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Uniden EXAi-398i 900 MHz Cordless Phone with Caller ID and Digital Answering System (Pearl)

Uniden EXAi-398i 900 MHz Cordless Phone with Caller ID and Digital Answering System (Pearl)

List Price: $39.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Had problems with this phone
Review: I thought I'd nailed a bargain with this phone. There are a lot of pros at first glance. I liked the way it felt in my hand. The signal was much clearer than my AT&T. There were many features for the price.

Unfortunately, the problems began before the phone was finished charging. The caller ID worked exactly twice during its first day in operation. They are still listed in the phone's memory. Once the phone was fully charged, it quit. Now the phone says "Incoming Call" or once, "Data Incomplete". Just for kicks, I plugged in my old AT&T to test the caller ID. It works just fine on the old phone.

So this morning I called Uniden's Customer Service. Big mistake. The rep who answered the phone had such bad diction I could barely understand what he was trying to say. Uniden gave him a list of standard responses to read depending on the problem. If the problem doesn't fit into their box (the problem is with your house, your phone line, or the phone and it's your fault...fix it at your expense), they cannot help you. This is not the fault of the poor guy they have answering the phone; he's probably making minimum wage. This is the fault of Uniden for not giving consumers another recourse when the product is truly faulty.

As an aside, Amazon lists this phone as having 20 speed-dial presets, but there are only 10.

I'm returning this phone to Amazon and will not consider another Uniden product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good set
Review: It had mixed reviews, but it works great for me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good set
Review: The phone has lots of static. The handset broke within the first year. My next phone will be something more expensive with a longer warrenty.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: You get what you pay for
Review: The phone has lots of static. The handset broke within the first year. My next phone will be something more expensive with a longer warrenty.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, cheap phone
Review: We recently purchased this phone to replace a more expensive Panasonic model that wasn't working well anymore. While the Uniden is definitely a much cheaper-feeling phone than our previous model, it's surprisingly good for the price paid for it ($25).

There are only two minor quibbles that we've had with it so far, both related to the Caller ID function. First, we live in an area with 10-digit dialing (1 + area code before all numbers), and the Caller ID only keeps nine digits, making it impossible for us to call someone back using that function. Also, if you store a caller ID number in the phone's memory, it doesn't appear to be possible to edit that number after you've stored it, even though the manual implies otherwise (very annoying when all you want to do is add a "1" at the beginning of the number).

The sound quality is definitely a little more "hollow-sounding" than our previous phone, but it's still very clear and audible.

This is a good phone if you're looking for a cheap all-in-one phone/answering machine/Caller ID solution, and you don't have 10-digit dialing in your area. Not too many bells and whistles, and it's not as fancy as many of the more expensive phones out there, but it's a good value for the price nonetheless.


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