Posted by swistle on 15th August 2012
Categories: Electronics
7 comments
We are in the market for a new telephone. It’s a purchase that COULD be fun, but is GOING to be boring. Perhaps it is ridiculous to be buying a new telephone at all, and we should get rid of our landline like most people we know. But when I tell you our current telephone has a cord, perhaps you will see that I need a decade or two to catch up.
Crosley Candlestick Phone (photo from Amazon.com). We had a Crosley vintage-style phone once! It was the corded wall phone style.
I am sorely, sorely tempted by the pink pay phone style (photo from Amazon.com). But no: we want a cordless phone this time.
It’s hard to believe that this Paramount Princess phone (photo from Amazon.com) would not bring true happiness to its owner.
When I was a child, my best friend and I had a plan: she was going to be a teacher, and I was going to be the school secretary. My job choice was ENTIRELY chosen based on my idea that I could have a desk phone like this one (photo from Amazon.com), but in pink. I can’t remember if our school secretary at the time actually HAD a phone like that, or if it was just some other color (orange, red, etc.) that made me think I COULD get it in pink.
There was a long period of time when I coveted a French style desk phone (photo from Amazon.com)—not QUITE like this one in the picture, but SIMILAR. In fact, I couldn’t seem to find one that was EXACTLY LIKE what I had in mind, and eventually I realized that although I THOUGHT I wanted a French desk phone, it was more like I WANTED to want a French desk phone.
Here’s the one we’re most likely getting: an AT&T phone with three units (photo from Amazon.com). I chose it the way I choose most of my electronics and appliances: by asking my carefully-researches-his-purchases dad what HE would recommend. It’s not pink or aqua, and it’s not appealingly vintage, and it’s not French—but look! no cord! And it has more than one unit, so I can have one in the bedroom to alleviate some of my “What if a burglar broke in and I couldn’t get to our phone to dial 911?” fears!
Kristen, do you all have a Costco out there? We have the Panasonic cordless model much like the AT & T one above and it has lasted for years. It has the base along with three handsets but what is REALLY BOSS about it is that it announces the caller so I can decide who I want to ignore WITHOUT LIFTING MY BUTT OFF THE COUCH! You can see how valuable this is because I too am not a phone-answering type. Also, you can set different ring tones for certain people so you can say to yourself (How delightful! It’s my brother!) or (Oh Hell. It’s my Dad. I am NOT going to answer that! KIDSDONTANSWERTHATPHONE!)
Super useful feature. Oh, and lastly, you can turn the volume up and it is very clear. I always worry about not being able to hear the caller so that is very helpful!
Leeann | August 15th, 2012 at 10:30 am
Oh, Leeann, that sounds like a GREAT phone!! I’ll look into that!
swistle | August 15th, 2012 at 10:40 am
I only ever get panasonic phones, I’m most happy with the sound. The set we have now is like our 6th panasonic since we met! The last set died because of toddler abuse, prior to that I think I just liked to upgrade, at some point I had to upgrade to have the multiple bases thing. The nice thing about the corded phones is you always know where it is!! I have an old rotary dial wall phone in my basement, the children regard this like you or I might regard caveman tools. So just for that, I’m going to hang it up on the wall somewhere in the house! We have VOIP and my husband keeps telling me we’ll get rid of it to save the money but I don’t want to. I rarely even use the phone, but ehh I’m just resistant.
jen(melty) | August 15th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
remember when the Bradys got the pay phone? One of my favorite episodes ever. You should totally do that - hijinks ensue!
Shari | August 15th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
We have that phone, I think, and we are on our second or third variation of it. Just to warn you, once you start on the cordless phones, it is a rabbit hole! When the batteries inevitably fail, or the toddler puts it in your coffee cup (ahem), they are pretty much irreplaceable. You can never get another unit that matches the set you have- you have to buy a whole new set. It really stinks. Sorry to be a bummer!
Diana | August 15th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Ha, I totally understand the french phone and the secretary phone. My grandmother had a black old school corded phone forever and I thought it was amazing, even though the receiver weighed about 20 pounds. I have a phone with three … phones and I really like it, I hope you all do too.
Joanne | August 15th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
I always buy Panasonic, too, and I’ve always had good luck with them. They have good range and they last a pretty long time. Definitely check them out.
I know it seems weird to feel so strongly about phones, but darn it, I love Panasonic. (They make good tv’s, too.)
Anonymous | August 18th, 2012 at 2:26 am