GE 28821FE2 Dect 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone and Digital Answering System Featuring GOOG-411 with 2 Handsets

by GE

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.3 x 3.9 x 7.2 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0016GE5P8
• Item model number: 28821FE2
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 1, 2008

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description The GE 28821FE2 DECT 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone and Digital Answering System with 2 Handsets is the first phone to integrate a one-touch autodial GOOG-411 button. With DECT 6.0 technology, conversations are crystal clear, and a built-in digital answering system further adds convenience, making the 28821FE2 the only phone you'll need in your home or office.

The GE 28821FE2 DECT 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone offers: Integrated GOOG-411 auto-dial button. WiFi-friendly DECT 6.0 technology for crystal clear calls. Built-in digital answering machine. Expandable to six handsets.

The GE 28821FE2 offers a dedicated GOOG-411 button for one-touch convenience. View larger.

Built-In, One-Touch GOOG-411
The 28821FE2 has a dedicated GOOG-411 button that immediately connect you to GOOG-411, a completely free and automated service from Google that uses speech recognition to let users find and connect to businesses from their phone. Simply tell GOOG-411 what business you're looking for and you will be automatically connected for free.

Crystal-Clear Calls No Matter Where You Are
Thanks to DECT 6.0 technology, you'll have clear calls all the time. Unlike older phones that use 5.8GHz, 2.4GHz, and 900MHz frequencies, the DECT 6.0 frequency is not susceptible to interference from WiFi networks and other phones and appliances, meaning you get static-free calls in your kitchen, by your computer, and everywhere else in your home. DECT 6.0 provides greater range and security as well.

Built-In Answering Machine
The digital answering machine records messages on a computer chip so you can jump from one to the next without any wait. The system also has playback speed control, letting you slow down your messages to catch important details such as phone numbers.

Full-Featured and Expandable
The phone features a stylish arched base design and comes with two handsets. The system is expandable to six handsets as your family or business grows, and doesn't require any additional phone jacks. With support for Caller ID, you can see the name and number of callers, even when you're already talking on the phone. Also featured is a 50-number phone book making it easy to call your friends and family. The handset features a Speakerphone and has a large blue-backlist LCD display. Each recharge allows for up to 10 hours of talk time. The GE 28821FE2 phone is backed by a 1-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Base unit, two handsets, two handset battery packs, AC adapter for base unit, AC adapter for cradle, and two belt clips.

Product Description

Dect 6.0 interference free technology in a full featured phone with true digital sound and easy read LCD keypad backlit in blue. Comes with base unit and 2 handsets, expandable up to 6 handsets. Handsets function as speakerphones. Free directory assistance by using dedicated one touch button for Google 411 and searching by name or category. Digital message system with message counter, playback speed control, and Do Not Disturb feature to route all incoming calls through answering system. Phone also has a clock with alarm making it perfect for use in a bedroom. One year warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Versatile, stylish, modern, and powerful cordless phone system, April 21, 2008

By 

Charlie (MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: GE 28821FE2 Dect 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone and Digital Answering System Featuring GOOG-411 with 2 Handsets (Office Product)

(What's this?)

I did some research on DECT 6.0 before using the GE cordless phones. The system communicates in the 1.9 GHz frequency band, so the DECT 6.0 refers to software version 6.0, rather than 6 GHz. One of the features of DECT 6.0 systems is that it allows remote stations to communicate with the base station via a wireless interface. This means that when you expand up to 6 handsets, only the base station has to be wired to a RJ-11 modular port for VoIP or a standard telephone line. The other 5 handsets can communicate with one another on a wireless digital network.

Pros:
-The GE 28821FE2 is one of the first cordless phones that I have seen come equipped from the factory with Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery packs. This is surely the sign that a manufacturer FINALLY understands that Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) battery packs are a failure. I have gone through several cordless phone systems that used NiCd packs and they would begin to discharge rapidly and suffer from the memory effect about 1 year into ownership. I retrofitted some Uniden handsets with NiMH battery cells that I soldered together, but I was shocked to see these new GE DECT 6.0 handsets come with Sanyo NiMH packs from the get-go! As long as you do not overheat NiMH cells, they will last several years and generally do not suffer from the memory effect. They have a much higher capacity than NiCd and can handle higher current demands. If any GE/Thomson engineers are reading this, I would like to thank them for using NiMH battery packs in these cordless phones. I look specifically for cordless devices that come with NiMH batteries and wish Amazon or GE marketing would have publicized this feature.
-There are 20 ringtones to choose from, and about 7 are polyphonic tunes reminiscent of cellphone ring tones from the late 1990s, which consist of beeps and boops, but it is a welcome change from boring "ringing" sounds especially for a home/office cordless.
-The DECT 6.0 standard allows for many features like an intercom, multiple handsets on one phone line, crystal clear transmission up to 100m, and less interference from modern wireless devices (cellphones, WiFi, etc...) DECT 6.0 also qualifies as a 3G system.
-The GOOG411 button allows you to instantly dial the toll-free Google 411 network. The voice recognition is outstanding and it managed to find local business with ease.
-The digital answering machine has a clean interface and did not take a lot of trouble to set up.
-The Blue LEDs make the phones appear futuristic and modern, not to mention aesthetically pleasing. There are Blue LEDs on the base station, individual keypads, and a Blue electroluminescent display. One might think they went overboard with the Blue LED and lighting, but I think it looks fabulous.
-The range and clarity of the handsets is remarkable. I used the intercom from more than 100 feet away without any interference or problems outdoors.
-The intercom and room monitoring features are unique and interesting, although the room monitoring seems like an easier way for parents to eavesdrop on individual handsets but the intercom can come in handy inside large houses with multiple rooms.
-The handset menu interfaces are easy to navigate.
-The belt clip feels sturdy.
-The handsets are extremely compact and lightweight. These are very different from the old 900 MHz and 2.4/5.8 GHz cordless handsets of yore, which seemed monstrous, heavy, and cumbersome with long whip antennae. The GE 28821FE2 do not have external antennae and are rather sleek!
-The main base station can be mounted on the wall.

Cons:
-The satellite base station can only be placed on a table due to the lack of hooks in the back.
-When dialing a phone number, the digits appear too squished on the display. There is not a lack of space on the screen, so they could have stretched out the numbers for easier viewing. It would be easy to dial a wrong number.
-When dialing a number in the caller ID log, make sure to not set an area code for the handset or else it defaults to the 7-digit phone number. Pressing the format/redial button allows you to select between the 7-digit phone number, 10-digit area code + phone number, and 11-digit 1 + area code + exchange. Most calling areas require dialing 1 + area code even for local calls within the same vicinity. I have not been able to find a setting that makes the 1 + area code + exchange the default caller ID display format. Therefore, if you wish to dial straight from a CID log, make sure you press Format/Redial to select the appropriate phone number format for your calling area. This is kind of a nuisance but I have experienced the same problem with my other cordless phones using Caller ID (Uniden, Sony, etc...)
-The speakerphone button is placed in an awkward location. I am generally used to phones with the TALK button in that exact spot, but these GE cordless phones have the TALK button in the center, with the speakerphone in the lower left corner of the top control region. In addition, one of my handsets had the speakerphone volume set to "1" as a default, but upon activating the speakerphone, the volume was extremely loud. It must have been a software glitch, because I fixed it by selecting another volume and going back to the lowest setting.
-The Volume adjustment keys, which are also used to navigate the menus, are rather small. I have to use my fingernails to push these keys.
-The keypad lighting is useless in dark unlit rooms, defeating the purpose of the lighting. The numbers are not legible because the keys are opaque, preventing any light from coming through. Had they made the numbers translucent, it would have allowed night-time/low light usage. Instead there must be some room/ambient light to illuminate the keys. The blue lighting effect is just for show.
-The owner's manual doesn't cover all the intricate details or provide explanations for some of the settings. When playing with the handsets, I noticed an odd icon appear to the left of the battery state of charge indicator. It looked like a handset with an arrow pointing to the microphone. After much experimentation, it appears this is an indicator that there is a new caller ID entry. Reviewing the "new" entries would remove this icon from the display.
-The battery state of charge indicator consists of 2 bars. It is rather difficult to ascertain the exact condition of the battery using these 2 bars. They could have used 4 bars, but I can't complain too much since my other Uniden and Sony cordless phones didn't have SOC indicators - once you ran the battery down it would tell you to charge it without much warning. It didn't take too long for the battery to drop down to only 1/2 bars.
-The home base station/answering machine plays a lot of hissing static in standby mode. Adjusting the volume does nothing to reduce this sound. It sounds like white noise playing from the speaker in the back of the base station.
-The Caller ID display occasionally shuts off while reviewing entries. I have discovered this to be an intermittent problem that can't be reproduced all the time.

Miscellaneous comments and quirks:
-Although GE does include NiMH cells in the battery pack, the 2x AAA-sized cells only have a 650 mAh capacity. If the handset is left uncharged for 24 hours, the state of charge indicator will drop to 1 out of 2 bars with infrequent use. My Uniden handsets used AA-sized cells and when I retrofitted them with NiMH cells, I chose batteries that had a capacity of 2000+ mAh roughly 4 times the capacity of these GE/Sanyo packs and could be left uncharged for over 3 weeks. The benefit to using such small packs, like in the case of the GE 28821FE2 DECT 6.0, is the reduction in weight. The featherweight GE handsets are a big plus because it reduces fatigue for long conversations.

-The base station and satellite station have a bright blue LED in the bottom that serves as a charge indicator. If you keep one of these stations in your room at night, the blue LED is bright enough to act as a powerful night light. I can't say this is a pro or con because it is really dependent on where you place the phone/station at night and if the person is bothered by the light.

-The 2.5mm universal headset jack allows the use of a headset/microphone but upon connecting an Earglove Apex, I noticed excessive static and unclear audio. The fault most likely lies with the Apex headset and not the phone, but I prefer the audio quality of using just the handset.

Bottom line: The GE 28821FE2 DECT 6.0 handsets function as advertised and is quite versatile. They come with NiMH battery packs so they will give you far greater operating capabilities than lesser phones with NiCd packs that generally fail within 1-2 years. The main answering machine base station takes up very little room on a table. The handsets are extremely lightweight. The DECT 6.0 standard gives a wide variety of features, extended range, and crystal clear audio quality. The phones appear aesthetically pleasing, with a futuristic look that would complement any home, office, dorm, or apartment environment.

UPDATE:
22 APR 2011

The GE phone has given me some problems over the years. Besides the lack of backlit keys which is an extreme nuisance at night, the battery has taken on the memory effect or the electronics have started to go on the fritz. I use the base handset the most and the LCD has distorted. It also seems to lose stored phone numbers and likes to ignore my time changes. I change the time during daylight savings and it always finds a way to revert my changes from time to time. After 3 years of faithful service, I plan to upgrade to the newer DECT 6.0 PLUS phones to hopefully address some of the problems I've experienced with these GE units.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great potential cut short by annoying flaws and design shortcomings., May 14, 2008

By 

W. C. Bryant (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GE 28821FE2 Dect 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone and Digital Answering System Featuring GOOG-411 with 2 Handsets (Office Product)

(What's this?)

We really wanted to love these phones, and for the first week or so, we did. Google 411 is a wonderful feature, and very intuitive; even if you aren't sure of the correct name of a business, it comes up with most likely possibilities and allows you to easily find what you're looking for via voice commands. We tried to trick and confuse it, and found it highly reliable and effective. The handsets are light weight, and the belt clip is very tight and secure. Not only does the screen state that you have voice mail, but a light also blinks on the handset and base. You can set up special ring tones for certain people (once they've been added to your phone book), which is a great option (more on this below) to audibly identify regular callers. The volume range for both the ringer and speaker is adequate.

The interface isn't wonderful. Adding numbers to the phone book is challenging, there's no easy way to add a number of someone who calls in. You have to go through 4 menu options to get to a point where you can enter numbers which sounds like a nitpick, but when you have 40-50 numbers you'd like to store, it gets tedious. This phone also seems to lack a vibrate option.

