortable, but if another family member leans in close, they can participate in the conversation and still hear and be heard.)

3) Two phones in one; one cordless headset, one corded deskset.

4) Charging base for headset is *separate* from the corded phone base; therefore it need not be near a phone jack, but needs only an electrical outlet. (Great in our house, since we have no phone jack in the kitchen!)

5) Sound quality, range and clarity seem great - we've had it only one week, but so far it's terrific - even out to the garden. No interference; no cutting out, which we had read that others experienced. Sound quality on our receiver is good, and people tell us it sounds good on the other end. Compared to our old cordless phone it picks up WAY less background noise - very important for a cordless, hands-free phone!

6) Good volume control and range. I have hearing loss - need to turn it up! My husband doesn't - likes it quieter. Other phones have not been loud enough for me. This one is great, but see negative #4, below.

7) It's super-easy and convenient to turn on and off by just flipping the microphone arm down or up. But see negative #3, below. Microphone arm also very adjustable to help adjust volume.

8) Price! Because this phone has been discontinued, you can find it at a huge discount. But act fast - they seem to be disappearing (we're trying to get more for friends/relatives).

THE NEGATIVES ARE:

1) It's easy to lose the remote dialer, or for it to get separated from the headset - it's little and a separate piece. Of course, that's what makes the phone truly wireless, but it would be great if they could have attached it to the headset in a removeable way - I'm thinking about adding velcro, maybe.

2) The remote dialer is almost too small - keypad is tiny so dialing has to be done carefully and precisely, and it's hard to see the commands like "mute", etc.

3) If you want to nibble or drink or make a private comment to someone in the room without the person on the other end of the phone hearing you - you can't get the microphone of this phone very far away from your mouth without turning off the phone and cutting off the connection! But maybe those are bad phone habits/etiquette anyway.

4) Volume adjustment buttons on headset are a little hard to find by touch and awkward to use, but maybe I'll get more used to them over time.

5) Battery is non-standard.

I really like my Vtech 1511s. However, they are apparently discontinued by the manufacturer. [...]

It's true that they are a weird configuration where all of the stuff sits on your head, but I think it's more than worth it to not have wires everywhere. Reception is good, for me it worked flawlessly to about 50 feet through interior & exterior walls.

The boom mike can break off if flexed by pulling on it repeatedly. That's a problem. But otherwise, this is some very good engineering from what I see as a usually [...] vendor (vtech). [...], but in the case of the 1511 it's really a [nice] unit.

The charger for the headset is inductively coupled; no metal contacts to corrode. VERY COOL!

The small box hides the fact that in addition to the headset, charging stand, and dial pad, you get a full-on desk unit with intelligently done speed dials (unfortunately not in true executive phone style [extra buttons] but intuitively programmable). It's missing a speakerphone, however.

I worked out of a home office for a year doing a lot of phone consultation and sales, and this thing was great. Unfortunately, one of the units' mikes has broken (due to flexion) and now I don't know whether I should scrounge used units or what. I hope they come out with a very slightly refined version of this great product.

This phone system is almost perfect. It works so much better than the Siemen's 2400 it replaced. The speakerphone (in both the base unit and the headset) is very handy and the Caller ID voice announce feature is pretty cool. It fits very nicely in your hand and feels like a quality piece of electronics. Very nice display and the buttons are easy to press. And, it has great looks. Battery life also seems very good. As much as this phone has going for it, I can't for the life of me figure out why they would choose to not add some very basic features that other phones have had for years. 1.) You can't share phonebooks between handsets 2.) No speed-dial feature 3.) A rather cumbersome menu system 4.) No way to insert pauses in stored numbers so you can't program the phone to access your phone company-hosted voicemail and automatically enter in your passcode. 5.) No phonebook or number memory on the base (which makes sense since there's also no display).

If the phone had these basic features, it would easily rate a 5. That's the deal with these phone systems - there simply isn't a perfect phone system. I've looked at Uniden, AT&T, Seimens, Panasonic, and VTech. They are all lacking in way or another. It's maddening that these systems are sooo expensive, and yet manufacturers can't seem to find their way to implement feature sets commensurate with the price of the phones. Cell phones can be had for far cheaper with far greater convenience features. There's no reason why these features couldn't be added to home phone systems, especially when you have to pay ... for each handset. The Seimens 2400 series phones had many of the features missing on this phone, but the quality/reliability of at least these 2400 series Seimens phones is pure {junk}. I considered the new Seimens 4200 series, but some brain-dead exec somewhere along the line decided the phone didn't need a headset jack. How moronic is that??? Not too mention that in my experience the Seimens phones are totally unreliable, pure junk.

