Uniden Tru9280 4 5 8 Ghz 4 Handset Cordless Phone System With Answering System and Call Waiting Caller Id
TRU9280-4 is 5.8GHz Digital Cordless Phone with Digital Answering System and 3 Extra Handsets.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Great Cordless Phone
This phone has a great volume whether it is a ring or speaker. It has also clear reception in any corner of my home. The system has easy to understand start up instructions. Excellent battery life. Works well with Vonage VOIP system. No interference with wireless computer network. Previous Panasonic 2.4 GHz phone did interfere with wireless.
5 Stars Nice design, many features
This phone has a slick design and a lot of features. I do recommend that you put the main unit in the middle of your living space if possible to help the range of the phone. I would also go with 5.8 if you have a computer wireless network, 2.4 can be troublesome.
4 Stars Uniden Tru9280-4: good handset speaker phone
If the model number wasn’t clearly indicated and pictures of the box weren’t posted, I would have thought I had bought a different phone than the other reviewers since I’ve had a much better experience than they have apparently had.
I’ve had the phone system about a year and have had very few problems with it. I have not had the range issues other people have had (I can use any of the handsets anywhere in the house or in my backyard, and the base station at the opposite end of the house from the backyard.) I use the handset speakerphone constantly and have been impressed with the clarity. I’ve had no issues with the volume of the ringer and keep it on the lowest possible level for most of the handsets.
Pros:
Handset speaker phone (a huge plus for me and the main reason why I bought the phone)
Inexpensive (at least when I bought it – I paid a LOT less than the current price)
Reasonable standby times for the handsets – I have one handset in a rarely-used room and don’t always leave that handset charger plugged in, and the battery will last at least 1-2 weeks without use
Reasonable talk time (at least 3 hours continuous)
Lots of conference/ transfer/ privacy features with the 4 handsets, although I don’t really use any of them other than the paging feature when I mis-place a handset
All handsets indicate when there is an answering machine message, and you can check messages from any handset or remotely
Can individually adjust the ringer style and ringer volume for each handset
Doesn’t lose your outgoing message if you briefly unplug the base station
DOesn’t seem to make a difference which handset is in which charger
Cons: mostly minor
The keypads are not backlit (my biggest complaint)
Limited selection of cheesy ringtones
I agree that the handset is a bit hard to hold against your ear with your shoulder, but since I use it on speakerphone most of the time it’s not a big deal for me.
answering machine lost the date and time I programmed in on a couple of occasions, so my messages didn’t have a time stamp (It never lost my outgoing message, just the programmed date/ time, so there may have been a brief flicker in the power)
Can’t program the phone to automatically dial the caller ID block code before each call (although to be honest, I’ve only had one phone system that ever did that)
No headset jack on the handsets (although not that big of an issue given that the handsets are speaker phones)
5 Stars With some experimenting, got things working AOK
Decided this Uniden cordless telephone/answering machine system is a keeper. I had a separate answering machine and two different brand cordless phones and replacing them with this Uniden system is a revelation. The integrated feature set will make things much easier and seamless.
The manual makes two suggestions that I endorse heartily:
1. Place the base unit up high. Placing it on the first floor of my house I found that clarity from a critical location on the 2nd floor was unacceptable. Reversing these locations, putting the base in that upstairs location and a handset at the downstairs location totally fixed the problem.
2. For best clarity, hold the handset at the bottom, not the top. My tests improved from marginal clarity in some locations to very good clarity when I paid attention to this detail.
I determined the best location for the base by doing some tests. Placing the base in 3 prospective acceptable locations, I made calls with a handset to my cell phone, letting my cell phone take messages. During these calls I walked around the house and yard talking and saying exactly where I was. Playing back my cell phone messages I could determine exactly what clarity I was getting from each combination of base placement and handset location. Ultimately, I have the base where I get very acceptable clarity all over the house and yard, as long as I hold the handset at the bottom.
1 Star Terrible range, terrible value
I wish I had been able to read the other reviews for this product prior to purchase because believe me, they’re true. Unfortunately I bought it late one Sunday evening after my home phone broke suddenly. It was a total disappointment and I ended up replacing it after two miserable months. I can’t imagine how it rates it’s 5.8 Ghz since everything seems to cause interference. The phonebook allows you to appoint ringer selections to each entry, yet there is no correlation between what is in the phonebook and what comes up on the Caller ID. And the range… well, let’s just say it might as well have a cord. Actually, it would be better with one, that way you wouldn’t find yourself losing a call because you “wandered” 12 feet away from the base! I purchased mine for about $85 and still feel completely ripped off. I can honestly say that I NEVER had a satisfactory call on this unit. Steer clear of this one!
