Hey, I know this has very little to do wit DIY audio, but I figured that the folks here are probably pickier with their choice in electronics than the majority of Amazon reviewers.
I'm not looking for anything special, just a basic cordless phone with an answering machine in the base. No special requirements, just has to be nice to use, affordable, and available online in the US.
So, do you have a phone that you recently bought and are impressed with? Do you have a cordless phone that has faded into the background so well that you don't even think about it? That's what I'm looking for, something that just works.
My present cordless has been eating batteries for breakfast, and it's time for an upgrade.
Also, since this is DIY Audio, please feel free to lecture me about how I should really just hack my phone and the base station to accept a lithium ion add-on solution.
I'm not looking for anything special, just a basic cordless phone with an answering machine in the base. No special requirements, just has to be nice to use, affordable, and available online in the US.
So, do you have a phone that you recently bought and are impressed with? Do you have a cordless phone that has faded into the background so well that you don't even think about it? That's what I'm looking for, something that just works.
My present cordless has been eating batteries for breakfast, and it's time for an upgrade.
Also, since this is DIY Audio, please feel free to lecture me about how I should really just hack my phone and the base station to accept a lithium ion add-on solution.
I have been using 2 of these, Ericssons' for a few years now, been very reliable, no answering machine though.
Hope this helps
Regards
James
Hope this helps
Regards
James
Thanks James- that's definitely an interesting piece of gear that I haven't seen before. It's probably more than I need. My girlfriend isn't exactly a technophobe, but she's hesitant to start using things that have more complexity than is required. This might scare her off. Sorry I didn't list that as a requirement- I thought that low cost would have covered that, but I guess that's not a valid assumption anymore!
I know the older Cobra "Intenna" phones *sucked* the internal-antennas were useless. Hopefully they don't make those anymore.
I'd go for something that uses spread-spectrum myself,to assure that the neighbors with scanners can't listen in..
Not that I have anything exciting to talk about,I'm just anal about privacy.
I'd go for something that uses spread-spectrum myself,to assure that the neighbors with scanners can't listen in..
Not that I have anything exciting to talk about,I'm just anal about privacy.
Whatever you do, don't get the same Uniden 2.4 GHz phone I have. The thing is so dumb it can't call back a number displayed on the caller ID because it doesn't know how to prepend a 1 to a non-local area code.
I am amazed by the number of people I see with cell phones. What do people do that can justify the expense? Who do they need to call so badly, or who needs to call them so badly that they need to have a cell phone? If people were to calculate what it actually costs to use a cell phone I suspect a lot would drop them in the trash.
I used to design chips for cell phones and now I am disgusted by the things.
VOIP is the way to go. Cheap, reliable, and NOT portable!
I_F
theAnonymous1 said:
I am amazed by the number of people I see with cell phones. What do people do that can justify the expense? Who do they need to call so badly, or who needs to call them so badly that they need to have a cell phone? If people were to calculate what it actually costs to use a cell phone I suspect a lot would drop them in the trash.
I used to design chips for cell phones and now I am disgusted by the things.
VOIP is the way to go. Cheap, reliable, and NOT portable!
I_F
My cell phone gives me peace of mind. If my girlfriend needs me, I know she can always get in touch with me. This has happened before, when her wheelchair started malfunctioning, and if it weren't for cell phones, it could have been a long time before anybody went looking for her. Maybe not days, but certainly hours.
I think what's bad is when people think they *need* to answer the phone when it rings. I routinely let it go to voicemail if I don't know who's calling me or if I'm busy. I have the second lowest number of minutes available, and almost never use them all.
If I didn't worry about traveling outside of the San Francisco area, I could get an all-inclusive cell phone package with unlimited minutes and free domestic long distance for around $50/mo. After taxes and fees, that's actually cheaper than a landline.
The reason I still have a landline is because it's cheaper to have one with DSL than than it is to have cable television with a cable modem. Our cable provider was willing to provide only the internet connection, but they were going to charge an additional fee to do so that was comparable to just adding cable television.
Overall, I think I'm just going to get a more modern cell phone that seems to have some positive reviews and uses NiMH batteries instead of NiCd.
Thanks for the comments, folks.
I think what's bad is when people think they *need* to answer the phone when it rings. I routinely let it go to voicemail if I don't know who's calling me or if I'm busy. I have the second lowest number of minutes available, and almost never use them all.
If I didn't worry about traveling outside of the San Francisco area, I could get an all-inclusive cell phone package with unlimited minutes and free domestic long distance for around $50/mo. After taxes and fees, that's actually cheaper than a landline.
The reason I still have a landline is because it's cheaper to have one with DSL than than it is to have cable television with a cable modem. Our cable provider was willing to provide only the internet connection, but they were going to charge an additional fee to do so that was comparable to just adding cable television.
Overall, I think I'm just going to get a more modern cell phone that seems to have some positive reviews and uses NiMH batteries instead of NiCd.
Thanks for the comments, folks.
Hi,
Don’t know of the situation in the US. Have good experiences with Panasonic, Philips and Siemens DECT cordless phones.
Have now a bare bone Siemens A200 (not available anymore) with 3 handsets in use for 2 years. Has proven to be very reliable after several drops on the floor. Good sound quality too.
But be prepared that the usable range of most DECT phones is halve of that of what is advertised.
Don’t know of the situation in the US. Have good experiences with Panasonic, Philips and Siemens DECT cordless phones.
Have now a bare bone Siemens A200 (not available anymore) with 3 handsets in use for 2 years. Has proven to be very reliable after several drops on the floor. Good sound quality too.
But be prepared that the usable range of most DECT phones is halve of that of what is advertised.
Intenna
I would have to 100% disagree with you there.
I had a Cobra Intenna that I used for years without trouble. I got a longer range with it than I have with any 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz phone so far! Besides that, it was very comfortable and had very clear call quality. (Actually, I still own the phone. It needs a new battery, but that's about it.)
One of my friends had an Intenna Plus and also never had issues.
DigitalJunkie said:
I would have to 100% disagree with you there.
I had a Cobra Intenna that I used for years without trouble. I got a longer range with it than I have with any 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz phone so far! Besides that, it was very comfortable and had very clear call quality. (Actually, I still own the phone. It needs a new battery, but that's about it.)
One of my friends had an Intenna Plus and also never had issues.
I just ordered a refurb panasonic with Ni-Mh batteries. It's 2.4 ghz, nothing special.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Gig...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1176672651&sr=8-1
Thanks again for the recommendations, all.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Gig...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1176672651&sr=8-1
Thanks again for the recommendations, all.
Re: Intenna
We've had 3 of them,and none of them could manage to get a static-free signal in the kitchen..One of them would even completely lose the signal,and hang-up the call...and our house isn't even that big!
I popped the case off of one,and tweaked the modulation,and audio levels a bit (it had some pots inside to adjust stuff) along with the TX power level.. it was a little better,but still pretty bad.
The Panasonic we got after that was pretty good,and my Uniden 900mhz phone was awesome.
xargos said:
We've had 3 of them,and none of them could manage to get a static-free signal in the kitchen..One of them would even completely lose the signal,and hang-up the call...and our house isn't even that big!
I popped the case off of one,and tweaked the modulation,and audio levels a bit (it had some pots inside to adjust stuff) along with the TX power level.. it was a little better,but still pretty bad.
The Panasonic we got after that was pretty good,and my Uniden 900mhz phone was awesome.
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