Customer Reviews

Sony TAM100 Gray Answering Machine

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Just bought this machine as a companion to the Sony cordless phone model SPP-ID975, and am astounded at the poor quality of the chip generated voice system. Attempting to understand the instructions of the chip generated voice, or the information it tries to relay concerning general operation, is futile. About 80% of the sound comes out sounding like gibberish. Recorded messages are quite a bit clearer, but nothing compared to the old tape recording systems. And from what I can determine, you must manually delete all your own old messages. According to the instructions, the machine doesn't do this automatically. I tried it, and after two or three tries, finally got the machine to delete all the messages in a mail box. Also, the instructions state that if there is a power loss, the recorder looses it's time and date info. I'm returning the machine. There has to be something on the market better than this.

The TAM 100 is fine as a digital answering machine. The only flaw, quite an annoying one too, is that all recordings sound robotic. I can't recognize my friend's voice because he sounds like HAL 9000 while I sound like Robby the robot. If you don't mind being a ghost in the machine, this piece is fine.

I never took the time to find out if most of the features on this machine worked. The sound quality was so poor that I returned it 2 days after I got it. I expected much more out of a Sony product.

We own and have owned several Sony products over the years, andthis is the first one that I can recall that we're returning to thestore where we bought it. The sound quality on this Tam-100 is quite literally abysmal. Someone recently got me a "talking pen" as a gift that you can record your voice on-and it sounds better than this answering machine. I would like to know what the chip set is that processes this horrible sound reproduction so that I can possibly avoid it in the future. Do all or most digital answering machines have this similar flaws? We could possibly pay more for better quality.

Easy to use. Many nice features! I like how it beeps when you have new mesages. Remote access is simple and straightforward with voice that guides you. Don't really use the 3 mailboxes though.

This is the first answering machine I ever bought and I am VERY impressed with it. After reading these other reviews about the sound quality, I wonder if mine, which came from Kmart, has a revised sound chip as my messages sound GREAT and I can tell who is who when my friends leave messages. The ONLY thing I hate about this machine is that if there is a power outage, you have to reset the time which isn't too horrible as it will remember all the messages on it. You can selectively delete and keep any messages you want. The guided voice setup is a male voice and very easy to understand. I was going to go with a GE until I heard the fast talking chick that did all the voice stuff on it and immediately hated it. The TAM-100 also has a double-digit counter so you will know if you have more than 9 messages unlike most of the AT&T answering machines I looked at and it has really nice remote message listening capabilities. I HIGHLY recommend the Sony TAM-100 to anyone.

Considering the product is from Sony, one would expect superb sound quality esp since Sony made its name in the audio technology industry. I tested the unit I bought in Sep 2001. The sound quality is not as bad as that commented by other reviewers perhaps the chip set was replaced. I opened up the unit. Inside are static memory chips hence no separate battery is required and when the ac adapter is unplugged the messages are all retained.

Sound quality is probably the most important criteria. The sound is recorded acceptably although words with a hissing letter like the s in please tends to create static distortions more acutely than other machines such a the GE 29868 which is cheaper than this Sony but sounds more clear. Part of the distortion is attributable to the speaker in the Sony unit which has a lower dynamic frequency thus producing a deeper voice but does not produce higher frequencies of the vocal spectrum clearly. The GE unit does a better job. Interestingly when listening to the unit from the caller's end does not produce as much distortion for words with 's' hissing sounds than it sounds on the replay on the unit itself thus indicating that the speaker is partly causing static clicks and crackles. The outgoing voice message is clearly audible (if you speak close to the unit when recording) but sounds lower pitched similar to other digital units with lower sampling rates or poor audio compression. Note that the microphone is inverted in the unit so if you flip the unit upside down and speak into the microphone hole underneath the unit, your voice sounds more clear, loud and crisp and with slightly less distortion.

I got as far as recording the OGM and when the machine played my voice back - I put it back in the box and returned it. The playback is far from true to life. Do not buy this product. Typically - I only buy Sony - but i will make this one exception to the rule.

This product is easy to use and set up, but there is a flaw. There is only one passcode to check your messages form a remote phone. This allows any one who has the passcode to listen to all three mailboxes. This makes it unsecure for privacy.

I bought this machine about a year ago and have not been satisfied since. The sound quality (as others have mentioned) is horrible. The three mailboxes are nice, but callers can never figure out how to get to the right box...even I can't...you have to push * or # or something then the number of the box, and only while the message is being played. Talk about badly designed. Sony was great and replaced the unit when we complained about sound quality, but the new one they sent was just as bad. I don't have any other suggestions, since I haven't found a satisfactory answering machine yet. (Oh, and new Sony machines...same problem)