42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crystal clear transmission and pure silence otherwise, December 5, 2006
This review is from: Philips Avent Digital Baby Monitor with Zero-Interference DECT Technology (Baby Product)
We recently moved our daughter to her big-girl room, which is quite far away from our bedroom. We keep doors closed at night so as not to disturb her, so we need a monitor that we could keep on all night at our bedside in case she wakes up or cries for help.
Performance
The Philips SCD 589 works perfectly as advertised. With the sensitivity set to normal (3 of 5 bars), the receiver always come alive virtually instantly and transmits every noise in her room clearly without any popping/cracking sounds. But as soon as the room is quiet, the receiver mutes to complete silence without even a hum or buzz. We have tried a number of other monitors and none have come close audio-wise. We leave the receiver on overnight at the nightstand and you'd forget it's there unless sound is transmitted.
Features
The UI is simple and intuitive, while the physical design is elegant and tasteful. For example, soft amber signal lights, rather than giant red glow (you know the brand), are used to indicate sound transmission. The receiver is small enough to fit in your pocket to help you look less like paranoid parents. The two-way communication feature could come in handy with spouse or older children. We are not using the lullaby/nightlight feature much, but that maybe useful for younger babies. And the remote temperature display is a rare advantage over the competition that further sets this product apart. The docking/charging simplifies daily operation significantly. The receiver uses 2 AAA rechargable Ni-MH and could be replaced with standard AAA's in the event they run out. From the small dimensions to industrial design to build quality, the product is top-notch.
Summary
The SCD 589 performs outstandingly. And with the thoughtful and well-implemented feature set, this product truely shines as one designed by those who understand parenting challenges. If they could somehow squeeze in video transmission (I realize DECT is only spec'ed for audio transmission) this product would put all other baby monitors to rest.
I highly recommend this product to anyone with, but not limiting to, child-monitoring needs (even for older children -- see 2-way feature).
Note
We used to use the MobiCam video monitor, which worked well for seeing what the baby is doing. However, the audio was interference-ridden due to the sheer number of 2.4GHz devices in our house. With the SCD 589, we now keep the MobiCam turned off until we hear something that needs verifying visually.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crystal clear audio! The audiophile's baby monitor!, December 27, 2006
This review is from: Philips Avent Digital Baby Monitor with Zero-Interference DECT Technology (Baby Product)
I was a little apprehensive about the price tag, but this thing really does work as described. It is well worth the $200 bucks. We had a cheap FisherPrice baby monitor that was unusable because of the static. This one is completely quiet unless the baby is making noise, and then it is crystal clear with no background hiss or static. You can adjust the microphone sensitivity, but the default setting was perfect for us, and allows you to hear small sounds clearly. I also like the room temperature monitoring function.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the cost, December 10, 2006
This review is from: Philips Avent Digital Baby Monitor with Zero-Interference DECT Technology (Baby Product)
We had an 8-yr-old baby monitor that had an intercom feature we had come to consider essential. But the unit we had from our 1st baby had a broken button on the receiver and buzzed like crazy all the time so we wanted to replace it. This was the only monitor that was 900mhz (didn't want to interfere w/our 2.4 wireless network in the house, & more powerful signal is a bit scary to put by your heads as you sleep & overkill to boot) & also had an intercom feature. We have 3 children, 1 baby still in our room with us & 2 in their room down the hall. This is both highly sensitive to the slightest noise from their rm. and completely silent when there isn't any sound to broadcast. The remote features e.g. turning on lights or lullabies for the baby/child's room are neat & nice, the adjustable sensitivity is great- really will respond to the slightest sound if you have it at a lower sensitivity, or can be set to broadcast constantly & will do so w/o extra noise. The intercom is nice for letting a child know you're coming, or asking if they need you at all, or of course, playing around. Battery life has been fine but we hardly use the receiver out of the charger. Completely fulfills its claims.
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