V-Tech GigaRange 20-2481 2.4 GHz Expandable Cordless Telephone

Comments:
Don't waste your money on this phone. I bought the base unit and 2 added extensions. The instructions on the registration of the auxilliary 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.

Comments:
Given the considerable criticisms I have read about multihandset cordless phones, I purchased the vtech 2481 with trepidation but I am delighted with the system. It replaced a Siemens Gigaset system and corrects many of it's flaws. Biggest improvement is that a second handset can join a call engaged on another handset or even an non-system phone simply by taking the handset off hook just like a regular phone. Up to two handsets and the base can join the same call.

Clarity and range are very good. We have not had a problem with static using this system. We have a 3-story house and the base station is in my home office on the lowest level next to a dual-screen PC. The handsets in the bedrooms on the highest level of our house work just fine. A major reason I decided to stay with this 2.4 GHz system is because I have read some reports that 5.8 systems are not quite as good for range. I also liked the styling of the 2481 system better than the newer vtechs. My wife is hard of hearing but she likes the 2481 system with its model 20-2420 handsets and finds them to be as good, even in speakerphone handsfree mode (all handsets have a surprisingly good speakerphone)as the special boosted audio phones she has used. The digital answering machine is not as crystal clear as the Siemens was, but it is still quite good.

One criticism is that the call history logs and memorized directories are not centralized but are managed individually on each handset. I guess the idea is that each handset is independent and can be customized for the most frequent user and location, but it does make managing a lot of handsets (up to 8 can be on the system) more complicated.

Provision for a backup battery in the base is also a very welcome feature, although vtech should provide the extra battery with the unit. So far, battery life has been very good. Like all rechargeable systems, it is wise to run the batteries through several charge-full discharge cycles early and at least once a month run the charge down in the handsets. I think one reason you read so many complaints about the batteries in cordless phone systems is that people usually leave them in the charging cradles most of the time and the batteries never get adequate use to maintain a decent charge.

Highly recommend this system. It's the best one I have had yet.

Comments:
alaTest collected and analysed 3 reviews of V-Tech GigaRange 20-2481 2.4 GHz Expandable Cordless Telephone from international magazines and websites and compared these to 31201 reviews for other Cordless Phones....