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jtan

122 posts

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#157495 2-Dec-2014 22:33
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Hi all,

Wasn't sure which forum to post this in so mods feel free to move if it's on the wrong place :) So, long story short, I'm looking to buy a home phone (cordless) for my parents, whose old one is about to cark it - It's had a good run though - probably about a good 10-15 years at a guess, an old uniden cordless. The phone itself is massive and is beeping to indicate the battery is about to wear out. I could replace the battery but figured it was probably about time they need a new phone so thought I'd look at getting them one for Christmas :)

.. Anyhow, wondering if anyone here has any recommendations for a decent cordless landline phone - I'm not sure how much innovation there's been exactly on the landline front but I'd be keen to hear any options. My parents aren't the most technologically minded so the phone has to be quite simple to operate, and preferably not interfere with their wireless network (5ghz & 2.4ghz) I was initially looking at trying to integrate skype into a landline phone as they do use Skype often but there doesn't seem to be many good integrated solutions from what I've seen, esp. here in NZ, so I'll probably keep the two separate. Yes, they could use cellphones but for my parents, nothing trumps the trusty landline..

Thanks in advance GZ!

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Niel
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  #1187606 3-Dec-2014 06:35
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DECT runs at ~1.8GHz and only interferes with Sky if the base station is (very) close to it.  It is an old digital standard, but works very well with great range.




You can never have enough Volvos!




chevrolux
4962 posts

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  #1187630 3-Dec-2014 08:36
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Panasonic are generally pretty good. Spend no more than $100 and you will get a DECT base station plus two handsets.

My parents just got a nice set from Farmers, maybe have a look there. I was surprised to hear they had some.

timmmay
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  #1187632 3-Dec-2014 08:42
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If you have flybuys points they have some phones. I got the cheapest DECT set, it works, but paired with my Fritzbox sound quality is average.

If you have a phone that's still looking ok and working ok after 15 years I'd be tempted to just replace the battery. I doubt anything modern would last anywhere near that long.



Bung
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  #1187645 3-Dec-2014 08:55
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Newer phones have useful features. The base stations can use handset power to operate during mains fail. You can assign ring tones to known people so you can ignore the rest.

linw
2849 posts

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  #1187659 3-Dec-2014 09:17
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Happy with my Panasonic KX-TG6711NZB DECT phone. But this model doesn't have an answer phone function.

Hiamie
354 posts

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  #1187684 3-Dec-2014 09:44
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I have the Panasonic KX-TG7652. http://www.panasonic.com/au/consumer/household/cordless-phones/everyday-living/kx-tg7652azb.html

Love it.

It has an answer phone and 2 handsets. (The KX-TG7653 has 3 handsets). Has a speaker phone, answer phone etc etc. Also comes with a repeater - which I don't use -  doubling the effective range.

But the 2 features I love most are...

1. That it speaks the name of the caller from all the handsets (if the callers actual name is not in the "address book" then it speaks the callers phone number out loud.) No longer do I bother to answer those stupid overseas calls, or telemarketers - those call are left to the answerphone.

2. It also allows 2 smart phones to connect, so when we are at home and someone calls us on our mobile, the call rings all the landline handsets too, and can be retrieved from any landline handset around the house - no more rushing to find the ringing mobile! Any handset can also make outgoing calls on either mobile too, as well as the landline.

We leave our mobile numbers on the answerphone message so any urgent callers can still reach us. IE Dentist, doctor, car mechanic etc.

I ended up buying a second set and link them to one base unit, so now I have 4 handset around the house - and never miss a call on either landline or mobile. We don't  bother getting up to answer "unknown" callers - those calls go to the answerphone instead, and can let calls obviously intended for another family member also go to the answer phone. As any callers name is actually spoken out loud, we don't even glance away from the TV!

Once I ditch the landline and go mobile only (pretty soon I reccon), the handsets will still be useful as they will still connect to our mobiles once we walk in the door, and hence we still wont need to carry the mobiles around the house.

Anyway, for us it is the perfect solution to our needs.




 

 


linw
2849 posts

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  #1188064 3-Dec-2014 15:52
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Wow, that sounds impressive.

 
 
 

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eth

eth
74 posts

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  #1188091 3-Dec-2014 16:29

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm looking around for a replacement to our old Uniden which we've had for probably 10 years. Would anyone recommend either Panasonic or Uniden over the other brand? I've been looking at the Uniden DECT1635 which seems quite good.

Another thing, would any cordless home phone work with a UFB VoIP service, or would I have to specifically buy a new handset that is compatible with VoIP?

MattR
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  #1188093 3-Dec-2014 16:32
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All my family have Gigaset. Usually C610A IP.


Niel
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  #1188162 3-Dec-2014 18:23
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I've got a basic set of Oricom which is working well with great range.  I love the features from Doro, but I have never actually used one.  I'd consider Uniden as "it works" but not high on my list of quality brands.




You can never have enough Volvos!


floydie
474 posts

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  #1188864 4-Dec-2014 19:49
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why do cordless phones have such god awful feckin spine wrenching shyte awful ring tones????? i swear every time ours rings i just want to throw it at the neighbours.

jtan

122 posts

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  #1190221 7-Dec-2014 20:38
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Thanks Hiamie and everyone else for your suggestions - I've been having a bit of a look around at some of the Panasonic phones and leaning towards one of them; one of the features I like is being able to identify the caller, as I know my parents were experiencing difficulties at one point earlier on in the year with calls in the middle of the night from overseas, which they weren't able to do anything about (apart from unplugging the phone from the wall!) - This way the phone might be able to block it outright or send it to voicemail.

Apart from that many of the phone features do appear to be relatively standard, but nevertheless will be a good upgrade from their old phone..

Yabanize
2350 posts

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  #1190243 7-Dec-2014 21:35
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Not sure how old your parents are

 

But Uniden have some pretty good ones with large buttons and large letters on the screen, as alot of new phones have small buttons if you think that would be something important to them

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