New telephone problem

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Chippygeoff

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I need to buy a new phone and have looked at cordless phones on e-bay. The one I would like is the BT4500, it's a large button cordless phone with all the features that I would like. Obviously I would like to get a good deal but having been stung twice with e-bay buying I am a bit wary. I have seen one priced at £33-76 and another priced at £12-99, both are advertised as BT4500 and both list all the same features. So why the big price difference. Maybe one is a copy from China, I don't know. The last item I bought from e-bay was advertised as the real deal but when it arrived it was a complete fake and did not work, I got a complete refund and the seller was blocked. I don't really want to go through all this again so what do you think I should do.
 
Check the BT site, especially if you look at the site several different days and don't clear your cookies or are a BT customer.
The call blocking 'phones, (there are several models) are often at a discount or you get an e-mail with a discount offer of £10 plus.

Have you looked in your local supermarket, have seen them discounted in there.


You seem to have already provided an answer to your own question with past experience.
 
I bought the BT 4500 recently, for my parents.

It's most likely the big price difference is because it's sold in sets of one, two, and three handsets. I think you can even buy a handset on its own to add-on. IIRC, DECT allows up to six handsets on one base station.

On the 'phone itself, having set it up for them and them having used it for a month or so, I think it's an ever-so-nearly 'phone. Here are a few thoughts:

Good bits:
  • large buttons,
  • easy conferencing (they like that, so they can both take part in a call easily),
  • hearing aid coil support,
  • an 'amplify' button on the side that adds about 3dB to a call (not much but it does work).
  • socket for a headset (oddly like hen's teeth, but really useful if you are happy to use a headset - 2.5mm plug)
  • shared phone book - one entry is cloned to all handsets automatically

Bad bits:
  • a lot bigger than normal DECT units, a bit slippery and probably too rounded
  • no provision for a clip or a lanyard
  • very, very poor user interface to the firmware - complicated and downright silly in places
  • dreadful display (because of the piffpoor firmware), yes big characters but not in a helpful way
  • very poor phonebook - very limited space for names (both quantity and length in letters)
  • too many buttons and too much modal behaviour ('push button A, then rocker C moves you around list B', etc.)

My parents say they like it, but I think they're just being nice to me. They do appreciate the big buttons, but the rest is horribly confusing. Neither of them is senile -- my Dad was at the bleeding edge of microcomputers in the 1970s and 1980s -- but they struggle with this).

I haven't tried the call blocking stuff, and if this is for an older relative, I strongly recommend you don't either. Why? Many essential services don't present caller ID for very good reasons. For example, doctors surgeries typically don't send it when the GPs dial out on their own lines, to avoid it being used by patients. You can't always tell who the goodies are from the baddies. IIRC, I don't think there is a user-maintained call-barring list (like a mobile 'phone has), so for that reason it's pretty useless. For my parents we enabled caller ID with their telecomms company, so they can see numbers they recognise (if they're in the phone's book, it shows the name).

Hope that's useful, but I fear it's the least worst of the type available. I looked at a lot of DECT systems and all of them have issues - this was the best fit for the task, but it's far from perfect. The firmware really is rubbish, too many modal buttons, and a very poor display.

E.

PS: I thought our Siemens ones were bad, but honestly, if the recipient's eyesight is OK, they're a much better alternative - Bluetooth that passes audio and data, decent phonebook, headphone socket (no hearing aid coil support tho).
 
Jonzjob":1t1p0avh said:
I'd rather trust amazon than ebay every time.

Just bear in mind that most of the goons on eBay are also goons on Amazon Marketplace - the only reason you'd trust one over the other is that you trust Amazon to give you your money back and not argue about it more than you trust eBay to; you've unfortunately got more or less the same chances of getting sold a fake, with all the hassle that entails.
 
JakeS":36ti22o0 said:
Jonzjob":36ti22o0 said:
I'd rather trust amazon than ebay every time.

Just bear in mind that most of the goons on eBay are also goons on Amazon Marketplace -.............. the only reason you'd trust one over the other is that you trust Amazon to give you your money back and not argue about it more than you trust eBay to;...............
In the past I've had to return goods bought via eBay and also via Amazon. I found the eBay return process quickest and easiest.

