My mum bought these as replacements to her old phones about 5 years ago, and now I have them in my Uni house. They're a nice grey color, so can go with almost any color decoration, quite long and quite slim, almost like an old-fashioned mobile phone. The buttons are on the front at the bottom, with a digital screen taking up most of the top half - again, pretty much like an old-fashioned mobile phone!

Not entirely sure how much these were, but they are now retailing at around £20 on eBay. Included in the box was a main base that controlled all three phones, two smaller bases that just charged the phones, and three cordless handsets. They all plugged into the mains, and if the main base was ever switched off, all the others would switch off too, which could be a buggar if that specific plug burnt out or you were rewiring.

When I brought them to my Uni house to set them up, I was dreading it as I thought it would be impossible to do. But it wasn't to hard; plug one cable into the phone line, the plug into the mains and it was done. A few beeps and the annoying flashing battery telling you its dead, and that's it, you can pretty much start making calls straight away. Of course, all the usual things like answering machine message, speed dials etc, would have to be changed just like with any other new phone.

In terms of use I had pretty much just gotten used to them by the time I got them to my Uni house. When they first entered my parents' house they were already relatively simple to use - dial a number, press the green button, talk - and it was more a matter of getting used to the handset itself than how to use it. The handset wasn't too heavy, was easy enough to grip, fit perfectly in any hand, young or old, and was just the perfect size for a phone.

When we first got them the volume was almost perfect, it used to lower itself randomly so we always had to turn it back up whenever we wanted to use it. Now the volume seems to be broken as it is permanently low and almost impossible to have a conversation with. We still use our mobile phones for most calls because the volume is so shockingly quiet. This could be down to the set being 5 years old now though of course.

I quite like this phone because it's so easy to hold and use, it feels like an outdated mobile that's ok to have because it's your home phone. The buttons are big enough to look good but not too big that you need two fingers to press one down; they're all clearly labeled too so even those with the worst sight can use them. The screen is digital and also uses characters big enough to see but not too big they take over the whole screen. The battery symbol is easy to recognize and obvious when it's running low, and the main charger has the ability to find phones if they are missing; they literally call the phone that is missing so you can find it.

The main charger is also the port of call when wanting to do anything with your answering machine, such as play, delete or skip messages, and even create your own message for incoming calls. Just remember it's the most important bit to have switched on!

Other than the ease of use and set-up, and how good a color it is and how snug it fits into your hand, its breakableness should be mentioned: these phones are extremely easily broken. I know this because my brother decided to drop one down the stairs once because he was having an argument with his girlfriend, and by the time it hit the bottom there was more than one piece. So either keep away from a teenage boy or don't buy them if you have one! (=

All information is included in a manual in the box with the phones, and tells you everything you need to know - how to change the time, date, answering message, speed dial, etc. It's very thorough and detailed too so even those who are easy to confuse can manage it - I did!