Cordless phone with answering machine recommendations?

[KathyTX]

My answering machine finally bit the dust this week... it was well past time to put that old thing out to pasture, anyway! And one of my cordless units is on its last legs also.

So now I'm in the market for a new gadget, and I knew just where to find the gadget freaks who might be able to help me choose.

I'm looking for a cordless phone system with digital answering machine and dual handsets. 2.4 GHz is fine, and speakerphone is okay but not mandatory. I'm looking for solid quality and good ease of use at a reasonable cost. I'd like to keep the cost under about $250.

I'm seeing units from vTech, AT&T, Panasonic, and a few others out there... does anyone have recommendations or warnings for specific models or manufacturers?

 

[dizneenut]

We just got a Vtech 5.8 GHZ with an answering machine and 2nd handset from Sam's Club. I believe it was around $150. I love it!! Can be used as speakerphone (on both handsets and base), you can add pictures, wallpaper, and add your own ringtones. Its a really cool, fun phone.

 

[Meriweather]

We just got a Uniden....5.8 Ghz
2 additional handsets...... from Costco
Own ring tones, can be used as a walkie-talkie, speaker phone...and all the standard "extras"
$149.

 

[mickey4ver]

Uniden for us too, with answering machine part of it...we had it about 2.5 years and did replace battery in it, but other than that, no complaints...the model we have sold for around $99 when we got it 4.5 years ago...got all the standard features

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_...BV_EngineID=ccdgadcmfmdfehgcfkfcfkjdgoodfkg.0

 

[Disney Doll]

We got the same one as dizneeenut and it also has speaker phone. We like it.

 

[diznygirl]

We have Siemens - 2.4 ghz with digital answering machine and multiple hand sets - I think you can have up to 4 - and they can intercom each other.

The thing with the Siemens is it works with our wireless modem. We have an iBook, an Airport and wireless DSL. With our Panasonic it would interupt our internet connection every time it rang. DH did some research and we ended up with Siemens.

Good luck.

 

[tinatark]

I vote for the one from Sams' Club. If you don't have a club near you or aren't a member (gasp!)... they also have it at Best Buy. BB's extended warranty is great - if your phone breaks within their time frame you get a cash card to use for a new one! I think the warranty is $29.99. Well worth it, as these new phones always break within a year or so (at least mine do).

The upgraded version of the 5.8 ghz phone has one advantage over the one at Sams' Club, it uses rechargeable AA batteries. Yaay! No more special batteries for the cordless phones.