Vtech DECT 6.0 Black/White Expandable 4-Handset Cordless Phone System with Digital Answering Device and Caller ID (CS6229-4) Review

I purchased this system from Office Depot two weeks before Amazon dropped the price by $[...]. For the $$, this is an excellent system. It has been replaced by a newer model that has an orange backlight - but is otherwise identical to this. The newer model is about $[...] more, so this is a steal.

For cordless phones, the top of the line is Panasonic - period. You will find that all Panasonic systems are about 30%-40$ more than Vtech. The newest Panasonic DECT system has a very nice feature - they are powered by AAA rechargable batteries, which are found at any store. Typically, replacement proprietary batteries cost about as much as a new phone system...

The Vtech is a completely disposable system - cheap enough that when it finally breaks in a few years, you might as well buy a new one.

However, the Vtech has several completely useless "features":

1) when you turn off the ringer on a handset, it will not ring for any reason until you turn it back on. This means if you happen to misplace a muted handset, you can page it, but the LCD screen will merely light up - it won't make a sound. Every other system - including the Panasonic - will audibly page a lost handset even if it is muted. Panasonic goes one step further - if the battery is dangerously low on a muted phone, it will still give you an audible low battery chirp. How many times have you used the paging feature to locate a lost handset? With Vtech, you better not have it muted! Pure stupidity.

2) Panasonic has a unique ringtone for intercom paging than for incoming telephone calls. This is very useful. If my Vtech is rining, I don't know if it is an outside call (probably for my wife), or if my wife is trying to page me from another room. Vtech allows you to set a ringtone, but uses the same tone for paging and outside calls.

3) I just discovered this, and would change my rating to 1 star if I could. It is unforgivable in the year 2009. The Vtech has no battery backup on its base unit. It doesn't even have a battery compartment. If you have a power outage - even a brownout - you lose time and date. Your messages and outgoing message is saved, but really...no battery compartment? Every answering machine I've had up till now has had one.

Vtech Pros:
* Choice of many ring sounds
* Shared phone-book (store a number on one handset and all other handsets have it as well)
* Answering system displays number of calls
* Good talk time

Vtech Cons:
* Rediculous inability to locate a muted phone!!
* No battery backup - even a momentary power outage will lose time/date
* No unique ringtone for intercom calls
* Proprietary (expensive) battery
* Ni-Cad battery (most phones have at least Ni-Mh)
* Upper buttons (speaker phone, talk, hang up, flash) are not backlit
* Backlight is not very bright. Funky domed number buttons are hard to read because domes act as magnifying lens.


In contrast, the only con with the Panasonic is that it has a shorter talk time than most phones. It has a signal boost for clearer sound, but it drains the battery lilke crazy.

EDIT: As I write this review, Costco just started carrying the 4-handset top of the line Panasonic DECT system (KX-TG6444T) - they literally added it today. The display is HUGE, and easily readable. They are asking $[...], which is $[...] less than Amazon and everywhere else, but still $[...] more than this Vtech equivalent. Frankly, I think you'll be much happier with the Panasonic.

2nd EDIT: I added two more very nasty cons to the Vtech - no distinctive ringtone for paging, and no battery backup. For many, I think the absence of a battery backup will be a deal-breaker. There's no excuse for not putting an empty battery compartment in an answering machine these days.

Spend the extra bucks on a Panasonic. It's light years better.

Buy it here now!