Customer Reviews

GE Cordless 5.8 GHz Digital 28031EE3 Phone with 3 Handsets, Caller ID and Digital Answering System

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've owned these phones for about 8 months now. So far, the batteries are running strong and I've had a good experience with the phones overall. I'm using one of the phones in the basement, and sometimes I will pick up a little static on that phone, so the range may not be the best. However, the phones we use most often upstairs near the base have worked great.

A couple nice features:

PAGING: you can page any of the other handsets from your current handset. This comes in handy when the wife needs something and can just page me instead of coming down to the basement to find me.

MONITORING: you can monitor any of the handsets remotely from another handset. Just press a button and you'll be listening in on whatever is nearby the handset of your choice.

TALKING ON MULTIPLE PHONES: contrary to a previous poster, you CAN talk on multiple phones at the same time. Perhaps they were thinking of another model, because we talk to our parents on two of the phones at once quite frequently.

ANSWERING MACHINE: We haven't messed with this much, but there are 3 separate mailboxes and you have the ability to check messages through the handsets as well as the base. We haven't had a need for this, but I can see where it could come in handy.

I'm not sure why this phone has received such mediocre reviews. I've been very satisfied with it overall. If you need long range, perhaps you should look at other options. If you're not as concerned with the range and want a solid, nice-looking phone with good features, this is the one.

This unit took only a few minutes to install once I charged the batteries. I used all the defaults for voicemail, etc because I am lazy. The receiver volume control goes up to "4" and for me, at the maximum, it could be a little louder, especially if there is competing noise in the room. Other than that, I have no complaints and am pleased.

Since there hasn't been much discussion about the answering machine function, I will address that. It took a good deal of searching to find a decent cordless phone with individual mailboxes. Seems like the market for this kind of product is disappearing (not unlike "pure" PDAs) due to the plethora of cell phones and voice mail boxes.

This product has three mailboxes, each of which is connected to its own light on the base unit when there is a message in it. These lights (actually, more like individual parts of a circle) flash when there is a new message and there is a display of how many messages total there are on the base unit. You can leave yourself voice memos in any of the mail boxes.

The message quality itself is average - a little tinny but not bad. The default announcer's voice is female, robotic, and slightly annoying. You have the ability to record two outgoing messages and easily switch back and forth between them - nice for the holidays, for example.

The handsets are lightweight but slightly awkward ergonomically. You can name and choose from several different ring tones for each handset in order to distinguish them. As noted, there is a paging function that works best if the phones are all on the same floor. The product comes with three handsets and you can add another if you would like.

One feature we really like is the intercom function, which is easy to operate and makes communicating from different parts of the house much more fluid. There is also a function that allows you to monitor sound in any room there is a phone, which could be useful if you have small children... or for other purposes that are beyond the scope of this review.

I've only had the phones for about a month but in that time we haven't had any problems. Reception is good all over the house despite a wireless router, Bluetooth devices, microwave, etc. Pretty happy with the product so far.

There are two main problems with this phone...the buttons are set high so that they are pushed by accident easily, ie, if you use your shoulder and chin to hold the phone. Also, the programming function is not so easy. (One shortfall, can't use the * key in storing numbers if you want to unblock your number because it is also the exit key.)

The good things about the phone is the room monitor, intercom and the ease of transferring calls. Also, there are three handsets, which is good.

I haven't used the answering system.

Overall, the clarity is pretty good, the range just okay for a 5.8, the features good for my needs, but I find the buttons really bothersome..

My last phone was an old Sony 2.4ghz and I loved it...it wore out and couldn't find another...

And would like to say that I have never had any problems ordering with Amazon, and their customer service is great!!

I've used mine for a month now and could not be happier. The speakerphone volume on each handset is VERY loud and richer sounding than I expected. I also like the size and layout of the buttons. I did not have to do anything special to "associate" the handsets to the base and love having three of them. The one on the back porch has no touble communicating with the base unit which is upstairs an on the other side of the house. Overall, I think this is a huge bargain compared to other similar phones. It seems to deliver all it promises. I also like that it accepts the generic headset plug that I use with my cell phone. I have not used the answering machine.

I got it for a very good price and it does works great, only a few time i have feel some noise and low volume when speaking, but that's probably the phone company.

I bought this phone expecting better reception and range, but did not see any improvement at all. Only major complaint is that the keypad does not light up like previous GE models I had bought.
I like the "do not disturb" button on the base that turns off all ringers.
Overall good product, but can be improved.

We have had this phone for a couple of years and for the most part the phone worked but the caller ID screen started losing pixels after about a year and is now illegible. The funny thing is it happened on all the phones (3) at roughly the same time, and at roughly the same rate. Now it is just annoying. We are not rough with the phone and keep in on the charger most of the time. I would not recommend this product.

We've had this phone now for the past 3 years. Our major complaint would be the crappy batteries. They drain quickly (on all three handsets) and now we find that they don't last beyond 15 minutes. On one of the handsets the display has gone bad and doesn't display properly. Overall they have served us well but because of the battery situation we now have to buy new phones.

We have decided to now go with the new GE 28821FE3 Dect 6.0 Digital 3-Handset. This is newer technology and is suppose to be superior to the 5.8 GHZ. I guess we'll find out.

Bottom line is I wouldn't recommend this phone due to the poor battery life.

We were happy with these phones at first, but two and a half years after purchase, all three of them have died. (I'm not going to review the general functions of the phones as other reviewers have already covered this topic very well.)

Just before the 2 year mark, the first phone died. The first sign of trouble was an increasingly short battery life. Then one day, when picked up, it just started making loud clicks (about once per second) and there was so much static that you could neither hear or be heard. From that point on it was unusable.

The second phone then lost its speaker ie it did not "ring" when a call was received and the speaker function no longer worked. A few weeks later, exactly the same thing happened to the third phone.

For us there isn't much point in having a phone that doesn't ring out loud. These phones do flash when a call is incoming, but you have to be looking in that general direction to notice. We quickly got fed up with missing most of our calls.

Haven't had much luck with previous phones such as V-Tech and Motorola (both died after 2 years or so). I'd love to find something that would last 5 years or more. .