Telephone Reviews

All features are very competitive and complete BUT the handset volume is absolutely unacceptable. I tried 2 of these and they both are almost useless. I have 4 other Vtechs models with no problems. Vtech company has givin me no recourse or satisfaction to where I would be very hesitant to buy another one of their products.

I've owned a VTech 1930C for the past several years, and it is still in service and working flawlessly. Recently I decided to add a second cordless phone to my home, and got the very spiffy looking VTech 2461 2.4 GHz model. Alas, the sound quality was not as good! There were assorted hisses and hums, especially when used with a headset. The 1930C had spoiled me into thinking that cordless phone transmissions always sounded near perfect. So, thinking that the problem may be the 2.4 GHz technology, I browsed at VTech's current lineup of 900 MHz phones. Overall, the quality of construction just doesn't measure up to the 1930C.

I just received my phone last week, and I love it. When I first saw the price I couldn't believe my eyes, because the actual retail price is well over $150. Don't wait, get it while they're still available !

I was disappointed when I finally received a product that would allow me to use earpieces not designed for the Samsung SGH-s105 phone. When it is plugged in, interference can be heard from both parties. However, it is even louder on the recieving end of the phone call than from the person making the call.

The only saving grace of this product is it's price and that's not saying much since I had to buy 2 in order to justify the shipping costs.

I've had the Samsung S105 phone for quite a while now and while it is a good phone, I was very disappointed to find it had a proprietary headphone jack. Standard headphones will not work with this phone and it comes with an earbud that was uncomfortable and not too functional. With this adapter, one can use any headset with a 2.5mm universal jack. With this adapter I am now using my preferred headset (Jabra) and actually like my phone again. It is a very simple and inexpensive solution to a problem that has bothered me for months. I have seriously thought of getting rid of this phone because I could not find suitable replacement headsets. With this adapter, that problem has been solved! Thanks Belkin!!

Even though "Talking Caller ID" is printed right on the unit, it won't actually speak the Caller ID (the phone number of the person calling) to you.

If you have recorded a personal name tag for a particular number it will play that, but if you haven't, it just remains mute. You can press "Review" later and hear the number announced, but it won't play it while the phone is ringing, which is when you need to hear it.

I purchased this for my visually impaired mother-in-law and she loves it! She will hear this unit announce who is calling without realizing that the phone had rung. It was easy to set up and just as easy to make recordings for regular callers. About the only problem was getting her to realize that someone had to call her so the caller-id unit could record their phone number. Then we could make the announcement. I would recommend this unit for anyone visually impaired!

Check this model for how it is turned on and off before you buy. My earlier model required the user to hold down the "End" button to turn the phone on and/or off (presumably to conserve battery power). Result: two useless handsets when the contacts beneath said buttons soon wore out. It was cheaper to buy a rebuilt handset than to have the single critical button serviced (which means it wasn't "cheap" at all). A simple on-off switch on the front or side of the phone would alleviate the problem. As it stands, the expensive handsets are now utterly useless because they can no longer be turned on.

The batteries (for my model, anyway) are proprietary and expensive. That means you can't go into a Wal-Mart or Radio Shack or Staples and buy replacements. Also, again doubtless because of the power requirements, they wear out quickly.

On the plus side, the system performs admirably and as advertised. Or I should say, performed. I've since replaced it with a simpler and cheaper Panasonic system that doesn't have nearly the range...but does have an on-off switch on the handsets (and a much easier-to-use intercom set-up).

I have had an Engenius phone and base unit for over 3 years. It has always worked and continues to work despite my best efforts to destroy it. It still uses the same battery it came with and works over 1 mile from my house inside my vehicle. I bought the phone because I wanted to have access to my home number at the neighborhood park, swimming pool etc. and in areas where our cell phones do not work well.

Oh, I did leave it outside all night during a thunderstorm several years back. I found it when I backed out and ran over it with my truck. I took out the battery and dried it out for a few days and it still works. Nobody can guarantee that kind of performance but for once I got something that works as advertised.