Yes, I agree, I've found many sellers use both venues.
 
Living on this side of the cut and the price difference on most occasions we do buy from amazon U.K. frequently and on the odd time we have had problems they are sorted as soon as they are reported. Stuff has been replaced as soon as they are told. Repayment is the same. Returns have been free to us.

I ordered a 4 Tb NAS box for our Macs and although the box was labled as 4 Tb it only had one 2 Tb disk in it. The new one was on its way even before I had the wrong one back in its box. Never had a fake from them or amazon Fr. either.
 
never buy electricals from e-bay most are knock offs. ditto to some extent Amazon
even very simple items like plugs are dangerous.

Anyone who is interested I can point you to an official EEC website that weekly lists dangerous rubbish entering the market that has been impounded, its quite frightening how much. Most originates from China but no all.

Don't dismiss the likes of Tesco and John Lewis to supply cheap but genuine electricals
I would not use currys because I can't put up with spotty kids trying to flog me worthless insurance
 
Eric,
If it is truely 3 dB its twice as loud

Thanks for your call blocking rational ......I'd not considered those downsides
 
Eric gives very good advice. I have been down this route with my mum and in our house. Menu system on the BT phones will drive you crazy unless you are a saint. It is very basic and not well thought out technology. We used a siemens multi set system for a while and I hated that too as it as some serious stupidities for a multi phone set up. At home we still use a B&O 600 system. Stupidly expensive but at least the phones work. If you can, try before you buy. Don't use eBay for stuff like this. At least with Amazon you get hassle free return.
 
lurker":r2a2bf2o said:
never buy electricals from e-bay most are knock offs. ditto to some extent Amazon
even very simple items like plugs are dangerous.

Anyone who is interested I can point you to an official EEC website that weekly lists dangerous rubbish entering the market that has been impounded, its quite frightening how much. Most originates from China but no all.

Don't dismiss the likes of Tesco and John Lewis to supply cheap but genuine electricals
I would not use currys because I can't put up with spotty kids trying to flog me worthless insurance

The conundrum is that Tesco, John Lewis and Currys all sell on eBay :)
 
3dB is an educated guess - less loud than I was expecting and not good enough for my mum (but she's hard to please). I haven't done exhaustive tests, but I used to be a professional audio engineer, so I know what to expect from 3dB difference. They only run on about 2.8V (2x NiMH AAA cells), so there's not a lot of volts nor power available for a beefy audio amp. There may be a DC-DC chip inside, but at the price I seriously doubt it. The Amplify" button only works on the earpiece, not the speaker.

Mum uses them on loudspeaker. It's true that her hearing aids don't have coils fitted, but honestly I think she's just being contrary. There should be ample volume for the mic behind the ear as it's right next to that, and thus way louder than normal speech in the room.

My wife's practice doesn't send caller ID, but the one we're personally registered with does (their main practice number). I've 'mentioned' it to her a few times, because if she calls and doesn't get me I've no idea if it's her! Her lot aren't very clued up on IT though, so withholding it might not be typical now - it used to be common.

Forgot to say - one truly annoying thing is the limited character set available for phonebook entries. You can't use sensible abbreviations - there's no hyphen but, absurdly, there is a pound Sterling sign. Try explaining that tp pensioners in their late eighties! It's evidently a cheap display driver intended for things like EPOS card readers ("enter your PIN" etc.). Or perhaps not - UKP USD, accented characters and elided ones but no Euro symbol!

You can download the manual as a PDF - sorry can't remember where I got mine; try Googling for it.
It's dead useful for 'remote support' :)

E.

PS: got ours from John Lewis - off the shelf. Extra year's guarantee which is worth it on those things. I've lost two base stations in the past. DECT base stations are vulnerable to lighting storms in the vicinity (doesn't need to be a direct strike).
 
Many thanks guys for all your input. I tried to find the phone on the Curry's site but it was down at the time. The local Trasco does not have them. In the end I went to a reputable online site and got the phone for £20. I knew the phone was not perfect but it is probably one of the best from what is available. The cost of buying a new phone was not a problem and would have paid a lot more for a decent set but feel this one all do the job. Thanks again guys.
 

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