singer@uwovax.uwo.ca (Ben Singer) (01/24/91)
A member of this group suggested I post my comments on the new
Panasonic 3910R cordless phone. I had tried several GE models, and
then two Sanyos. All ranged from terrible to mediocre on reception;
noise, poor voice quality, etc. While AT&T seemed to be getting good
ratings in {Consumer Reports}, AT&T's distribution and promotion
operation in Canada is incompetent and it was impossible to find one
many months after they arrived, so I purchased the Panasonic. It is
clearly superior to all others I tried; the voice quality (recept) is
very good, still not as good as corded phones (volume) but
discernibility is much better than Sanyo; the base station is
excellent. The unit is light; there is little static upon angling the
portable unit. For the price, it seems like the best buy around. NB:
the model, 3910R (R) seems to be the Sound Charger model; this may be
the same as AT&T's "Crystal Clarity" etc.
Ben Singer Department of Sociology University of Western Ontario
Singer@uwo.ca Singer@uwovax.bitnet N6A 5C2 (519) 660-0671 (home)
(519) 679-2111 Ext 5137konstan@elmer-fudd.berkeley.edu (Joe Konstan) (01/26/91)
I almost just bought the Panasonic 3910R (I think it had the "R" not sure) but found that all of the discount places around here (BEST, Circuit City, Good Guys etc. were out of them and didn't expect more in for a while). After long hassels with Circuit City I ended up with the AT&T 5500 instead (for only $120 plus tax!!) and I think it's great! Basic feature comparison: AT&T 5500 Panasonic 3910 10 Channel cordless 10 Channel cordless 9-number memory dialing 16 number memory dialing speakerphone in base speakerphone in base .... Basically, these are almost identical. The 5500 has very good sound quality even from the speakerphone (My friend who used to work in a lawyer's office said it was much better than theirs). There are hold buttons on both the base and extension, etc. The only drawback is that the extra cradle for the cordless unit doesn't have a charger built in -- so you do have to return it to the base at least weekly. Joe Konstan
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (01/28/91)
Joe Konstan <konstan@elmer-fudd.berkeley.edu> writes: > Basically, these are almost identical. The 5500 has very good sound > quality even from the speakerphone (My friend who used to work in a > lawyer's office said it was much better than theirs). There are hold > buttons on both the base and extension, etc. The 5500 does hold the sound quality edge over the Panasonic. But the Panasonic has an important feature lacking on the AT&T: long DTMF. The AT&T falls victim to the most frustrating drawback found on phones by voicemail users and that is those short DTMF bursts regardless of how long you hold the button. The Panasonic will sound the digit as long as you want. Side by side you would probably find the standby battery life of the AT&T to be superior to the Panasonic. Panasonic's auto-channel-select is more convenient than the 5500's strictly manual system, but that defect is overcome in the otherwise lesser-endowed model 5400. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !