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BT Freelance XB2500
by Jcm222
INTRODUCTION
Just a year or two ago, I was moving from Virgin Cable to Sky TV and Phone. In the process I decided to ditch my ten year old single corded phone, in place of these new cordless sets. I have one, the main unit in the dining room, a further secondary one in the kitchen, and the final in my bedroom. ...
DESIGN
You can get this range of handsets in single, twin, triple and quad set-ups. I have the triple unit. The telephones all sit in a small hub, but the main phone has a larger base with the controls and the answering machine display. The phones themselves are traditional rectangular shape and are a matt black in colour, with a bright blue display. The handsets are very light indeed, and as I mentioned they do not have leads. However each port or hub is connected to the mains so you need to have sockets available.
FEATURES
When you first plug in the phone you are taken through a very simple set up procedure, where you can set the time and name each handset. For example I have mine named according to the rooms in which they are situated.
When you key in the number, you can look to see you have typed it in correctly before pressing the dial number, so you can correct any mistakes. One problem here is that, say for example the second digit is incorrect; you have to delete every subsequent number, a bit like the backspace button on the computer. There is no arrow to scroll to the number in question.
The phone itself has an indoor range of 20 metres which should suffice in most common situations. The battery life allows for 10 hours of talking, without charge, although I can admit I have never tested this feature! Because it has rechargeable batteries, when you place the phone in the dock it charges up. You can also store up to fifty numbers in the telephone which is straightforward and very easy then to call the numbers back up again.
The phone has a built in answering machine, which you can turn on and off, and it can hold up to 15 minutes of recording. You can listen to your messages either through the speaker on the base of the main phone, or through each individual phone, by going to the answering machine menu - a very easy process.
One other good feature is the built in loudspeaker which means you can set the phone down, particularly useful if you have been placed on hold by a call centre.
PROBLEMS
To me there are two problems. The first one is the volume of the phone. People often speak at a regular tone, but I struggle to hear even when the phone is turned up completely. This could be a problem for many people, considering I actually have very good hearing.
The other problem is that sometimes the phone just decides to lose connection to the network, and will display 'NONE FOUND' on the screen, meaning you have to place it back into the base to get it to register.
SUMMARY
I recommend the phone, as for only £50 you can have three wireless individual home phones. This is good if you need to move around or if you want to make internal calls or pages to your family!
Despite its few hitches, I would recommend the phone.
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BT Big Button 200
by tirial
I first encountered an earlier version of this phone at work when I damaged a hand and had to use a brace, and my experience was good enough that I ended up finding this one for a neighbour with arthritis and hearing problems.
This is an extremely sturdy phone - you don't need to worry if you drop or knock it. The phone sits ... on a moulded base, supported by rubber feet that hold it firmly in place, so it won't move while dialling. This is raised and slightly angled to present the buttons towards you. It is a fairly big phone, but the controls and features are clearly laid out and enlarged to make them easier to use.
Physically the number buttons are large, and clear enough that even with visual problems they should be useable by most. Even with visual issues a user should be able to use this to call for help in an emergency. With a hand locked in a brace I could happily press these buttons, while I had trouble with standard ones. The smaller buttons may require a bit of a squint, but they are for advanced features like divert, which are less necessary. This may not be suitable for blind users - it has a double bump on the 5 to locate it, and raised one, two, and three dots on the "most important number" buttons, but there are no braille markings on the buttons.
Speaking of advanced features the phone has a broad range of extras. It has standard call transfer, call waiting and divert facilities, but these aren't ones we use often so I can't comment. A thirteen phone-number memory is also useful, but as a telephone luddite I didn't find this very easy to configure, even though the three most important numbers get their own dedicated buttons!
The extremely adjustable speaker volume and hands-free settings are very useful, even if you are just using it to let several people in the house to join in the same conversation. The ringer volume can also be controlled, making it easier to tell when it rings. With three ring tones you have some ability to choose one you like (or can hear better). I can't personally comment, but I have heard it works very well with a hearing loop.
There are some nice touches - the large print manual and the default settings being at maximum makes it very easy for users to get to grips with it. Also, since it's corded there is no risk of losing the handset round the house! The display lights are bright and clearly visible, so there's no confusion about what it is trying to tell you.
It is worth shopping around if you want to buy this phone. It is available for under £20 online, but can cost up to twice that in stores. Second hand and refurbished models are available more cheaply, so it is within the price range of most.
I found this very useful, and while it may be a bit large for a home phone, it is ideal for people with visual or audio problems who find a standard phone difficult to use. It also provides an excellent range of features for the price, and at less than £20, is a bit of a bargain.
(Please discount Update Possibilities and Processing below as irrelevant: To update this phone you'd be buying a new one. I've rated Quality at five due to the phone's durability)
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Binatone Lyris 710
by ianjgough
A fairly bulky mains powered corded phone with digital answering machine and no battery backup*!
*Everything is remembered when the power is off (Non volatile memory) except the time and date which gets updated when an incoming call is received.
MY STORY
I got this phone from my parents as they never got on with it, ... as it's not the easiest of phones out there to use. I even had to look in the manual for the redial button as it's not wrote on the phone and is just an image of two circles one white and one black!?
I use BT 1571 answering machine service so disabled the built in one although it maybe very useful to some as when someone calls and you don't pick up after x number of rings the answering machine kicks in you get to hear everything! : )
The phone has a lot of features but for me the main issue is you can't change the tone which makes us jump nearly every time it goes off and for that reason alone i will get a new phone when i can.
FEATURES
3 x 1 touch speed dial buttons
20 minutes digital answering machine (low quality or 8 minutes high)
Date/Time
Remote Access
Choice of language
Speakerphone
120 name phone book
Caller display (As longs you are subscribed via your phone company)
Memo record (plays back to you when listening to your messages)
Large display (Shows time, date, new messages and new calls)
Visual ringer (Red flashing light)
Wall mountable bracket supplied
Volume control (slide switch)
Ringer switch (low or high)
PRICE
It is currently selling for around £20 which may seem expensive but bear in mind that the digital answering machine chip is expensive. (Non volatile memory)
I don't like the design of the phone or build and is probably more suited in an office but when you study the manual it does grow on you and if only it had a choice of tones and a backlight i'd be tempted to keep it.
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