Home telephone advice needed...

Mongo

Mongo

Joined
Nov 5, 2001
Messages
8,969
Greetings all, my wife is disgusted with our Sony home phone. I don't know it's specifics, but she claims in channel searches all the time while she's on it. (never happens to me, but I rarely talk on the phone)

So, I go to Best Buy tonight and talk to a couple of the techno-nerd kids and get even more confused. I ended up purchasing a Panasonic 5.8GHz expandable digital cordless answering system with two handsets, as it says on the box. First impression... they are making phones too damn small and with too many buttons/functions. Techno-nerd no.1 said Panasonic was one of the best brands out there... back in the day, they were entry level crap. Techno-nerd no.2 expounded that digital and 5.8GHz was the way to go over analog and 2.4GHz. Techno-nerd no.1 also said that Motorola and Uniden were two other top brands... anybody agree? What else is good? I don't want to have to buy a new battery frequently either.

So, doing things bass ackward... I go on Amazon.com and find the same darn phone for $20 less, with free shipping. Then, I read the reviews. Several people commented that the sound wasn't loud enough, and one said the "voice enhancer" was a joke. I read the review for a similar Motorola phone, and there were gripes about the battery life.

So, what is a good home telephone unit? What features are best? Which gigahertz? Please help this non techno-nerd.
 
I have the Uniden dual handset 5.8 ghz. the 5.8 ghz phones won't interfere with wireless routers and other equipment like the 2.4 ghz will, been going strong for over a year, no complaints, I think I bought at Bi-mart, which is a smaller scale of store similar to Wal-mart, but with more products made in the US and better customer service (store is employee owned) and is a chain here in the Northwest. Cost was $89.00 I believe


Good Luck on your search,
Dave
 
i got a 3 phone 5.8ghz uniden system last fall and have had great luck with it, $90 or so @ sams.
 
I have 2 different sets of Panasonics; one set is 5.8 Ghz, and the other is a 2.4. Both have multiple handsets, and both have speakerphone/answering machines. One set has the answering machine is disabled.

I had a Motorola for 3 weeks before I bought the 2.4 gig system for my upstairs. Battery life was very bad, so I returned it and got the Panasonic.

I've had other sets by Uniden in the past, but IMHO these Panasonics are much better in sound quality and battery life.
 
Have panasonic at home and work and they are great. No complaints that I can think of , good audio and good range.
 
I have the Motorola expandable wireless phones. No porblems at all with any of them.
 
I'll give Panasonic a thumbs up as well. The battery may only last a year or so, but replacements are relatively inexpensive now a days, and it's really our fault for the way we use these batteries that they don't last longer. Maybe someday they'll invent a truly memory free rechargeable battery.
 
K.V. Collucci said:
I have the Motorola expandable wireless phones. No porblems at all with any of them.
Click to expand...

Wierd.

I even had Motorola send me new batteries for all three handsets. The tech rep said they may have had a bad batch. Batteries still died after only about 8 hours off the charger, without any use. If I used a handset, its battery died even sooner.

After going through all of that, I called the tech support back, and they told me to return to the store for an exchange. I got the refund because they no longer had any Motorola's in stock.
 
I have the Panasonic too and like it. Ours has the digital answering machine in the base unit and it works well too. Check Cosco if you are a member.
 
The Uniden telephone is the only one my wife hasn't complained about or broken. Just shell out the cash and get one. I got the model with dual handsets and built in answering machine.
 
Be sure to have at least one Land Line in the home. When the power goes out so does your cordless phone. The phone company powers the Landline seperatly and may still be working.

Same goes for your cell phones. During disaster or panic... these become almost useless due to the great volume of calls being made on them.

Can't beat old technology sometimes.

Badge54
 
Badge, I was going to post exactly the same advice about landlines. One other thing about cell phones. Some of the older analog cellular phones had much greater wattage output (5 watts in the case of mobile [car] phones). This is in comparison to the .5 watt or less of today's digital cells. In rural areas where terrain is an issue and towers are much farther apart this extra signal power can be crucial. The downside is that fewer and fewer of the cell networks will accept non-digital signals.
 
