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VTech gz2456 VMIX 2.4 GHz Analog Cordless Phone with Answering System and Caller ID

VTech gz2456 VMIX 2.4 GHz Analog Cordless Phone with Answering System and Caller ID

List Price: $69.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Gave it 2 chances......
Review: I bought the gz2456 phone because my sister and brother in law have a Vtech phone that they said they were happy with. Unfortunately, the handset couldn't connect to the base after charging. I returned it for another gz2456, and the second one worked, but within a week, the sound quality went downhill. There was a lot of static, and sometimes the sound would go out altogether for a second or two. I also tried to upload midi files for ringtones with the included software, but perfectly good sounding midi songs sounded terrible and extremely choppy once they were transferred to the phone. I decided to take the second one back and get a completely different phone. The static may have been interference with my wireless LAN, but the phone just wasn't very good overall anyway.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Form, but no function
Review: I bought this phone at a local store. I was anxious to get it home and set up the cool features. I brought it home, unpacked it and set it up to charge for the recomended 12 hours. I followed the directions exactly as written. At the end of the 12 hours I picked up the phone and made a call. I was happy with the quality of the sound until I left the room where the base was located. Like others have said, it started popping. It sounded like fireworks. A small pop then a short fizzy sound. This started when I was only about 15 feet away from the base. As I got further away it became worse. It started popping 2 or 3 times per second. I couldn't hear what the other person was saying. So I hung up and decided I would move the base unit to another room and try it. This time I placed the base on a high shelf in a room with no electronic equipment except for a lamp which I did not turn on. I placed another call. Again, it started popping as I was walking away from the base. I moved the base one more time and got the same results. So, I packed it back up and I will be returning it tomorrow. I can get something that works for less that what I paid for this phone. So, here's the pros and cons:

Pros:

Cool look
A lot of features

Cons:

It doesn't work!
Cheap plastic parts
Low volume on the handset
Doesn't hold your shoulder
Never got to use the features

The Final Word:
Good idea, bad execution.



Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Cool Phone, Poor Sound Quality
Review: I have had this phone for about a week now, and I am planning to exchange it today to see if they all pop or just this one. If they all have the popping problem, I have narrowed my search down to three other phones that I would like to try:

a) Panasonic 5.8GHz KX-TG5100M/5110M
b) VTech 5.8GHz VT-i5881
c) AT&T 5.8GHz 5840

These phones are all more expensive than this one, but they are 5.8GHz instead of 2.4GHz like this VTech phone, and they are all expandable systems. I like the Panasonic the best, and the reviews on it were all great, very few problems with that phone it seems. But the other VTech I mentioned has programmable ringer types like this one does, so it's also a definite possibility.

Now, on to the review!

Pros:
1. The phone is very easy to set up and use.

2. The caller ID is time and date stamped for each incoming call, marking multiple calls from the same number with an asterisk using the most recent call time.

3. The downloadable/customizable ringtones are really cool. My husband and I aren't teenagers, and we still get a kick out of it! You can set the phone to ring with a different musical ringtone and animation for different people in your phone book. There are six tunes preprogrammed into the phone, and you can replace the last one of these with your own tune. There are three animations preprogrammed in the phone, and you can replace any or all of these.

Cons:
1. The VTech gz2456 Phone often pops when I talk on it, and it's frustrating to constantly ask the person on the other end to repeat themselves.

2. The phone doesn't update the caller ID when you answer a call, so it still says that call is "new". I have to manually hilight that call for the phone to recognize it as "old."

3. The software to edit your own ringtones and download animation didn't work on my Windows XP desktop computer but did work on the Windows 98 laptop. VTech didn't include a backup of the preexisting animations or ringtones that were on the phone (a cute heart with arrows, a bird, and a chatting friend), just a few different ones (dinosaur, bicycle, golf). When you download a different animation or ringtone to the phone, you can't replace the one you copied over top of because they don't provide a backup of it on the software or the website, and the company refused to provide them for me. That was a pain because I liked one on the phone better than the one I copied over top of it, but didn't realize you could choose which one to delete because of the poorly written manual.

4. Which brings me to this next point: Who wrote the user manual for this phone?! It is very poorly written.

Conclusion:
I love this phone, and if I can exchange it for one that doesn't pop when I talk on it, I can deal with the small quirk with the caller ID not updating itself if you answer a call. At least with exchanging the phone, I can get the animations back that I erased, that they refused to give me the files for! There was a very cute little heart and arrow one that I loved, but I accidentally copied over with a dinosaur when I was playing with the downloads.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: cool features BAD PHONE
Review: I loved the features for this phone, I mean how fun ringtones, faceplates, flashing antena's. Its a cell phone lovers dream. But unfortuantely like a cell phone it isn't a clear call maker. It makes a popping , yes I read the reviews before purchasing and I thought it was just their faulty phone, I was wrong. Were not just talking one popping noise it happens through the whole time you are on the phone about every 10-15 sec. It sounds like someone keeps pressing flash and swithching lines. It got so frustrating that I finally gave up my cool features and went for a phone that just worked. I guess we will have to wait for them to work out the quirks and try again in a year.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: cool features BAD PHONE
Review: I loved the features for this phone, I mean how fun ringtones, faceplates, flashing antena's. Its a cell phone lovers dream. But unfortuantely like a cell phone it isn't a clear call maker. It makes a popping , yes I read the reviews before purchasing and I thought it was just their faulty phone, I was wrong. Were not just talking one popping noise it happens through the whole time you are on the phone about every 10-15 sec. It sounds like someone keeps pressing flash and swithching lines. It got so frustrating that I finally gave up my cool features and went for a phone that just worked. I guess we will have to wait for them to work out the quirks and try again in a year.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No Popping
Review: This is a great phone I do not hear any popping when I am talking and it is very easy to program. It has a great answering system that is very easy to use also. Its looks are very nice it has three different colored plates, Green, Orange, and the standard Blue. It has all different kinds of rings like the James Bond theme song, or the song We Will Rock You By: Queen, it also has standard rings too if you do not like the songs. I highly recommend this phone.


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