A bit disappointing -- the "Line 1" and "Line 2" switches feel flimsy and likely to break; you really have to click them in to get a dial tone rather than press softly. The speakerphone function works like a 2 way radio, i.e. you can't talk and listen at the same time. If you plan to use this phone as a business phone, forget it; it's a toy. The speakerphone is useful only for listening purposes, and switching between lines causes a quick burst of static, at least on my model. For the price I suppose it's OK, but if you need a work-horse phone with durability and a useful speakerphone, this isn't it.

I tried five different corded telephones before I finally came across this GE 2 Line/Caller ID Phone. All the others had terrible audio feedback problems and I literally could not stand the sound when using them .

This particular model is very well made and has good audio and I have finally found an acceptable phone. (Beware, a lot of the other corded phones are marginal. Someone commented on another review that all the design effort is going to cordless phones and that therefore corded phones are little more than unwanted orphans. Some people cannot use cordless phones because they are electrically sensitive. Also, the microprocessors for some corded phones can sometime cause these same people problems. In that case they should NOT use touchtone phones where the keypad is in the handset proper. It is going to be an evil day for these people when they can no longer find an acceptable phone... It is difficult enough now to find a phone that they can tolerate. If you find a good one, you better stock up with a spare or two, just in case!)

Found all funtions of the phone to work ok. All volume levels were great and could be adjusted for headset, handset, and speaker. Design is great though display is a bit hard to see if phone is not propped up in the rear. The big disappointment is when putting a call on hold. My customer advised be that while on hold there is some type of ringing sound and the customer hears. This was a pain when I needed to put a 20 person conference call on hold. Everyone on the call heard the tones. My old IBM and my AT&T multiline phone don't have this problem.

Next disappointment was technical support. I contacted them regarding the tones being heard while on hold and was advised that all I could do was remove all power, phone lines and batteries for 10 minutes to try and get the phone to go back to factory defaults. I did this and the problem was still there. I asked to be sent to next level of support since the person I was talking to was just reading from teh manual and was told the she was it. Were it not for the 1 issue with a tone while on hold this would be a great phone.

I've been looking for a high-quality multi-line office phone for several months, and have had a few bad experiences. It seemed that I got what I paid for, which was low-price, low-quality, and I just couldn't find a good solution for less than several hundred (or thousand)dollars.

My criteria for selection (in no particular order) were: 1) 2 to 4 line support, 2) Speed dial buttons, 3) Caller ID/Call Waiting ID, 4) Headset support, 5) Adjustable volume for receiver (ability to make the caller sound louder), 6) Expandable (support for extensions that work together with each other), 7) Intercom between extensions, 8) Call Transfer, 9) Conference calling, 10) Speakerphone, 11) Line priority (which line is selected when you pick up to make a call).

The GE 29488GE2 Corded Phone not only includes all of these features, but even more than I could have expected. My biggest pet peeve about phones is when you can't hear your caller, and you have no way to adjust the volume. With the GE phone, you just touch the Volume Up button while you're on the call, and the volume is increased. This isn't a "fake" or "placebo" feature. The voice of the caller is actually amplified, and you can increase it to levels that border on uncomfortably loud.

The multi-line support (this one supports 4 lines), is integrated perfectly into the phone, and functions exactly as you might expect (definitely how I would expect). When the phone rings, you just pick up the handset, hit the Speaker button, or hit the Headset button (if you have a headset) to answer. You don't have to press the ringing line button first.

Likewise, to make a call, you just pick up the handset, and an open line is selected. The Line Priority feature lets you set which line is automatically selected when you take the phone off the hook to make a call. This is very helpful to me, because I have the phone programmed to select my second line, rather than using my first line for outgoing calls.

The phone has 16 speed dial/intercom buttons. Programming is a snap using the 4-line backlit LCD display. Each button can hold a dialed number and double as an intercom number. You can even program a button to use the numbers stored in other buttons to make calls. This is very handy when you have a calling card and need to dial several numbers before/after the actual number. You can program in your calling card and access numbers once into a button or two, and then reference those buttons in the dialing sequence you program into the remaining buttons. Even the length of pauses can be programmed.

The Caller ID display has a very interesting feature that lets you program the phone not to save any "Unknown" or "Blocked" caller information in the Caller ID history.