I bought a panasonic 5.8 GHZ last year. I really like the phone except for the small size and the tiny buttons. However, it is nice to use and I can charge it up whenever, rather than letting the batteries go soft before charging. You had to drain those NiCd batteries to prevent the memory affect, before charging or else the batteries pack up.

However, I really liked the old General Electric NiCd cordless phone I used for years because it was nice and big in my hand. A nice handfull and it fit my ear perfectly. Those little phones can be hard to use with its tiny ear piece and buttons. I still see these GE phones in the stores and they sell for 20 dollars or less.

I still have my old rotory phone. Great for when the powers out or when I don't want to use the generator to save gas. I like the rotory phone(s) one in the shop too. I can never hear that wimpy lousy ring tone on these new phones. A rotory phone rings with authority, I can hear the phone ring when the shop equipment is running. I wonder if the phone manufacturers will ever make a phone that makes an honest ring. A bell ring stands out from every other sound.
 
Bronco said:
I'll give Panasonic a thumbs up as well. The battery may only last a year or so, but replacements are relatively inexpensive now a days, and it's really our fault for the way we use these batteries that they don't last longer. Maybe someday they'll invent a truly memory free rechargeable battery.
Click to expand...


Panasonic had those in an earlier version of their cordless phones. It was lead acid, like car batteries but of course, small. They supplied two with each phone and charger and while using one charged the other. You could leave it in the charger as long as you wanted, it just shut off when it was fully charged. That charged battery would also power the phone base if the house power went out. It was a nice setup.
The trouble was, it was the earlier phones that could be eavesdropped on by scanners.
I still have the one I bought and used for 10-12 years, it's just packed away for the next garage sale.

I've never seen these batteries in their newer phones, but then I don't get around that much, maybe someone else knows better.
 
Over the years I have learned a couple things about cordless phones. Never get Sony or Panasonic. I usually go for Uniden. They aren't to expensive and can take a beating( yeah I'm tough on them). I'm think of getting rid of my home phone all togeather. One less thing to worry about.:D
 
I just saw Blazing Saddles the other day again, and I sure as hell don't want to make Mongo mad! :)

I kept having problems with cordless phones but my problem was not being able to hear the phone conversation too well. It was even worse when the stork delivered a few baby boys about 5 and 7 years ago. So I bit the bullet and got a Panasonic (about 3 years ago) but made sure it had a jack to attach a headset to it. Then I bought a GN Netcom amplified headset and it was the best thing I have done for many years.

It draws power from the phone itself (not from batteries) and has very little difference on the battery time of the phone. If anyone has a similar problem, I can thoroughly reccomend this solution. Of course, it doesn't have to be a GN Netcom headset, but I'm just so happy with mine it's unbelievable.

I found the box for it just now, and if anyone is looking for a dealer in the US, it lists the corporate HQ as:
77 Northeastern Blvd
Nashua, NH 03062
Phone: 1-800-826-4656 or 1-603-598-1122

The model I got is the "GN 2110 ST-SF-AP" Part No. 04-0018

Cheers
Phillip
 
=Voodoo= said:
I bought my vtech 5.8 about 5 years ago and they still are on same battery
Click to expand...

Now THAT is impressive... have you taken it out of the box yet?;) :D
Thanks everybody for your info so far... still haven't made a decision. Will try to make it out to Costco today at lunch and see what they have.
 
One thing to remember is to have at least one corded phone in the house. Cordless phones all depend on AC power and if your power goes out so do your phones. Corded phones are run with power that is provided in the phone line and will work regardless of whether or not you have AC.
 
Just thought I'd chime in with a little non-specific advice about Panasonic. In Japan the same brand is known as Matsushita Electronics, or something similar. Panasonic products are probably some of the most underhyped products manufactured today, but they are quite often in the top rankings of consumer testers. I've had good experiences with just about every Panasonic brand item I've owned, from stereo systems to electric shavers, and also our cordless phones are Panasonics, which are serving us quite well. Just thought I'd share my experiences with the Panasonic brand.
 
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