I bought a new phone!
My phone system is buggin’ out, and slowly but surely practically dying. This set is an AT&T one with 2 cordless handsets, one goes into the base which has a digital answering machine, time/date, etc. and the other goes into a mini base/dock which only requires an A/C plug.
Anyhew, either the batteries in both handsets have worn down and need replacing, or the entire system does. I found folks telling me a few weeks back that I sounded far away and muffled on the phone. I forgot I had dropped one of the handsets on the hard stone tile flooring in my house one day, but that wouldn’t explain why the display on both handsets was choppy and why the buttons were hard to use.
The deal with the display is that it has missing characters, and I can barely read the caller ID, not to mention the number I was dialing. With the buttons, I found myself having to push a button 3-4 times and really deliberately, pressing down HARD, because the buttons became ornery and I had problems getting them to “take” when dialing a number.
Well, I did some math and found that if I just replaced the batteries, it would cost me about $8-11 EACH, plus the cost of shipping, to get them cheap on eBay or one of the many online stores devoted to selling batteries/electronic accessories, so for a few bucks more, I figured I could just get a new phone system altogether.
I was reading up on the latest phones on the web and found out about this new DECT technology which has been used in phone systems in Europe for about a decade now and there are phones which now are being sold in the US that have this technology. It’s basically better than your standard cordless phone technology because it has far less chance of interfering with other electronics (microwaves, home Internet networks, CB radio, stereos) and allows for ultra clarity from an even farther range than you would get without static/signal loss from an ordinary cordless system.
I saw these Panasonic DECT phone systems on Amazon.com selling for about $70 with free shipping.
Anyway, I found the same system being sold on eBay for about half, and snatched one up in a hurry! It’s yet to ship, as I paid for it yesterday and the store that sold it on eBay is not open until Monday. But I can’t wait to get it! Also, this new system has nice easy touch buttons so I won’t have to pound on them like I was on my current system.
This all reminds me… I have to buy a new microwave. *Sigh*. Yes. Mine shorted out a week or two ago. So cooking in this heat has become a challenge since I can only use the stovetop range/oven, if I want to eat something other than sandwiches/salads!