Rating: 
Summary: Great phone but VoIP Issues
Review: Here's a little public service announcement from a 6-month MD491 system owner. I give the phone 4 stars because it does have good sound quality -- from the handsets and the messaging system -- great handset range, and it has lots of great and easy to use features that I haven't seen elsewhere, like the ability to dial from the caller ID with or without area codes -- you tell it your area code and it removes local area codes, and puts a 1 in front of LD numbers. It also has both shared "phonebooks" (across base and handsets) and private phonebooks (on each handset) so the primary handset users can have their own phonebooks.
I drop it one star for two reasons. First and most importantly, the touch tones are not recognized by any VoIP box I have tried (multiple Scientific Atlanta and Primus/Lingo boxes). Specifically, you press the 4 button and the VoIP box does not recognized you pushed a button at all. This is a non-issue for standard phone service. I used it for 6 months with AT&T and SBC. But if you are using (or plan to use) a VoIP service (Lingo, Time Warner Digital Phone...) you should consider a different phone - like the MD681. The second is the answering machine software is a little clunky -- for instance, it records "blank" messages when people don't say anything and then hang up, and you can only delete a message beore or during playback -- not just after playback.
Even after 6 months, their customer support was very helpful and they have sent me a replacement phone for the VoIP problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice phone
Review: I have had the Motorola MD491 phone for about a week and so far it is great. Good stuff: 1. The menu system and displays are easy to read and use.
2. Range is excellent- I can walk all the way to the edges of my yard.
3. The handsets are a nice size and have a comfortable grip.
4. Each cordless handset has a speakerphone. I am not normally much of a speakerphone person, but I have used this feature a lot and it works very well.
5. This system could double as a baby monitor, wireless intercom, or eavesdropping device, since you can set the intercom to auto-answer mode or room monitor mode.
6. It seems like a good deal, since most 'phone system' packages in this price range only come with 1 cordless handset. Minor Drawbacks: 1. In the event of a power failure, the base phone will not work on phone line power without the batteries installed.
2. This phone system allows a great deal of personalization between handsets, which sounds like it would be a great idea if each person kept a cordless handset to themselves. However, in some cases it can be a nuisance. For example, each handset has a private and shared directory of phone numbers. The ring tones only apply to the private directory, so if you want a special ring everywhere when a known caller id is displayed, you'll have to put a person in the directory multiple times.
3. Each phone retains its own memory of whether or not you've looked at the new calls. It would be nice to just send a 'clear all caller id' command to all phones once you have checked the caller id in one place. This is a common problem with having different caller id boxes in the same household- but an integrated phone system would be the ideal place to solve it.
4. Ring tones are a nice feature, but there are only 2 really - a ring for known callers and the default ring. It would be better if this could be caller-specific, at least until all the available ring tones were used.
Rating:
Summary: Best Phone on the Market!!!!
Review: I know allot of people pick up the Panasonic models of cordless integrated phones, but this is much better. The design of the phone is very nice and fits in the hand easily. And, it feels very SOLID. Panasonic phones to me feel very cheap. The sound quality is excellent. Motorola does a great job. As the last reviewer, I am very impressed with all the features of this phone system. It should be stressed that this is a "system", not three phones bundled together. Because of this, you have multiple options available that other individual phones don't give you. As for the answering machine, if you have the phone company version, you can always turn it off. I'm thinking of cancelling my message service personally, but you don't have to. The speaker phones on ALL three phones is very cool. I wish the base unit didn't require batteries, but all three phones have a battery monitor, so you shouldn't ever get caught dead in a blackout. All in all, this is a great phone system at any price, but for $179, it's a steal!!!! Outstanding purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Can not beat this system
Review: I read the early reviews and I found them so unjust. I had a Panasonic with talking caller ID and all the goodies which I paid more than $200 for that with one handset and also Vtech and some other temp brands. So I know the other competeing products when I parise this system. In addition to slick design this phone has many features that makes working with it enjoyable. One of the many features I like is reformating a caller id entry before adding to the memeory or dialing. Multiple ring setting for day and night, walkie talkie, and tens of other features that to my opinion provided in smartest way so that you don't need to be a techie to be able to use it. I love this phone and in fact I bought two sets to give one as a gift to my relatives.
Rating:
Summary: Had it for a year and still love it
Review: I've had this phone system for over a year and still love it. It is the best phone/system we've had by far. I recently switched over to AT&T VoIP phone service and this system has worked with no issue what so ever with the VoIP... so my experience has been better than the other person who indicated that their VoIP service couldn't pick up the dmtf tones... hmm. BTW, This phone made our switch over to VoIP completely painless as the VoIP system completely bypasses all of our in house copper wiring so now our house is completely wireless with no ethernet (802.11b and 802.11g) and no copper pots lines either.
Rating: 
Summary: PIECE OF CRAP! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!
Review: The call quality and range are good, but if you want a decent digital answering machine you'll be disappointed. The unit allows you to check messages two or three different ways, but the sound quality stinks regardless.
Rating: 
Summary: look elsewhere
Review: The call quality and range are good, but if you want a decent digital answering machine you'll be disappointed. The unit allows you to check messages two or three different ways, but the sound quality stinks regardless.
Rating:
Summary: poor sound quality
Review: The other good reviews gave this phone 5 stars and claim good sound quality. I must have a bad phone since I can hardly understand anyone speaking through the cordless phone -- the corded handset sounds great. I did not have any wireless equipment running at the time. I plan to return the unit(s) ASAP!
Rating:
Summary: PIECE OF CRAP! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!
Review: This has to be the worst phone I have even bought. Well.... let me rephrase that. The phone itself works pretty ok.... the answering machine playback is HORRIBLE! Don't buy this phone if you actually want to hear and understand your messages. Period! We made the mistake of going by looks and now we are past the 30 day return period for Amazon and have to deal with Motorola!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great home phone!
Review: This is the best home phone system I have ever owned. The base station has a corded handset in case you have a power outage or talk too long on the cordless and run out of battery. Even the base station has a battery so if you disconnect the power cord for a minute, you don't have to set the clock or answering machine message again. Having the extra handsets is a convenient feature. I have a three level house, so I put one of the additional handsets on each of the two other levels. Each of the handsets has its own private phone book, plus access to the shared phone book that the base station has. I have no idea what the other people were talking about; the volume on the handsets and in the answering machine is fine. I have no trouble hearing anything. I would recommend this phone to anyone, and I might actually be buying it for a friend as a housewarming gift.
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