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EnGenius SN920ULTRA Longest Range Cordless Phone System

EnGenius SN920ULTRA Longest Range Cordless Phone System

List Price: $379.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: EnGenius SN920 Ultra
Review: My principal reasons for purchasing the EnGenius SN920 Ultra were:
1) supported multiple remote handsets
2) could be expanded to support multiple incoming lines
3) operated in the 900MHz band

The 900MHz band was a key issue, since I planned to install an IEEE 802.11b RF LAN, which operates in the 2.4GHz band. This ruled out any of the 2.4GHz phone systems, since they would interfere with the phone and vice-versa.

The EnGenius SN920 works fine from a technical standpoint, but there are numerous quirks about the phone, especially with regards to 'human factors' issues:

1) Voice quality is good, but not as good as a Motorola STARtac. This is surprising since the SN920 uses ADPCM digital encoding. Also, the speaker has very poor low frequency response, likely due to the small size of the phone, and is nowhere as good as a traditional corded phone.

2) A very annoying trait is that when you pick up the phone from its cradle, the caller ID info disappears! This forces you to crouch down to view the caller ID, which is inconvenient.

3) When the phone is not in its cradle, you answer it by pressing 'TALK', which is fine. Unfortunately there is no way to configure the phone to require 'TALK' to be pressed when it is picked up from its cradle, so picking up the phone that is already in a cradle versus not in a cradle is *different* and annoying. Half the time, we have to press 'TALK' twice, since you shouldn't press 'TALK' after you pick it up from a cradle. Although this sounds like a trivial nit, it really is a hassle.

4) I would not recommend this phone for older people, especially those who have arthritis. The phone is smaller and heavier than most, but it is too heavy for a moderately infirm person to hold for a long time. The buttons are also harder to push. The phone was designed this way for heavy-duty industrial environments, but it does make it difficult to use if you are 80 years old and have arthritis.

So, keep these issues in mind if you are considering this phone. From a system design standpoint, the ability to add multiple lines and handset is great, and the fact that it operates in the 900MHz is a major plus if you are planning to install a 802.11b RF LAN. (I'm surprised that cordless phone system vendors are not considering this issue more; I've talked to Apple and Siemens and they have confirmed that 2.4GHz phones and 802.11b RF LANs can and do interfere with each other.)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well Built Nokia 6100 series clone
Review: This phone is almost identical to a Nokia 6100 series phone, which I happen to like. It weighs more and has less battery life, but the size and feel is the same. It is an industrial phone and for its small size feels like a brick. I installed the phone without the external base antenna and received reception about 1/2 mile from my home. I live in a wooded area. The phone battery is a metal hydride and can be recharged without memory problems like nickel cad. I really like this phone. The build quality is outstanding and most of the other cordless phones I've owned just feel flimsy. You can't hold this phone against your head while typing because of it's small size, this along with the battery life are the only reasons I can't rate it 5 stars. The small size is also an advantage, you can fit this phone into the same case as the Nokia 5100/6100 series phones.


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