Meryl's Notes Blog
Things wordy, geeky, and webbyThose @(#^% Phones
Monday, August 15th, 2005 at 8:43 PM | 4 commentsIs it me or are manufacturers making phones cheaper? In the last few phone purchases, I’ve not had one quality, long-lasting phone. Long-lasting means making it to one year without problems. Most of the time, they break on day 91 — the day after the warranty expires. Slight exaggeration, but you get the point.
One phone didn’t last long away from its base (battery died fast), another one’s battery doesn’t work at all and it costs $20 to replace, and another could never make a connection and we discovered too late as it was a gift to the oldest and it sat in her room collecting dust. We have another one, but it is not cordless. Seriously! Paul is threatening to get a cord phone. Noooo!
We’ve got to get a new cordless phone as the main one we use disconnects me from the Internet every time it’s in use. We’ve had it for a while, but I finally moved my workstation into the real office and connect wirelessly to the Internet. Previously, I was close enough to connect with a cable without anyone tripping over it, pulling it, or playing jump rope with it.
Most of the phones I’ve reviewed get lousy ratings. Simple requirements - cordless, CallerID, average prices, and DOES NOT disconnect PC from the Internet. Oh yeah, as soon as we found out about this phone’s lousy side effect, we called the company and they would not do a thing. All sales are final. I understand that rule — but there was NOTHING about Internet interference. It was the first (and I hope - the only) phone to do this. I worked for the company that sold this phone and management would not budge.
The phone who kicks us off the Internet is a 2.4 GHz phone… and so are the other two that don’t interfere with the Internet. Supposedly, the latest 5.8 GHz phone don’t interfere with the wireless as they’re not on the same frequency while 2.4 GHz uses the same range as 802.11b/g use (thanks, Will) — how do you explain the other two on the same GHz don’t scramble our lifeline to the world out there?
Recommendations anyone?
And a word from our sponsor: Greg Duncan.
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4 comments
We had the same issue with that rebranded phone. But the battery wouldn’t hold a charge, so we bought a GE model. I would stay out of the 2.4 GHz frequency range that 802.11b/g uses.
Also, the buttons on the particular GE model we got begin to fail after a year of use. In our case, that means the 1, 6, 2 and 8.
I share your frustration. I have gone through more phones than I care to think about. However, the last one is a keeper … ATT 2231.
My top 7 reasons:
1 - Great clarity
2 - Durable - I drop it at least 3 times a week. Made to ‘breakaway’ so it doesn’t crack or break, including the belt clip!
3 - L–o–n–g battery life - at least 9 hours of continuous use.
4 - Easy phone book - 1st phone I have chosen to store numbers, because they are so easy to retrive.
5 - Headset combination - the phone coupled with a Radio Shack HS-1957 has provided me with as clear
mic and ear tone as any $500 headset.
6 - Great value - a set of 2 phones with chargers were under $90.
7 - Message light that connects with my service provider. Blinks when I have a message, instead of that buzzing in the ear (your choice)
8 - Option to wall mount
I can’t comment about the reliability of phones, but there’s an article that my help about dealing with Wifi in Lockergnome’s Windows Fanatics, August 12, 2005: “Wi-Fi Friendly Cordless Phones”, posted by Ken Colburn.
An extract:
“There are actually two kinds of 2.4GHz cordless phones available; one that is wireless network friendly and one that will wreak havoc.”
Direct
http://channels.lockergnome.com/windows/archives/20050812_wifi_friendly_cordless_phones.phtml
It’s the same in the UK. See:
“An estimated two million of the 18 million mobiles sold last year in the UK could have been faulty, according to a Which? magazine consumer report.”
Some makers and some networks are better than others. You just have to find out which!
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