Home :: Communications :: Telephones :: Cordless Telephones  

2.4 GHz
5.8 GHz
900 MHz
Corded-Cordless Combos
Extra Handset Included
Kids
Multi-Line
VTech 20-2481 2.4 GHz DSS 2-Line Expandable Cordless Phone with Digital Answering System and Caller ID (Silver and Black)

VTech 20-2481 2.4 GHz DSS 2-Line Expandable Cordless Phone with Digital Answering System and Caller ID (Silver and Black)

List Price: $229.99
Your Price: Too Low To Display
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst value in 30 years of purchasing phones
Review: Absolutely horrible quality. I have another 900 Mghz that is 10 times better in terms of range and sound quality. The answering machine is frequently unintelligible. These are priced at the low end of the spectrum but are not worth it. I'm going to try and find a cost effective alternative or else fork out $200+ for a top of the line system.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worse Quality than 1st Gen Cordless
Review: Absolutely horrible quality. I have another 900 Mghz that is 10 times better in terms of range and sound quality. The answering machine is frequently unintelligible. These are priced at the low end of the spectrum but are not worth it. I'm going to try and find a cost effective alternative or else fork out $200+ for a top of the line system.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst value in 30 years of purchasing phones
Review: Don't buy this product. Most of the time when people call and we are not home, the answering machine hangs up on them. When I call or write technical support, they tell me to unplug the phone and plug it back in. I am not going to do this every day. We have had this system in our home for 18 months and I regret the day I purchased it. It has been nothing but trouble. Also, the headsets, which are not cheap, fall apart and Vtech refuses to address the problem. Granted the product is out of warranty, but this is a recurring issue, and clearly is a problem with product quality. I get better service out of a $30 phone I bought 15 years ago than on this over $300 investment.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Don't waste your money on this phone. I bought the base unit and 2 added extensions. The instructions on the registration of the auxiliary phones omitted several steps. The base phone instructions don't even explain how to use call waiting, a pretty basic function popular since the 80's. Customer service leaves you on hold for 20 minutes, and they can't help you since they have never even seen the phone. They are just reading the same, truncated instructions you are! Maybe VTech should realize that the best advertising is word of mouth. Don't bother with this system.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not an option for a business
Review: Got this one to replace the 2 US-made Siemens Gigasets 2400 / 2420 where all the handsets died = ended up sounding like you are under water. Good at first, except a few flaws like unable to transfer the numbers programmed into a handset to another one...
Who likes programming each phone, when you use several.
However, after a few months callers complain about the crackling in the line. Checked, it is the V-Tech's !
Cannot suggest buying this one,despite it's reasonable price. Only problem if you want a 2-line: what else is there? Ugly Panasonic...and then ?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very satisfied
Review: I bought this with an extra handset as a replacement for a Panasonic 2720 (see my review of that model; I had many problems with connections for that phone). I simply plugged this one in, hooked up my fax, and it worked perfectly. It has more features and cost me less.

My only nit-picks: the buttons on the handet are a bit small--more like a cell phone, but you get uesd to them--and the indicator light for the ans. machine. When you only use one line/mailbox, it flashes, and i find that annoying, because most machines flash when you have a message! As I said, it's really minor! I also find it hard to see the pinpoint message indicator light unles you are right on top of the base unit--which I've pushed way back on my desk. But the bright message light on the handset is great! (and I see that others agree...)

