Customer Reviews

Graco imonitor Vibe

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

One year and one week after we purchased this monitor it finally died. What a relief. We've been suffering with its abysmal signal quality, extremely poor sound quality, and very short range since we purchased the piece of junk.

The advertised range on the packaging was 2000 feet. The actual range with NO obstructions (like walls) in clear air line of sight was more like 30 to 40 feet at BEST. Despite the "Digital" transmission it's still very sensitive to interference from digital wireless phones, wireless network gateways, cell phones etc. Any kind of RF noise in the vicinity of the monitor results in lost signal, constant loud popping noises and scratchy static voices from the nursery.

Thinking we had a defective unit, we exchanged the first set . . . but the replacement was no better. Non-the-less it got the job done and let us know when we needed to check on the baby.

Until a week after the warranty expired.

Two nights ago we heard a loud popping sound from the monitor and all signal ceased. I called Graco's warranty hot-line, but was informed that it was, indeed, out of coverage. "Would we like to purchase a new one?"

Not only no, but heck no!

Since they were out of warranty I opened up the units and looked at the electronic components. I found the very lowest quality, cheapest capacitors on the circuit board possible. One had burst (in the Nursery unit) which caused the final failure. I also found very poor quality soldering joints.

Dear Graco, for about 25 cents more you could have used better quality capacitors that would likely last a lifetime. At least longer than a couple years. But I figure that might break your business model, which is to use about 3 dollars in low-end components to make a 60 dollar monitor. Nice mark up there! And then you get to sell a second, or a third monitor to the same customer when the first one dies before the child outgrows the need for a monitor.

We had two other Graco products that were given as gifts when the newborn arrived. A stroller and an infant traveling crib. Both degraded so rapidly (months, not years) that we disposed of them and bought quality replacements. From what I can tell with my personal sampling of four Graco data points (two monitors and the two items just listed) they are in the baby market to leech money with the lowest quality products I've ever had the displeasure of trying.

Just say no to Graco. Avoid the safety product recalls on their strollers and cribs. Avoid their bottom-of-the-barrel electronics. Avoid their shoddy workmanship and greedy business plan.

I purchased this monitor because it was advertised to not interfere with wireless home networks. Unfortunatly it DOES interfere with our wireless internet, and our cordless phone. The internet disconnects as soon as the monitor is turned on. The cordless phone is fuzzy to the point that you cannot hear the person on the other end if the monitor is turned on, and if the phone rings the parent unit completely cuts out until we answer the phone.
I have never had so many interference issues with a monitor! Even the cheap $15 monitor at walmart isn't effected by a cordless phone!!!

The volume on the monitor is also very quiet, so if you're a heavy sleeper this isn't the monitor for you. We also have alot of instances when the parent unit cuts out for a second or two for no apparent reason (we're still working on figure out what causes that....)

Dealing with these annoyances have pushed me to scrap this monitor and go out to buy a new one only 3 weeks into my babys life, however it works well enough that my little girl has never been left crying in her crib, so I can at least give it that....

I am very happy with this item. We have a house full of electronics and every baby monitor that I have ever had has massive static because of this. This one, however, is the only I have had that does not have loud and annoying static. I was very apprehensive about this monitor. It does have low static in the background but when the baby cries or makes noise it come through loud and clear. The only problem I see is that the batteries on the base unit didn't last very long so I simply plugged it in to the wall. Problem solved.

We bought this monitor just three weeks ago after the birth of our second child. Pretty quickly we noticed the battery charge and the range of distance are inadequate (from our upstairs bedroom to the downstairs living room I lost a signal - not a large house).

For our first child we have a Sony Baby Call. I had no idea how great it is until I realized how bad a baby monitor could be. With the Sony, I can go outside and after 21 months of daily use, have never replaced the batteries.

I returned the Graco imonitor today.

We loved this monitor when we first got it. We were sold by the "trusted" Graco name and also the digital concept, as we have a small NYC apartment and had heard a lot about interference. But it completely died right around the time our daughter turned 4 months old. At first we thought it was the battery, but it just gave out.

Another thing that always annoyed us about it was that the plug for the listening unit (the one in the baby's room) popped out really easily. We'd often be fumbling around, usually in the dark since the baby was sleeping, trying to get the plug back in.

Hopefully if and when we have kid #2 another company will have made a great digital monitor...

We have owned this for 8 months now and I am disappointed in it. The battery now lasts about 20 minutes and we hardly take it out of it's cradle. My childs room is upstairs and even though it says it will go 2000ft the reality is more like 200ft. I don't really need 2000 but it would be nice to make it to the edge of my property with out problems. The only way you are going to get 2000ft out of this is if you put your baby in a boat and sail her 2000ft out...I have since moved to a two way radio with vox feature and have much greater success. I don't know why these baby monitor mfgrs. haven't moved to this tech. to reach the distances, have the battery life, and include the feature of being able to talk back to your child. Seems like a no brainer to me, but logic does not play a role in most things...

This monitor makes noise constantly: a crackling, static-type noise. It's so persistant that I can't sleep with it on, which kind of defeats the purpose. Very disappointing for the price point and I wish I'd bought another Fisher Price monitor instead (which worked great until the baby gave it a bath). My house is 2300 square feet and two stories. The baby's room is upstairs and the units are usually on opposite sides of the house; not sure if distance is causing the issues or not.

This is the worst monitor out there. The receiver cuts in and out when the base is only 20 feet away, beeping and lighting up read until you move it a fraction of an inch only to have it cut out again in 5 minutes. It also has a really annoying clicking noise that kept me up all night. What a waste of money!

We have a very tech savvy home with wireless internet, a cordless phone, lots of computers throughout the house and our house is very old. We have NOT had one problem with this monitor at all. The reception is great, it picks up all the noise in our daughters room even with an air filter and a humidifier in there, it only picks up her noises that she makes. We have her upstairs in our two story old house and the monitor works great in the basement. It has its reception moments, but there isnt a room in the house that we cannot get reception. We ordered a dect 6 monitor that didnt work at all, but our friends worked great! So my consensus is that some of these machines are just faulty or if you live in a busier city maybe all the technology so close will interfere. For us in a an inner city of 30000, with big OLD houses, it works great. wish we had gotten the two parent monitor though :).

This product continually clicks throughout the night. Due to the constant static as well as the fact that I'm a light sleeper, it makes a sound night of sleep quite difficult.
On the contrary, this product does get the job done, but I wouldn't recommend it to other consumers if given the opportunity.