Bottom line - though missing some really basic and *very* useful features, this new AT&T 5800 system has so far been of top notch performance, and it does have some useful advanced features of it's own (which makes them ommitting the more basic features even more bizzarre). The performance of the phone has been so good that I guess I'll learn to live without the features I liked about the Seimens. I'd rate this new 5800 Series phone system the best out there right now, even with it's shortcomings. Once someone builds a system with the quality of this phone and the feature set of the better cell phones, you'd have prefection.

BTW, through my research, I suspect the new VTech 5800 series phone is pretty much the same phone in different clothing. They share much of the same feature set and even appear to have identical menu systems/keypads/displays. The Vtech doesn't have the talking Caller ID, and the AT&T doesn't have the LCD display or phonebook on the base, but other than that, the differences appear superficial. I'm currently trying both phones out. It's really a toss up. The Vtech is little less $$$. I like the talking CID, but also like the number memory and LCD display on the base unit of Vtech.

I've been a cordless phone fan since the days of sub-50 mhz frequencies, and I've been using 2.4 Ghz phones around the house now for more than 2 years. They were really only a bit clearer than the 900 mhz phones they replaced, and their range was about the same. However, this high frequency seems to find itself isolated enough from household interference (lights, cell phones, etc.) to achieve real quiet! I would say the quality of the connection is almost identical to that of a corded phone.

The 5830 setup was simple: Plug it in to the phone line and power plug (the fairly small transformer is nice too), enter the base ID # from the sticker under the phone, and you're ready to use the phone.
The menus are just okay; they may be a bit less than perfect but they're usable without instructions. Anyway, from the menu, you may (but do not have to) select ring style, ring volume, vibrate or no, and enter the time digitally.
I've added 2 extensions (5800) and these are set up just as the base is, but the number you register on each handset is that of the base unit. Range and intercom on the handsets are great, and the voice quality again is comparable to corded phones.
In both cases, the called ID display is very nicely done. It is lit in a very attractive and functional blue with a large enough display to read both the name and number without (my) glasses.
Lastly, the message waiting light (I use the phone company's voice mail svc) is easy to see from across the room, it too a cool neon blue that illuminates an "O" around the ear piece. The effect is quite techno-hip, as well as being highly functional.
In short, the 5800 series is a very nice execution of a very good new technology.

Before I begin my review of the BEST cordless phone I have ever used, I thought some fun facts were in order...

1876 Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell (believe it or not, the fax machine was invented ~15 years prior to this)
1913 AT&T becomes a government sanctioned monopoly
1946 AT&T begins offering mobile telephone service (this is true!)
1958 AT&T starts selling modems (almost a decade before DARPA creates the internet and more than a quarter century before consumers have access to the WWW)
1984 AT&T is torpedoed by Judge Green's Modified Final Judgement (MFJ) -- this effectively ushers in competetition which drives innovation, and lower prices
2000 AT&T still hasn't woken up to the reality of MFJ (i.e., it's break-up) and is charging rates as high as 35 CPM for domestic calls to more than 20 million of it subscribers
2003 With the introduction of the 5800 series phones, and a new residential VoIP offer, AT&T starts to signal to main street and wall street that it is willing to wake up to the realities of today's marketplace

But you don't need to know the above to appreciate what is, in my opinion, the BEST cordless phone on the market (and I have tried many!). Here's the deal with the AT&T 5800 series...
+ Uses 5.8 Ghtz band and "Frequency Hopping Technology" to eliminate static and security issues
+ Awesome speakerphone on the base station
+ Ergonomics of the unit are unsurpassed
+ Each handset has a speakerphone built into it -- while these speakerphones are not as crisp as the one on the base station, they come in handy when interfacing with those annoying recorded menus that most companies are using today
+ All units include visibile message waiting indication (great for those with voice mail)
+ The unit just feels substantial (they have the sturdy feel of AT&T's old Western Electric produced phones that felt like they could drive rail road spikes)
+ Expansion handsets don't require RJ11 jacks to get dial-tone, they use the house wiring and they also auto-seek the base unit to simplify set-up and intercom signaling
+ For convenience, calls can be transferred from one handset to another
+ Base unit will "speak" the caller ID information -- this is especially convenient for those frequent times that you can't angle around to see the caller ID display

There are some light cons to...
+ The voice mail waiting indication light is so bright (and it blinks) that it has woken me up at nights (the only way to turn it off is to clear voice mail messages)
+ The 5800 series isn't so much a phone as it is a whole house phone system, as a result of this and the EXTREMELY high quality of the product, it is a little more expensive than the 5.8 Ghtz offerings from it's competition -- my opinion is that the extra ten or twenty bucks is well worth it

And I thought the following would be helpful as well...
1) In the past, most cordless phone providers made outrageous claims regarding the range or distance the handset could travel from the base station (AT&T makes no claims with this unit) -- wise shoppers should expect no more than 250 ft of range with the 5800 series
2) For those using the new VoIP technology to save on phone service (e.g. Vonage, Packet8, BroadVoice, Phonom, etc.), this system provides an excellent solution to the whole house wiring problems that these types of services tend to create

I pretty much have to agree with all that has been said previously. It's easy to use, compact and provides tremendous range. I bought this phone as a result of the reviews I read here and would like to thank all those who took the time to explain its benefits. I am extremely pleased with my purchase.

Rather than repeat all that has been said previously I'd like to share an experience I had today while using it. I work from home, but live about 150-175 yards from my office. I needed to walk down their today and decided to keep the phone with me to check its range. To my surpise, it rang while I was inside AND I was able to answer! The clarity was very good as I stood near the entry door and did not start to break-up until I went further inside. That's pretty darn good. Especially if you consider my regular 2.4ghz Sony breaks apart soon after I pass my front door.

Buy this phone if you are looking for a cordless headset that will give you range and clarity in an easy to use small package.

I make a lot of phone calls. In a typical month, I place 100 to 300 calls from my home office doing a specialized type of investment research. Yet, I'm up and down from my desk all the time, so a cordless phone is essential. (I use a Plantronics M145 headset, which is also excellent (see my review on that product's page.).) I had a very nice Panasonic 900 mHz cordless that was configured very nicely, but no matter how careful I was, it would end up slipping off my belt and falling on the floor. (I've retired the Panasonic to my wife's desk and she enjoys it very much.) The Uniden truc46 is so small I can slip it in my pocket, yet it has clear sound and lots of convenient features. I have been using it for nearly a month, and it has worked flawlessly. It is an excellent phone and well worth the investment.

I bought this for my wife as a Christmas present, and she loves it! She can walk around the house, take care of the little ones, etc. while talking on the phone. The headset can be a little awkward at first, but I find the sound quality to be excellent. We have had no problems whatsoever with interference from our wireless computer network.

After purchasing the DSP-500 from Amazon.com (which saved me LOTS of money!), I installed on my XP system. I had to visit Plantronics website to try to get my speakers to work again. Like other users have said, switching between headset and pc speakers are a pain! Not like the external switch I've been use to. Tech support was friendly, but pretty much useless.

Overall I'm very happy with this headset. It delivers great sound and is reasonably priced - a great value IMO.

Installation was super easy. The instructions give you step by step details on what to do, not that you really need them. I just pop'd in the install CD, installed their software, plugged in the headset to the USB port. Done. (FYI, I'm using Windows XP)

I have no issues going between speakers / headset. Again, it's very easy. A switch on the little control panel would have been nice to disable it, rather than using the software or unplugging it, but not a big deal, as I'm already conditioned to this.

I think the sound quality is excellent! I basically use mine for playing games and have played a few dozens games since I've got this headset and have been impressed with the nice bass response and very clear sound. It really puts you in the action!

The microphone boom works great too. My friends on Roger Wilco can actually hear me and I don't have to shout (makes the wife happy!). It seems to be a tad hard to 'twist' the boom down into position, but I'd rather have it a little stiff than loose and it always falling out of place (like my old headset).

I enjoy the speakers enclosing the ear which gives a nice solid fit. They feel natural and haven't encumbered anything I do with game playing for the most part (switching rapidly between mouse/keyboard/joystick on games like BattleField 1942 can be tricky without touching the headset wires). My only wish is that they would have made it cordless to match my keyboard, mouse, and flight stick.

Enjoy!

idk why that person says that don't get loud enough . . .
They get loud enough for me to listen with them only around my neck. Mic is good i say its good

I am happy with the phone, except, purchased it for my bedroom,the ring is terribly loud and unpleasant. I've always hadAT&T(Lucent) phones in the past and the ring was better.

