May 07, 2001 06:39 AM
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After suffering many beatings from my five cats, my Bellsouth cordless phone needed to be replaced. My husband likes Sony products, so we bought a new Sony Digital 900 MHz Cordless Telephone. My last couple of cordless phones did not have many features. This phone has several.
Caller ID with Call Waiting
The caller ID display is located just above the number pad on the phone. It shows you up to 20 of the last names and numbers that called. Why are Caller ID and call waiting listed together? According to a flyer I received with this phone, if you have both of these services separately, then you need to change them to Caller ID with call waiting as a single service. Apparently, this a way to be able to see the number of the second caller. I have not used this function, but it sounds like a pretty good idea.
Jog Dial
What the heck is jog dial? That's what I was wondering when I saw this on the box. When you forget a phone number, this function is there to jog your memory. It is a small dial on the side of the phone that you can use one-thumbed to store and access phone numbers.
The phone also features a dialing directory. It holds up to 50 numbers in the directory. The numbers are listed by the name you enter. It also has a 20-Caller ID memory. All numbers in the Caller ID memory and directory can be accessed via the jog dial.
How to use the jog dial
To access the last numbers on Caller ID, simply turn the jog dial up or down. This will show you the number of new calls. Continue to thumb down to view the most recent numbers. To access the directory, you must push the jog dial. Then, you can scroll through the names and numbers you have listed in your memory. When you find the name you're looking for, you can push the jog dial again. This will give you the option to dial, edit, or erase the number.
Base-to-handset paging
There is a button on top of the base of the phone you can push that will make the handset beep. This is a great function if you forget where you left the phone. I tend to struggle with this daily.
Other Features
This phone has a Long Life Battery. The fully charged battery pack provides about 6 hours of talk time, and a seven-day standby when the handset is in standby mode. It is recommended to place the handset on the base after every 2 or 3 calls rather than every call to get the best performance from the battery.
I prefer to leave the base on my phone stand, but this phone is also wall-mountable. It comes with a separate bracket for wall-mounting.
There are 4 different ringer types. Nothing really special, just semi-different tones. The ringer can be selected on the jog dial, or can be turned off. Unfortunately, there is not a way to change the ringer volume. You can change the handset volume. There is a button on the side of the phone to change the handset volume from low, medium, and high.
Cons?
Although there are many features, if you don't use them often, you'll forget how. For example, most phones have a switch to turn the ringer off. This phone requires pushing a button on front, then using the jog dial to select the ringer off option. It's probably a good idea to hang on to that user's manual.
Overall
This is my first Sony phone, and I have been pretty impressed with it. I paid $75 for this phone. The sound quality and the features are worth it even if I do have to refer to the user's manual occasionally.
