In the market for a set of 3 DECT telephones with answerphone. Can anyone recommend a brand that is reliable, easy to use and long- lasting?
Previously had non-DECT Binatone (crap) and Panasonic (died after thirteen months), DECT Philips (decent enough but volume could've been better and wasn't long-lasting) and Tevion/Aldi (Answerphone has always been a law unto itself and now buttons are getting spongey and unresponsive).
Dunno whether all brands are disposable these days or if I've just had a run of duds but it's not like they're getting constant business use.
Currently thinking Siemens or BT... unless you know different.
Which? magazine's current best buy is the Siemens Gigaset C475.
Their review:
Compact and sleek, the Gigaset C475 cordless phone from Siemens combines stylish design with the latest technology at an affordable price. Features include an integrated answering machine, handsfree speakerphone and baby phone/ room monitoring. We've been impressed by some of Siemens cordless phones before and so we were keen to see how this model measured up in our in-depth tests.
This fantastic cordless phone is a clear Best Buy. It's well equipped and has an excellent battery and answering machine. Even more impressive, Siemens has delivered this at a low price.
Siemens hopes that this phone will do its bit to save the planet - it was designed with new energy-saving technology which Siemens claims uses up to 60% less energy than their conventional phones - so it saves you money and is better for the environment.
It consumes just 2 watts when the handset is in the base station, and
1.6 watts when the handset is not in the cradle. The battery life is also excellent, allowing 16 hours of talk time between charges.
While it may not have as many advanced features as its more expensive sister model, the Gigaset SL565, this is not a basic device. It can send and receive text messages, has a speed dial and even includes a baby monitoring function.
It transmits over a decent distance, making it suitable for all but the largest houses, and has a clear, colour display. It comes with a detailed, but clear, set of instructions and has an intuitive menu system, which combine to make it simple to operate. Sound quality is also good, even when using the speakerphone.
The answering machine is similarly impressive and is able to record up to 44 minutes of messages, it also comes with a kit allowing you to mount the base station on the wall.
Pros: Great all round performance and packed with advanced features
But make sure you keep a bog standard phone as when the power goes off, no phone. Also does anyone make a cordless phone where not being able to see the menues does not make it unusable. There used to be many like that at cheap prices idea, but now it seems everyone has to have a wretched menu system! Brian
Yes, I steer away from Binatone now after a set which didn't do well.
We have one of each (Siemens and BT that is), both work well, BT is less capable but is older.
The Siemens IP phones (we have two actually, one set on our boat in France) work well as VOIP phones as well as POTS phones if that's of any interest/use to you.
AFAIK BT don't make phones, they just rebrand. The 15 year old BT I have is a Siemens, for example. I wouldn't be surprise if each model is made by a different manufacturer.
Also consider what you want from the answer-phone. I use mine in the call screening mode. Although signed up with the TPS I still get around
30 junk calls a week. I no longer answer the phone when it rings and let the answer-phone pick up everything. I then pick up when the caller speaks and I want to take the call. Not all answer-phones have this form of call screening.
DECT phones will share the same BASIC features but additional features vary depend on model and brand. Don't assume that the feature you want is common to all phones, or implemented in a common way.
Also consider if you may want an extra phone at a later date because in my experience finding a one off additional handset is nigh impossible at a cost that isn't greater than buying the "set" in the first place.
For me the best of the bunch when I was looking around a couple of years ago was a BT phone (a re-branded Sagem), however, these days phone models change on a monthly basis and maybe many are just re-badged.
There is also the matter of what they look like. Or at least that's what I am told by the management. Actually, even I think some are ugly.
John Lewis usually have quite a number on display so that you can see their appearance.
We have a number of different brands in the house, partly selected by their facilities. For one with an answering machine, do you want it to make a noise at you when there is a message, or just say so on the screen? Very few will do that. Then we have the splashproof one that lives in the garden shed - I could only find one that was of that grade - that was 3 years ago. Our first ones were Philips and they are still working after
10 years.
MagicBox (Swiss) also seem to be good, we've had a "flip phone" (StarTrek type) for some years and I've just bought their Torque DECT answering machine to replace an older BT machine which was suffering from battery contact problems.
All DECT phones allow pairing to a base station from a different model/make/brand but this connection usually only supports the basic functionality. If you want full functionality you will have to use a phone and base station from the same manufacturer and often the same model number.
The weight of the handset can also be important. Some handset are very light and some are not well balanced in the hand. While I go for light weight for the mobile phone I prefer a heavier handset for the land-line phone.
Pick up the handset and check the weight AND the charging contacts. On one Binatone phone I once owned I could never be sure that when placing the handset back in it's cradle that the recharging electrical contacts were being made.
Wouldn't recommend Siemens I'm afraid. On both of my handsets the display has rotated left a couple of characters leading to wrap round to the other side of the screen.
One good point is the ability to copy directory entries to the other handsets, . Other reason for buying was at the time they were the only wall-mountable with answerphone.
With Philips you don't need to copy them, the address book and call registers seem to live in the base station and is automatically shared between all handsets.
Yes - I switched from a Philips multi-set to Panasonic (mainly because the volume on the Philips was always poor). I just assumed that entering a new contact into one phone would automatically copy it to all phones (as it did with the Philips). Not so with my current Panasonic phones - after entering a new contact into one phone, you then have to laboriously 'send' it to the other three phones one at a time...
The early Philips fax/ansaphone/DECT was one of the worst lemons I ever bought. It never worked properly from the off, had lousy wireless range and sometimes trashed a roll of fax paper for good measure. Even so its handsets when registered with a Panasonic base station were sort of OK. The Panasonic has been fine and works well at significant distances.
You may have to replace the rechargeable batteries after a while.
No experience of Tevion. I would never buy another Philips DECT phone and I would think twice about accepting one being given away for free!
I also completely avoid Philips, I've been burnt too many times. The main problem is sound quality, not as clear as other brands, and winds up with missed sentence after missed sentence, and a waste of everyone's time.
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