I havealso recently purchased a Uniden phone and the ring is similar, maybe this is just how the newer phones ringers are. I don't enjoy hearing my phone ring anymore, I have to remember to shut the phone in the bathroom at night, don't know what out there is better, but it is definitely loud if that is what you are looking for.

I've owned one of these phones for a year or so now, and it has been the best one I've ever purchased! The only reason I didn't give it 5 Stars is because it doesn't have some of the features that I like, like Caller ID in the handset or headset jack, etc. But, they've got a great range, they're sturdy (I lost count how many times I dropped mine!) and they sound nice (not tinny or over sensitive like some other phones). This is the PERFECT gift for a kid who is wanting a phone of their own. In fact, that's why I am buying another one!

I have owned Uniden, AT&T, Panasonic & GE cordless telephones, but none compare in quality, durability, ease of use and sound quality. I purchased the one I have at Office Depot on clearance and could not be happier. I have just purchased 2 additional here at Amazon for my parents and extension use. The price here is actually better than I originally paid at clearance. My wife and son have dropped and knocked this telephone around more than a prize fighter gets pounded in 15 rounds. This is a definite recommend!!!

Let me first say, I love the look and idea behind this phone...I am a big Disney addict, BUT whoever designed this phone should be fired! I have 2 kids and I work out of my home and need to use the phone a lot. I cannot even count how many times I have hung up on poor unsuspecting souls on the other end. If you even press the phone into your ear too hard while holding on to it, it will hang up! And, the caller id feature is horrible also. It constantly misses calls. I do not use this phone anymore! (but I keep it plugged in because I like the Mickey Music when I get calls)

This phone is cute and I loved the ringer sounds and the thought behind the design, but the people who designed this obviously never really tested it. You can not do ANYTHING while you are on this phone...you hang up on people constantly. I am a very busy mother of 3 and it is soooo embrassing to have to call people back and apologize for hanging up on them. I do not have a time where my hands can just sit and hold a phone to my ear. I am constantly resting the phone between my shoulder and ear, this phone is not made properly to allow you to do that. I highly recommend against purchasing this phone!!!!!

I have owned two Panasonic cordless phones, one of which is terrific. The second of the two has constant interference and no matter how often I change channels it does not improve.

In an attempt to have another phone in the house that was actually clear and usable, I bought this funny little Motorola. After all, it was on sale. I didn't care what it looked like.

Cute appearance aside, this is a terrific little phone. The sound quality is excellent, with a volume control switch. The ring tones are too much fun and, it just looks fun! I also love the very compact size, including the base. It will fit in small places. There has never been static of any kind and I've never had to change the channel. Clear, crisp reception.

The only TINY drawback is that if you hold the phone between your cheek and shoulder, you may disconnect your caller. Other than that, a great little phone!

One the unit I bought, the battery, after 1 year of light use, will not hold a charge of more than 15 minutes (supposed to be many hours)

For under 60 bucks this is a great value!! DSS, Caller ID, etc. You can't go wrong here at all. This phone is a much better value than the 2.4GHz models. Panasonic continues to be the best in this field(cordless phones), among many others. My only wish is that someday all the cordless phones will have internal antennas and continue to become smaller and closer to cellular sized handsets.

After struggling for a year with a Siemens 2.4 Ghz system, my wife and I concluded that Siemens doesn't know how to make cordless phones. We had an old Panasonic that we had used for 10 years or so and it was great. After doing some research on Amazon, the KXTC1851 seemed to offer great quality at a fair price. We ordered one and it's been fabulous! In fact, I'm on amazon now to order two more. Reception is crystal clear no matter where we go in our house or yard and the phone handset is very well designed. You really can't go wrong with a panasonic on cordless phones.

The phone has lots of static. The handset broke within the first year. My next phone will be something more expensive with a longer warrenty.

I needed a cordless phone and after reading the excellent reviews on this one new it would be perfect for me. It is a nice size, has good range, and has lots of extra features, not to mention it has an answering machine built in. I think this is an excellent product and I'm very glad to have bought it. The price is a steal although I'm bummed to see it is even $5 dollars less than it was when I bought it a few weeks ago!

It had mixed reviews, but it works great for me.

