Rating: 
Summary: having same problem
Review: worked great for almost a year. then it started cutting off messages at about 20seconds. machine was set for 3minutes. thought i was the only one, but several other reviewers had the same problem. so must be a common problem. cheaply made w/low quality control? will try to return and see what happens. stay tuned.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a digital answering machine with good sound quality
Review: Wow, I am impressed. I don't think much of GE products usually. If anything, I have used their alarm clocks and telephones without much fanfare: they work, but I know that other brands like Panasonic and Sony usually perform and look better, and may even be easier to use... but you have to pay quite a bit more for their products, so I settle for GE when I don't need the best. You can imagine how surprised I was when I got the GE 29869 answering machine. I know some reviews said that it had good sound quality, but a few reviews also said it had poor sound quality. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I am happy to confirm that this unit does, in fact, have good sound quality. And not many digital answering machines can claim that! Certainly not my old Sony TAM-100. The Beast
I bought the Sony 3 years ago in summer 2000, and was *un*pleasantly surprised when I bought it home. I thought I was getting a good deal on this unit -- half price off MSRP at the college bookstore. Only catch: no returns. "Hey, it's a Sony... it couldn't possibly be that bad," I thought to myself. Whoops. Bad sound quality. And me, unable to return the darn thing! Tips on sound quality
The GE's sound quality is fairly good on outgoing and incoming messages. You have to be careful about how you position the unit, however, and how you "talk" to the machine when you record your outgoing message. I have found that your outgoing message sounds best when you are at a 45 degree angle to the microphone and about 12 inches away (measured from mouth to mic), with the machine about 6 inches in front of you on the desk. I originally recorded the outgoing message hovering directly over the unit, about 8-10 inches away. It was a little muffled. I also noticed that placement was important for listening to recorded messages. Place the unit close to the wall for best sound. Taking messages
Back to the GE. While I would say that sound quality is one of the most important things to look for in an answering machine (sadly because most digital machines sound pretty bad), it is not the only thing. Of course, another important criterion for answering machines to excel on is answering the phone when you don't pick it up and taking the message faithfully and accurately. I'm happy to report that this GE does its job well so far in the limited time I have used it. I have not missed any important messages (knock wood). Features
- remote message retrieval with 3-digit password
- multiple mailboxes (4 in this case)
- message counter display
- can set two outgoing messages
- call screening
- memo
- 2-way conversation recording
- message scan
- 40 minute recording time
- time/day stamp
- move messages between malboxes
- fast foward (2x speed playback)
- power failure 9v battery backup
- selectable rings (2-8)
- toll-saver (4 rings no msgs, 2 rings new messages) Features that it is lacking
- cannot disable call screening (you can always hear the person leaving the message unless you turn down the volume manually)
- lacks call display, doesn't read out the number of the person calling
- does not have anti callerID blocking feature (it tells the caller that calls whose callID numbers have been blocked are not being accepted) The AT&T 1726 has all 3 of the above features that the GE lacks. I cannot vouch for the sound quality of the AT&T, though (never used an AT&T before), and it is more expensive. Conclusion
So far, this unit works well, has good sound quality, and is very reasonably priced for its performance and features. I have only used it for a week, so it's not long enough with which to judge reliability. 4/5 stars
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