With all the newer phones, reading the displays is not the easiest for older eyes. even after adjusting the contrast between the words and background. The letters are so small! And many of the features that were buttons on older phones are now programmed and use "soft keys." But it just takes getting used to; these phone to use and great value.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Very Good Phone In A Very Limited Field...
Review: I did lots of research before buying another 2-line cordless to replace my ancient, worn out Panasonic 900 mhz. I knew two things from the start: 1) Panasonic's customer service is virtually non-existent, has always been so, and will never change ! (Shame on you Panasonic !) and 2) Panasonic batteries are a disaster.So, we eliminated Panasonic at any price ...
The VTech is a very good choice in a very limited field of entries. No 2-line phone on the market is going to provide an
ideal universe of performance and/or features. This VTech comes close !
1) manual : easy to folow
2) setup : very easy
3) cusomer service : hold time approx 7-10 minutes, not great,but
acceptable
4) itercom : excellent
5) speakerphone : excellent
6) additional handsets - excellent
7) soft keys - easy
8) keypad - easy
9) no discernable background noises when in use
10) answer machine - this appears to be the major complaint of the customer reviews. The quality of voice is acceptable , not tinny, not robotic sounding as others have mentioned. Is a separate answer machine better? Of course ! But, this built-in is acceptable. It's also easy to record, play-back, erase, etc.(However,we will deduct 1 star on the answering device)...
To those reviewers who nit-picked about the blinking light or the
small size of some lights,or other silly minutiae, I say, "Get a life !" To those who require a 2-line home/office phone, I say, "Get this VTech".It's as close to ideal as you're going to come !!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Is it unnatural to want to kill your phone ?
Review: I have owned this awful system for 6 months, so I can expertly advise you all NOT to buy this system ! Matter of fact, I want to buy an 18-wheeler and run over the base and both handsets !!
1) The answering machine is so tinny in sound, that your callers
will either think your're in a bunker or submerged in 40 feet
of water, when they hear your OG message.
2) The quality of the handsets is so pathetic, that after 6
months, 1 handset has worn out keys that refuse to fully
depress so we can simply make a completed call.

3) To disconnect after completing a call you have to practically
hit the "off" button with a sledge hammer, or you'll never
access another dial tone in your life !

4) Particularly maddening: "Call on hold" seems to be a feature
the phone imposes on you,even though you have not placed the
call on hold at all ! You place the handset back in its cradle
and you think you're done...Well, suddenly your handset is
ringing, telling you the "call is on hold". So, you have to go
to the handset and "bash" that infamoue "off" button to shut
the phone off again and disconnect what should have been
disconnected originally !

5) So as not to belabor the point; suffice it to say that unless
your retailer is going to give you this system free of
charge, don't even think about it !! Even for free, who needs
the grief ??

* By the way, I have been looking for a good 2-line system for
3 years now, it does not exist !! Is this rocket science ?
Maybe NASA should work on the problem, as not one single
cordless phone manufacturer can seem to get a handle on this
product !!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Caller ID?
Review: I liked this phone when I got it but am in the process of sending back the second one I purchased. The caller ID feature works on one line but not on the other. The company's help line was worthless, didn't even know how to turn off call screening. I tried everything they suggested, unplugging, taking out the battery, unplugging other two-line phones in the house that had caller ID, etc. Nothing worked. The company was very good about sending another phone but that one didn't work either. It's a shame because the ability to access the answering machine from the additional handsets was a big plus.

Voice quality was only fair, and I sometimes got a clicking sound when talking on the phone that was annoying to me and the people I was talking to. Still, I would have kept the phone for the ability to access the answer machine, the speaker phone in the base, and the light weight of the handset if it hadn't been for the malfunctioning caller ID.

Update: The company has finally admitted that the caller ID on the second line of the phones just doesn't work. They are trying to fix it and will give me a new phone when they do. In the meantime I am stuck with a phone that doesn't do what I need it to do. I have ordered an AT&T phone system but just learned that AT&T owns V-Tech so this system will probably turn out to have the same problem. It infuriates me that the company knows this is a problem but still sells the phone promising it will show caller ID, and not just on one line!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lots of features at a great price... but not perfect
Review: I looked all over to find a 2.4GHz 2 line cordless phone, before purchasing the Vtech. What I liked about it (besides the price) was that it has a very readable caller id screen on both the base and handset and a speaker phone on the base and handset. The handset speakerphone is a very unusual feature that I find very handy. The phone is also nice in that you can purchase additional handsets for locations where there are no telephone jacks.

Sound quality is very good, and the range seems much better than my old Sony 900MHz phone.

Here's the downside:
1. The base is not wall mountable. That may not be a problem for most people, but it is for me.
2. Occasionally, pressing a button on the phone does not create the correct tone. For instance, when calling my answering machine, I'm supposed to press 7 to delete the message. Although I press 7 on the phone (and 7 shows in the display), it is not always recognized by my answering machine. This has happened on other voice mail/computer phone systems too. I don't know if this is a problem on my specific handset, or is common to Vtech.
3. The quality of sound from the handsfree speakerphone varies. I can be talking to a caller using the handset speakerphone, and the voice fades in and out... even when I'm right next to the base.

In sum, it's a great looking phone with all the right features at a good price. The minor problems I've described are probably limited to my unit. I'll try it for a while longer, and then exchange it for another of the same model if I continue to have some problems.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates