Suggestions for Cordless Phones

[marsilians]

Hi,

I work from home a fair bit and am on conference calls for most of the day. I am on the lookout for a decent cordless or desk phone with the following basic features:

- Called ID
- Speaker phone
- Mute button
- Volume control
- 20 to 30 numbers memory capacity

I have gone through 4 phones in the last 3 years from Panasonic, GE and Sony ending up with a drained battery or the phone gone kaput. Looking for suggestions from members on phones which will have fairly heavy usage (~4 hrs daily).

if its of any use, I have a BSNL connection at home and cannot change to other service provider.

I am fairly flexible price wise but would like to pay for reliability vs. functionality/specs. Around Rs. 1000 might be a good starting point.

 

[nshankar]

Panasonic and Siemens are brands that I have used in Muscat and Bangalore with no issues.
Please ensure that the phone is not placed in the cradle after the battery is fully charged until the battery is due for charging (as recommended by a Service Engineer in Muscat).

 

[mk15]

Don't go for beetle. They are useless though they use AAA cells.

 

[hemantwaghe]

ending up with a drained battery or the phone gone kaput.

why not change battery? also why not try repair

esp. panasonic batteries are available ...and good grey servisabality in Mumbai grey market

 

[GeorgeO]

I dont think service provider has any impact on corded handsets. I have used phones sing "DECT" technology, picked up from the US which give decent clarity over longish distances.
As earlier posters have pointed out, changing Nicads when they are unable to hold the charge is an easy way out.

In my view ALL phones have a life cycle, and need to be replaced when it reaches the end.

 

[deba]

Of all the cordless phones I have used over the years I have found the Panasonic Models to be the best. Go for panasonic Cordless Phones you will not be disappointed.

 

[tasanjeev]

Of all the cordless phones I have used over the years I have found the Panasonic Models to be the best. Go for panasonic Cordless Phones you will not be disappointed.

My vote also goes for Panasonic. I have purchased 3 sets about 6 years back and all are still fine. Changed battery once on 2 sets. The third set is still going good on original battery. I have used beetel, GE, local market stuff etc etc, Panasonic performance is the best. The point made by nshanker about the charging battery is correct. I have been following this rule from day one and works like a charm,

Speaker phone has very good clarity, The range is also good on cordless hand ets. But note, i dont use it for 4 hours a day, but i use it enough to vouch on its quality and performance.

 

[iaudio]

Siemens would be my pick and then Panasonic. I am not too knowledgeable about this. But I have seen that comparable models from the above two brands, Siemens handset seem to have better clarity even when you are far away from the base set.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I have a Panasonic DECT answering-machine/phone and a Philips DECT phone. Although there is some hassle registering a phone of a different brand with the base station, it can be done. The sound/call quality of the Philips is superior to the Panasonic.

All this stuff is years old now. It was in daily use in London, but now the Panasonic is our landline phone, and the Philips is a cupboard. The landline phone is used, almost 100% by my wife.

Most of these phones use AA batteries, and rechargables can be replaced --- but there is a battery that seems to be specific to phones which looks like an AA, but the dimensions are slightly different. Still, they can be replaced, but are harder to find and more expensive.

 

[viper08]

Well, I am using Panasonic past 4 years purachased from grey market for 1.8k. Never faced any issues. The battery is still strong. ( I feel its now 70% of its capacity). Just use basic priniciple. Never over charge than recommanded and never charge before full discharge.

 

[haisaikat]

Even I have a panasonic but battery was replaced once after around 1.5 years but since then I replaced using a grey market battery as I do not think stock / OEM batteries give extended life in proportion as compared to their additional cost over grey market batteries. A OEM one cost around 300 to 600 INR while grey market ones are less than 150 and typically last around 1 year.

If any model has standard AA or AAA rechargable batteries that would be my next target when this one is due for replacement. These are easily available and can be self replaced unlike some of the non stadard shape rechargable.

Since the OP has more requirement to do conference calls from home I think heaving good range speaker phone should be his primary lookout as handsets have limited battery life and for longer calls they might be unsuitable. Desk phones with speakerphone modes are more suitable for conference calls in my opinion but however in 1000 to 2000 range you may get some decent cordless phone but may not get a powerful speaker phone.