One of our biggest complaints is that it takes a three to four rings *before* caller ID comes up. You end up staring at the screen waiting for caller ID to kick in, and if you've set up those custom ring tones as above, then what you're getting is three to four of the standard, before it recognizes who the caller is, and starts with the special tone. Then when you do answer, it takes another ring or two for the other handset on the system to recognize that you've picked up, so you're saying hello while still hearing ringing in the background.

As I said, we really wanted to like these phones. The aesthetic and feel is right on, it has a terrific feature set. We can't explain why they're so slow to process CallerID (another similar phone system we use is virtually instant on that front, so it's not the service or lines), but that has quickly become quite annoying. We're going to keep these handsets in service here in our house because we like Google411 that much, but this will not be a product I enthusiastically recommend to friends. As many good things I have to say about them, the few annoyances are just bad enough (for us) that we don't feel we've found an ideal solution. The potential is there, but the execution fell short.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good sound quality, poor user interface, April 27, 2008

By 

Adam Lasnik "Frim Fram Sauce Extraordinaire" (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GE 28821FE2 Dect 6.0 Digital Cordless Phone and Digital Answering System Featuring GOOG-411 with 2 Handsets (Office Product)

(What's this?)

I wanted to really like this phone... and judging on pure-sound (can I hear the other party, can they hear me), it does just fine.

Unfortunately, the phone is significantly hobbled by seemingly-readily-apparent usability issues. Given this, I was really torn between giving it three, rather than four stars, but in the end the reasonable ergonomic comfort + the excellent range and good sound quality pushed it over to a four in my book.

*** ABOUT MY USAGE

I typically receive and make calls from and to numbers in the U.S. I don't subscribe to caller ID, nor do I often interrupt callers with call-waiting or attempt three-way calls. My calling patterns, then, are pretty basic :) In my home, I have a wireless network, microwave, TV with several remotes, etc. Haven't found anything to interfere with the phone's signal.

*** ABOUT THE PHONE'S USABILITY

It's poor, IMHO, and frustratingly so, to the point I have to ask... did ANY usability experts look at this thing prior to launch? And -- do people really really want form over function in their phones?

For instance, more than 80% of the buttons on the phone's base are invisible to me when the base sits on my desk AND not easily accessible/distinguishable by feel. I have to stand up, and then squint to look at black buttons on a black surface with teeny tiny white labels.

Setting preferences and typing names into the phone is similarly annoying in a "what the heck?!" kind of way. The up/down selection buttons are right at the top of the phone. The "OK" button is at the bottom. So much for one-handed operation. One minor nice touch: the addressbook menu setting is first, so you can hit OK a few times in succession to get to stored names.

More thumbs up / thumbs down...

*** THUMBS DOWN:

Brightly glowing blue light makes for unhappy sleeping. I've had to turn the phone facing my bedroom wall to avoid the glare.

Doesn't appear to be any way to easily transfer address records between handsets, so be prepared to enter them separately. Ouch!

GOOG-411 button? Okay, that's cute, and -- [disclaimer] as a Google employee myself -- I think GOOG-411 is a great service. But a separate button when folks could easily create an addressbook entry (or, making Google / GE / users happy -- GE could have that as an already-added entry)? Not especially useful. How often do most people call directory assistance anyway? I'd have rather had a nice four-way joystick button or up/down/right/left arrows.

Oh, and the manual... goodness, where do I start? What a mess! I think this says it all:
What's the first thing you want to do when you get a phone? Make and receive phone calls, right? After setup, what're the first sections in the manual? Answerer settings, Standby screen, and Phone book. What the heck? Instructions for making a call are on... page 35. Hmm :(


*** THUMBS UP

The Do Not Disturb feature is activated by one button (appropriately for all handsets!) right on the front of the base unit. And when in DND mode, a noticeable red light shines so you don't forget to turn it off. Handy!

The phone and phone base *do* look sleek, so if that's important to you, you'll likely be happy.

Setup was pretty straighforward.

The phone feels pretty solid in one's hand.


* * *

At the core, this phone excels where some might argue it really matters 95% of the time: very good voice quality (with a usefully large number of loudness settings) and great range. Not a whit of static, even when I went downstairs and to the opposite end of my townhome.

But I really wish GE had spent just a few extra minutes making the phone more of a slick pleasure to use beyond just the basics.