The phone has a good feel in your hand and good balance. I really like the color. Its range and clarity I would rate about average for a 900 mhz analog phone, not nearly as good as a DSS though. I really like the volume control, and the headset volume on medium is as good or better than high on some other phones. My main gripe is with the batttery life. I have the black version of this at the office and the battery will last almost a week, and that would include at least 2 hours talk time, but my blue version at home will go only 2-3 days and very little talk time before beeping. I don't understand the difference between the two, unless I have a dud battery. The battery is not available at any of the local stores here,it seems to be proprietary, which is a big downer for me. The phone is easily programmable to call in, for example, a telephone dictation system, and get dictations. There is a way to put pauses, etc., but the how-to is buried in the manual. Once it beeps for low battery, you have very little time to finish your conversation. The ability to choose between four different ring tones is nice.

If you love the look of the new iMacs, you'll love this phone. I'm not
much into fads and I'm sure in 10 yrs we'll all be laughing about the
Y2K obsession with clear colored plastic goodies, but for now, I'm
enjoying it.

Vtech has taken advantage of the translucent plastic by
having the base light up w/ LEDs underneath the plastic when the phone
is placed back on the base.

The only reason I've given this phone 4
stars is because it lacks a flash button for call-waiting. The volume
control on the handset is also handy.

I saw one review that
commented that the battery life is low, but I've been using this phone
for over a year w/o problems, and considering it's the only phone I
use most of the time, that's pretty good... sounds like this person
got a dud or something.

The phone has decent range... the base is
located in a bedroom to the front of my house, but I'm able to walk in
my backyard and play w/ my dogs w/o degredation of signal.

The
on-receiver channel button is convenient when a neighbor happens to be
on the same signal or if there's other interference. The only thing
I'd change is the addition of a flash button and perhaps an advanced
phone that includes support for 2 phone lines on the same phone.
Since I have a two-line jack, I just use a 2-line splitter so I can
hook my modem up to line two and this Vtech phone to line one.
s@

I have always been pleased with the used products from Amazon. This product was no different. We ordered the VTech phone on Sunday and recieved it 6 days later. The phone was in perfect condition and I was extrememly pleased with the service provided to me. I would definitly order from this person again.

Needed a phone for an addition to the house that we did not put a phone jack in. There are many phones that can handle this but this phone has all the nice features needed for family and working from home a few days a week. The ability for each handset to be its' own speakerphone is great. We also utilize the intercom feature for the phones. You can page each phone you have (4 is the max) and the person in the room will hear it ring as if it were a phone call. The digital voice on the answering machine is very easy to understand and the multiple mailbox feature is another nice thing to have (not needed now, but will in the future). Many other features that are handy as well. So far so good.

For the money, this is the best phone system I can think of for home or small business use. The 2431 (base unit) has a speakerphone, which makes it two phones in one, as it has the ability to intercom between the base unit and the handheld. Then we bought a 2420, so we have a 3-point intercom system. As we live in an older home, the intercom and the ability to place a phone where we wanted without running phone cords was important to us, and I spend a lot less time screaming around the house to call the family members. We will purchase two more 2420s in the future, to intercom easily throughout the house. The 2420s run off the base unit, and don't need a phone line, which is fantastic not to have to pay the phone company to run lines where we want the phones. Also, the VTech handsets each have Caller ID, which is a very handy feature, they show when another handset is in use (in case you don't have call-waiting, at least you know when someone is excessively tying up the hone line), and the speakerphone on each handset is perhaps my favorite feature. We have eliminated all the corded phones in the house in favor of this system, which has clear connections even outdoors, and two houses away from us. I can send the kids to the neighbors, and can page them from the 2431 via the intercom when they need to come home. Best of all, the original 2431 handset we bought flew off the hot tub in a sudden windstorm, the battery and battery cover landed in the pool (managed to catch the phone itself), and after the battery dried, it still worked! A minor ding on the antenna did not affect how the unit performed. We are all pleased with the features of this phone.

I was in severe need of a good cordless phone with a Caller ID Display right on the handset (which is so conveinent). I shopped around in every possible electronics store and found nothing that I liked...all the phones were ugly and had no good features.

I jumped onto Amazon and this phone system popped up I loved it at first for it's sleek look and then I read more about the phone and immediately ordered it, it was the best thing I did. This phone is excellent it has great features, distance, sound, clarity and it's lightweight and is a real nice looking phone. It has the Caller ID display right on the handset and the best feature that I love is the Message Waiting. I have home voicemail through my local telephone company and I was never able to tell if I had any messages unless I picked up my phone and dialed into my mailbox. This phone has a green light on the handset and the base that will blink when you have messages and on the display it will read "Messages Waiting"...I love it! I just ordered the supplemental handset for our bedroom and can't wait to get so I can junk my old cordless. If you are thinking buying this phone....do it!!!!