I'm amazed by the number of people these days who own nothing but cordless phones. Now, I like cordless phones; they're an indispensable part of modern life. But, unlike a simple phone like this Trimline, most cordless phones don't work when the electricity goes out. This phone requires no battery or AC power, and has a lighted keypad, and a ringer on/off switch--all of which make it a nice bedroom phone for emergencies. The sound quality is good, and the volume is adjustable. AT&T Corded Trimline Phone with 13-Number Memory (210)
I have two. I was pleased with the first one for a year and a half, but now the ringer works only when it is in the mood to. I have tried reprogramming it and double-checked that the ringer is switched on. Some days it just won't ring. The second one, I picked up a few weeks ago. It would be great if that one would allow me to dial the number nine, especially since the one number I want to be able to dial quickly from any phone is 9-1-1. I am not happy. Also, sometimes when it's on touchtone, it will only dial via pulse, so when I tried to do telephone banking, I had to run to another phone. No amount of toggling back and forth will get it to switch over to touchtone.
I was suspicious about the quality of this phone when I noticed the tricky marketing ploy: the phone has the AT&T logo - from the old American Telephone & Telegraph from which we could expect better quality, but AT & T has licensed its logo out to "Advanced American Telephones." These "American" telephones are made in China likely under the sorts of working conditions that would explain the shoddiness. I miss the days of quality manufacturing.
BTW, when I went to request a return number from DynaDirect (the company that ships this product), I was not pleased that the form that needed to be filled out was not a secure form. It asked for way too much personal info not to be an https site. I can't return the phone since after a week I threw out the box only to then discover that I had not yet dialed a number that contained a nine in it.
I recently bought this phone after several two more expensive models failed; his telephone by AT&T and Lucent works better than the other phones I bought when I had to get a new phone for my home. The construction of this telephone reflects great engineering; and it's very, very reliable for a price that's very inexpensive these days for a phone. Yes, it is corded; but when all you really need is a basic phone this really does the job. Besides, the fact that this is corded means you'll never misplace the cordless handset!
The phone has back lit buttons which are desirable for those of us who are elderly or in any way sight impaired. The buttons could be brighter but the back lighting does improve upon no lighting. The phone offers well known features including "last number redial," too. The phone has a mute feature, adjustable ringer volume and more. These functions never disappoint me. It also has a small knob that lets you switch between touch tone and pulse (rotary) dialing. I use touch tone dialing as most people do. I am particularly impressed that a phone in this price range even has a twelve number memory feature for speed dialing. Cool! However, as another reviewer correctly notes, when you program the phone to remember frequently dialed numbers, you need to actually dial the number--so hang up fast if you don't intend to speak with that person at just that moment! I don't care for that so I will take off one star for this.
If you want to take a nap without the phone ringing, just turn the ringer off by using the knob at the base of the phone. That's an incredibly useful feature!
I highly recommend this telephone for people who merely want a basic, inexpensive phone that still has a few "frills" to like including memory speed dialing and mute. The extra features give you all you truly need to make this a well constructed telephone at a rather inexpensive price. Sure, the back lighting for the buttons on the phone could be brighter; but overall this is still quite a good phone for the price. The phone takes up little space and it can even be wall mounted to completely save counter space in a kitchen or any other room.
I bought this phone as it seems to suit my needs: an inexpensive, basic corded phone. However, problems emerged as soon as I opened the box.
The cord attached to the phone is permanant! It cannot be removed. My phone needs to be about 12 feet from the nearest wall jack, so I bought a longer cord, since the cord that comes with the phone is only seven feet in length. However, to my surprise, the cord that is attached to the base is permanantly affixed to the phone. It does not plug into the base of the phone for easy removal like all other phones I have owned. I had to buy an adapter to go with my long cord and plug the seven foot cord into the adapter and then plug my long cord into the other side of the adapter.
The phone has three ring volume settings. However, the button to adjust the ring tone volume is easy to press by accident. I have accidently turned the ringer off many time without realizing it.
The volume on the phone's speakers is terrible. In order to hear on the phone at all, I have to turn the volume up to the third setting. Then I am only able to barely hear the person I am speaking to.
This is a CHEAP phone, both in price and quality. Do not buy this phone, you will be disappointed. I would not want this phone if it were free. I don't mean to be so negative, but I hope others do not waste their money like I did on this phone.'
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