Philips SE7452B Enhanced High DefVoice Digital Dual Cordless Phone Answer Machine by Philips
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Digital camera reviews of Philips SE7452B Enhanced High DefVoice Digital Dual Cordless Phone Answer Machine
Digital camera Review: Feels good but not so great
Summary: 2 Stars
It feels good and it's ergonomic. Love the matte finish! But it does not work that well. My problem with this purchase was with the secondary phone - it works when it wants to. No predicting when it will function - it's got a mind of its own. Sometimes it does not register with the base and sometimes it does. Anyway, I switched this DECT phone for the Panasonic version - it doesn't look as sleek or feel as good (do not like a glossy phone) as the Philips but it works.Digital camera Review: Generally good, but a few minor design issues.
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this phone to replace an older, non-DECT, Siemens 2.4GHz multi-handset system that was getting a little long in the tooth.
Nice features:
1) Call screening can be set up to play through all the handsets, so you don't need to be near the answering machine to screen your calls.
2) Call clarity seems good.
3) Simple handset registration with the base station.
4) Many customizable features (handset specific settings for volume, ringer type, name, automatic answer after lifting from its charging cradle, etc.)
5) Answering machine can be accessed from any handset, or the base station. The number of new messages is clearly displayed on the base station.
Annoyances:
1) As mentioned in other reviews... after a new call/message, the handset call LED flashes on ALL handsets. Clearing the Caller-ID entry & flashing LED on one handset does not also clear it on the others. The result is a "new call" indicator that's useless... unless you're in the mood to walk from handset to handset clearing their call history after each call.
How hard would it have been to synchronize the new-call status across all handsets?... This is the biggest mis-step by the designers, and I suspect the handset in our bedroom may soon have a blob of black paint applied to the LED to "avoid" the distraction/frustration.
My 4 year old Siemens multi-handset system would clear the new call/message indicator LED globally, avoiding this issue.
2) One review does indeed mis-state the Phonebook functionality.
To be clear, there is -no- automatic/immediate synchronization of Phonebook numbers between handsets.
If you enter phone numbers into a handset you have to manually push them to the other handsets through a sequence of menu options. You are given the option of pushing specific entries, or all of them... which can be a slow process because they are pushed one handset at a time. It takes about a second per Phonebook -entry-. What a shame the handsets don't actually have the ability to keep themselves synchronized without manual intervention.
The problem with manual synchronization is that over time it's easy to find yourself with an inconsistent mess across handsets. You have to ensure that one handset is treated as the "Master" (the only one where you add/delete/edit entries), or remember to always push a change made on any handset out to all the other handsets.
This manual method is identical to the one I had on my previous Siemens system.
3) Pretty typical for landline phones, but upgradable firmware would have been a nice touch, and would have permitted fixes for these obvious design issues after purchase. I also have a Philips VOIP-841 DECT Skype phone, and it's firmware is upgradable.
4) The wallpaper images are limited/odd, and there's no way to add your own pictures as a wallpaper. You have a choice between a picture of fruit with faces (!), a cocktail glass, a butterfly, green fruit (?) plummeting into water, or a solid background color that varies according to which of the 3 color "themes" you've selected on the handset. The solid background seems, sadly, compelling given this selection.
5) The Cellphone SIM card import method didn't work for me. I was hoping to use this to avoid lots of tedious multi-tap entry of names/numbers into the Phonebook. I tried using the SIM cards from two cell phones (both US AT&T/Cingular: from a Motorola RAZR, and an Apple iPhone), without success. The base station was unable to read entries from either SIM card, although it knew the cards were present. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the SIM cards provided by my carrier, or a problem across other carriers.
Overall Conclusion:
I'd have to say the phones likely have more usability flaws that the Siemens system they replace. I'm hoping that the DECT 6.0 performance will make me forgive them.
The "what were they thinking" issue has to be that the new call/message status LED on the handsets are not synchronized. This implementation really turns a useful feature into a useless annoyance. I only hope my wife will forgive me...