When you plug in a GE 29488GE2 phone, it immediately starts looking for other phones on your lines. Each phone can be identified by a programmable name and a station number, up to 16 phones.

Each of the 4 lines can be set with independent ringing options, such as volume, tone and whether or not Caller ID information will be displayed for that line.

You can also program the phone to automatically answer and go into Speakerphone mode when it is called via the intercom from another phone.

The phone is powered by an A/C adapter, but also has a battery compartment for 3 AA batteries for Caller ID backup.

It also has a data jack on the back that you can plug your fax or answering machine into, along with a switch that lets you select which of the 4 lines the device will access.

All-in-all, this phone has the most features and functionality for the price. Its functionality is very well integrated and it operates predictably. It is easy to program.

My only negative comments are: 1) It comes with two 2-line phone cords, but not any adapters to merge two separate lines into one cord. If you have two separate phone jacks on the wall, you'll need a 2-to-1 coupler for each set of 2 lines. 2) The instruction manual says you can only use one specific brand and model of headset, which you must order by phone from one vendor. This isn't terrible, though, because the headset is about $30 with shipping, but you should be prepared for this extra expense if you want a headset for the phone. 3) The manual gives great step-by-step programming and use instructions, but could spend a little more time explaining the features and what they may be used for.

I've tried numerous multi-line cordless phones, too, and none of them had the features, functionality or quality of this corded phone. At this price, I can afford to have several of them spread throughout my office, and I don't need to worry about fussing with a cordless and all of its related problems. This phone has some weight to it, too, so you feel like you're getting a quality product.

Bottom line is if you need or want a phone with these features, this is the phone for you.

This phone is pretty good. Though there is a little static in the background, it has good range. It is very solidly built. Infact it fell down twice from a height of 4-5 feet, but there was no damage. The only thing missing is a digital display and caller id.

The clarity is superb, much better than my 900 mhz. I have talked for hours on this phone without any problems. I never hear channels switching or static. The phone is very light and the design is simple but cute. There is a slight hum in the background but this was expected, it's not irritating. Long distances calls are loud & clear. This phone is powerful. I prefer this over my heavy Uniden 900 that made lots of noise & always started beeping.

The photo on the Target website shows a cable input/output for cable protection. The unit arrived with a phone line input/output-not much help for those expecting protection on their cable line!

Awesome. Its changed my pc experience, that ball of wires is gone! Note: the PC700 I got is black/clear color, phone jacks are on the end. Way heavy construction, I feel safe. good build.

Just purchased these phones. Bought 3 handsets too. They seem to work pretty well, sound clarity is just OK. But for the dollar, not a bad set up.

This is a great phone system!

Living with roommates, it is sometimes difficult to get your phone messages. Not so with this nifty system. There are three separate mailboxes (callers select a mailbox to leave a message in - sort of like separate extensions at the office), so each of my roomies has their own place to get their messages (with their own codes to check messages!). Also, callers can leave pretty lengthy messages without getting cut off and having to call back.

The coolest thing about this phone system though is that you can plug in additional phones into it (for a total of four phones) without the need to have additional phone jacks installed. This saved us a fortune when you consider the phone company charges about fifty bucks per additional jack.

You can't beat it for under seventy bucks.

Those three words say it all. The phone is just fine.. but there are times when I cannot even finish a conversation without it going dead.. after being on the charger overnight.
AND, I live in a rural area and our local mega store, where I bought the phone, does not carry the replacement batteries.
That is how I came to this site.. looking for a damn battery! I see that many Panasonic models have the same problem.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BATTERIES, FOLKS!

This is a great phone if you are just looking for a basic cordless. I've been very pleased with the reception quality and I like the simple, clean design without tacky, futuristic buttons that more recent models tend to have. There are a couple of things I did find annoying, however.

- If your call requires a series of numbers (e.g. long distance call that has an access number followed by an actual phone number), you cannot browse the phonebook for subsequent numbers. You can still use the speed-dial feature, but you'd have to know where the desired number is stored.

- The battery life is *way* too short.

- The phone has this rather annoying beep for whenever any of the buttons is pressed, and there is no option to turn in off.