Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 19
 I love it - can't beat it for the price. January 22, 2006
Richard G. Smith (Ocala, FL USA)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
I own a home-based ecommerce business, and I am very pleased with this phone. It handles the 2 lines nicely, the answering machine functions meet my needs. We have 2 cordless phones that we use with the base unit, with headsets. Works great. With the addition of an Invotel AudioImage SX4400EZ Music-On-Hold adapter, I have music-on-hold capabilities - at a fraction of the cost. I read the previous reviews that poo-poo this phone system. Yes, it could have been better thought out in the design phase - as pointed out in the previous reviews. However, I just don't think the cons come anywhere near the pros. If I had it all to do over again, I'd still buy this phone system. That's the greatest compliment I can give it.
I'm a fan February 21, 2007
TerrierLover (Mountain View, CA USA)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
Almost didn't buy this because of bad reviews but I'm glad I did. I'm very happy...
I was looking for expandable phone, with corded base, two-line, 5.8 GHz. I work at home several days a week and spend hours on the phone in conference calls. I do NOT use the speaker phone (no speaker phone can really edit out the background noise as far as I'm concerned) - I only use a wired headset. If I need to walk around, I use the headset with cordless handset. NOTE: I do have Caller Id and many of the better features require Caller ID. If you don't have it, not sure how well this phone would rate.
My take:
+ True it does not auto answer when you pick up the phone. I actually *don't* want that - I don't answer every call. In my case, I often need to pick up the phone to see the Caller Id so the "not answer" feature works for me. To give this phone 5 stars, this should be a configurable option. Just not a deal breaker for me.
+ Totally agree that 1-button speed dial is an obvious miss, so don't buy this phone if you're hooked on speed dial. In my case, it's not a deal breaker but keeps me from giving it 5 stars. This seems so basic.
+ I have no issues with outgoing message quality. While I certainly believe b. kernek's complaint, I don't have a problem with it. Might be a bad unit, might be that I have lower standards...
+ I have had no complaints on conference calls. Folks seem to have no trouble hearing me or any extra noise on the line. I've made calls to my voice mail via cordless handset and wired headset - sound is fine.
+ I LOVE the way messages work on this phone. Each handset a flashing red light you can clearly see from a distance (without glasses) - saves me walking into the den to look at the base unit when I come home. If you have Caller ID, you also get a note on the missed calls list if they also left a message. With that call displayed, you have 1 button access to hear the message played back on the headset thru the speaker. And, the **best** feature is that you don't have to play messages in sequence - messages are tied to the call so you can play any message and ignore the rest. Really good if you get a lot of messages every day.
+ Display is adequate - pretty large print. Readable (with only minor squinting required) without my reading glasses.
+ Nice storage compartment/charger for spare battery. You always have a fresh battery, fully charged. This also provides backup when power goes out. I don't use cordless handset for long calls so can't speak to battery life.
+ I think the phone, both cordless units and handset on the base are quite substantial - not too heavy but certainly not cheap feeling. I personally like the look of both handset and cordless units.
This phone has a lot of features, too numerous to go into. I'm not a manual reader and am finding it is fairly intuitive. All in all, I really love this phone. The few negatives, for *me*, are outweighed by all the positives.
 Great phone for the price and I just bought another.... January 31, 2007
M. Chamberlain (Stafford, VA USA)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I too operate a home-based business. I use both lines and the digital answering system. I find that the voice quality is exceptional through both the corded and cordless handset. I get very good range throughout my 3600+ sq ft house and in my front and back yards. The digital answering system is very clear and easy to use. I recently moved the business out of the house and just purchased the same phone system for my new office.
Well designed, a few problems June 30, 2007
TomK1 (Brookeville, MD)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I've probably purchased about 10 2-line phones over the years. The category is always pretty severely hampered in terms of features and usability, and I'm guessing that's because it's in between home use and office use. Nonetheless, two lines can't be that uncommon can it?
Anyway, let me start with the good.
* This is the first 2-line answering machine phone that I could set up completely without a manual. The base station has lots of dedicated buttons that are big, and obvious.
* The corded base combined with a cordless handset is a great idea. It means I don't have to hunt down the handset to use it.
* Decent sound and tone quality when talking to folks, although some describe the sound as a bit "hollow". However, I found that older folks who are hard of hearing can hear my voice very well with this phone.
* There is an option for the answering machine to "chirp" when it has a saved message. Very handy when you walk in the door, you know you have a message without looking at the machine.
* You can charge a 2nd battery in the base unit, this doubles as a battery backup if power goes out. Unfortunately, the 2nd battery is not included.
* A mute button for speaker phone. How many phones don't have this?
* The wireless handsets can be speaker phones as well.
* Overall, the thing feels "natural" to use.
Now the not-so-good:
* The Answering machine works well enough, but sound quality is really marginal. I haven't tried the outgoing message, since I prefer the anonymous outgoing message. But the saved messages have fairly poor quality, like the sampling rate is way too low.
* Entries in the phone book cannot be selected once the phone is off the hook. That means you have to select an entry from the phone book, hit either line1 or line2 speakerphone and then pick up the handset. It's not horrible, just awkward.
* Why will no machine maker include a "save as new" option for messages? This should be a no-brainer, since it's value is immense. Maybe it's too costly to implement.
* Phone book entries put in the base are not pushed out to the handsets and vice-versa. The manual tries to turn this into feature, but it's not.
* speaking of which, why will nobody offer an ability to transfer phone book entries to/from a PC? Or do people like entering phone numbers and names repeatedly?
Overall, you realize you pay huge premium for that 2nd line, and there are tradeoffs, but this appears to be a decent choice given the alternatives. Phones are sort of personal in terms of what you do and don't like, so pay attention to the negative reviews as much as the positive.
Solid phone January 2, 2007
M. Kuffler (Bastrop, TX USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
First off, my application may not be the same as everyone else's. I wanted a single base phone with expandable cordless connectivity, and I only needed one line. I like the look and feel of this one, so I bought it and an extra expansion handset. I've had no problems with this unit. I think it's attractive and comfortable. The sound quality, both incoming and outgoing, is quite satisfactory.
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