The "missed opportunity" issue is the fact that the Phonebook entries don't, in fact, automatically stay in sync across handsets. This creates a manual management overhead for the user, which - based on previous experience - can become tedious.
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Update after a few months trying to live with this phone:
I'm done with it! I've ordered a replacement system from Panasonic. Life's too short to be continually frustrated with battery life that is less than impressive, and that useless & annoying flashing new call indicator LED that requires reseting on EACH handset to be of use... something that nobody should have the time or inclination to do on a multi-handset system. T
The final nail in the coffin for this particular adventure in telephony was that one of the additional handsets died a week ago. While I could send this handset in for warranty repair, I just can't be bothered. It's not worth the effort.
I've ordered the Panasonic KX-TG9333T multi-handset DECT 6.0 system to replace this mistake. One nice feature of the Panasonic is that the phonebook appears to be shared (yes!). Another nice feature is that the battery life appears to be better, and the price is great.
I wish I'd given this product fewer stars, but it doesn't seem possible to adjust the star rating, but hopefully this updated text will help others avoid my mistake.
Digital camera Review: Good Idea, Not completely thought out
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased this phone after seeing it in a retail store. It was slick looking and had everything I thought I needed in a phone. I came to Amazon to hunt for a better price and was rewarded.
The set up was easy enough and I found it had the features I had it would, even though it was tough to get a clear understanding from the decription that, for instance, each headset could access the messages on the machine.
Aside from the hand sets being on the light side and the buttons a little mushy, I had actual functional issues with one hand set. After sitting on the charger and appearing ready, I would pick it up and it would completely power down. No clear combination of key strokes would enliven it but it would fire up, and the battery indicator would be at the maximum. Very frustrating but I tried to move beyond the gitch.
The "HD" sound booster function was completely gimicky in my experience. I found that my voice sounded slightly delayed and artificial and the callers sounded overly bright and crisp. The kind of sound where you take your head away from the hand set, scowl, and look at the phone with a furled brow. This was on both hand sets.
Now I was more critical of the phone. Battery life was a problem, I sit the phone out of the cradle and it was flat after 3 days, with no conversations on it. The blinking red caller ID indicator was undefeatable. The chiming cradle resets and menu selections got to be annoying. One of the biggest annoyances was that although each hand set was a speaker phone, it didn't rest on a desk or hard surface with the speaker and mic in a useable position. When holding the phone the speaker was great... but doesn't that defeat the purpose? (I never got to the point of installing the phonebook via a SIM card.)
Although I returned the phone for defective reasons, I feel like I lucked out because there were things about this phone that would have always annoyed me. Also, I felt like each hand set was its own phone, not a part of a dual hand set answering machine device. Like one other reviewer mentioned, you could not tell if the other hand set was in use without starting a call. In my opinion, the phone offers the allure of a sophisticated device but falls short in ints ability to offer the user configurability.
Digital camera Review: Good choice for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
It works well. I'd like to see a different tone for internal calls and external ones, otherwise, the phone is great.
Digital camera Review: Good phone, some issues with VM indicator and battery life
Summary: 4 Stars
I am in agreement with most of the previous comments. Overall, this is a really good phone.
A few highlights:
* Dect 6.0 really helps - no interference with WiFi, or Microwaves.
* Sound quality is very good.
* Works with my ATT Callvantage VOIP service.
* Excellent speakerphone.
* Phone appears to be full-duplex, as compared to the Panasonic KX-TG1033S which really seems to be half duplex (had trouble speaking over others in conference calls)
Some drawbacks:
* My VOIP service provides a VMI (voicemail indicator) that causes the phone to chime, and indicate a missed call.
* The phone appears to eat batteries like there is no tomorrow. I get about 4 hours of consecutive talk time with 750mah NIMH batteries, just bought 1000mah batteries and I get about 6 hours of talk time. Not sure how 12 hours of talk time was calculated, but make sure that you have extra batteries charged and ready to go.
Overall, one of the better phones I've used, but the Siemens Gigaset 8800 is still the best multi-handset phone system I've used. Too bad the LCD on the base tends to die very quickly, and Siemens' support is poor.