Vtech VT 2417 2.4GHz Cordless Telephone

Rating:
Summary: Poor engineering
Review: I purchased this telephone very inexpensively due to a rebate. For the price it was worth it, but there are better choices you can make if you must pay the regular price.

The sound quality was poor and sometimes a bit garbled. The earpiece, even though it appears to be a sizeable circular area, is in fact a small slit. If the handset shifts even slightly from my ear, the volume diminishes drastically, which is very annoying. The earphone volume is a nice feature, but because I have to hold it just right to get full volume, I leave it a full volume, which is occasionally too loud.

The range is satisfactory for my use, but not as good as many other 2.4 GHz telephones. I can be about 50-feet from the base unit before detecting deterioration in the signal. By 70-feet there is a lot of static, and by 90-feet, I lose the signal and the call is dropped.

It is also inconvenient to turn the ringer on or off. To do so, you must go through the program menu.

Another annoying feature is that there is a separate button for making a call and hanging up. All our previous phones used the same button. Because of this, many times I automatically pressed the wrong button (the PHONE button) after completing the call, only to later find out the the phone line has been dead and not able to receive calls. It took a while to get into the habbit of pressing the OFF button. However, if you are used to cellphones, (which I am not) this would probably be a positive feature.

After about two months, I replaced this phone with another brand because I was not satisfied. I didn't throw it away, but I did put it where it is less often used.