Customer Reviews

Uniden TRU8865-2 5.8 GHz Digital Expandable Cordless Speakerphone with Caller ID

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I work from home about 3 weeks per month and I needed a great phone. Over the past 1.5 years I've purchased more then 6 base + cordless units looking for the right one from every major phone manufacture (from Panasonic, Sony to Nortel), finally I found it in the Uniden TRU 8865. The engineers must have read my mind. In the past my perception of Uniden has not been so good, and I thought this purchase was a very risky one to take. However the quality of the Uniden phone build, and the voice quality is top notch. But that's just the beginning, after blowing thru so many units from phone manufactures I had an extensive list of what I wanted, and not one had met my feature - functions critera, this phone does. First off it's a snap to setup, even though it does use some soft menu functions they are simplistic, well organized and the soft menu is very fast, real time, no delays. All normal phone functions are accesable thru buttons on the phone (base and cordless)- So shuffling thru the softmenu is rarely needed except for the phonebook (There are other great features, but I seldom use them). Speakerphone on the base is one of the best, not perfect compared to a business phone, but it's the best you'll find on the consumer market. By picking up the cordless it automatically shuts the speaker down and it's seamless to the cordless and no clicking or poping for the other party. You can put your base speaker phone call on Hold or Mute with a touch of a button. The cordless phone has a headset feature, I used it with the Uniden headphones (which are great by the way) and the cordless phone has speaker phone on it also, on the back side. The speaker is great, however the mic quality is poor. I've never found one that was good. You can take cordless phone calls and transfer back to the base for speaker phone, seamless. When plugging in the Uniden headphones to a live call on the cordless it does "Chirp" to the customer, get around this by hitting the mute on the phone, upper left button. Headset only usuable on cordless unit. I didn't test the range, but it = does not interfere = with my WI-FI b+g. Any Button Answering and also you can mute the incoming call ringing for a do not disturb.
Only Minus, phone did not set time and date by incoming call using caller ID, first phone I found in a long time you had to manually set your time and data, however you only need to this with one phone and it updates the entire system. You can transfer phone books between cordless and base, which is a new twist, and it's darn handy. Cordless units can be used (direct)for a conversation without using the phone line. Take them to the mall!
Great phone, you won't be dissapointed unless you have some feature I've not yet needed., I've been waiting years for a robust feature set that does not command soft-menu gymnastics and I've found it in the Uniden TRU 88 Series. Great job Uniden.

I purchased the model with three handheld receivers and I am ready to buy more. The phone not only sounds great it sounds great to the person you are talking to. My computers 2.4 wireless LAN system was very sensitive to my other 2.4 GHz phone. It would cause no end to my network problems. When I purchased the Uniden 5.8 system, my problems stopped. The phone has excellent range and can be used like walkie-talkies to talk with your family or coworkers. Add to that the hundred number memories with answering machine and the best system ever is born. Another nice feature is that I know of no 5.8 GHz scanners that can listen to my calls.

I can add up to ten handsets and the answering system base can be used to call from with the speakerphone option. That means you can have eleven phones in your house or office that need no wire except the base unit. I have an all-metal shop that the phone works perfect in. All in all the phone works a thousand percent better than the 2.4 GHz phone that was causing all the problems with my wireless network.

The final note is this phone system is necessary buy if you want the best performance with any wireless system. I can give my highest recommendation to this phone system and my family and I are enjoying it.

As others have noted, this phone system has an amazingly useful set of features. I'm replacing a very expensive Siemens system that has served me well for nearly 10 years, and it's taken that long to find a suitable replacement (which had to be 5.8MHz to avoid interference with LANs and other 2.4GHz devices I need to use).

One correction of a criticism in prior reviews -- One user noted that the numbers saved in Caller ID can't be dialed as saved. In fact, the phone will insert or remove the leading 1- for long-distance dialing just by pressing the "*/Tone/<" key, and it will insert or remove the area code by pressing the "#/>" key. This is handy, and it's too bad the annoyed reviewer didn't notice it in the manual (p. 53).

Transferring ALL numbers in the phone directory from one unit to another (base or remote) is absolutely essential if you're using it as a home phone, and I was relieved to confirm that it does this.

Unlike my excellent Siemens, the Uniden lets any remote perform call screening, so you can listen to incoming messages and pick up the call without sprinting (no pun intended) for the base unit.

I have not yet tested the transmission range. Hopefully it's at least a few hundred feet... The higher radio frequency (5.8GHz) means it's a bit more directional (line of sight) than the older phones. In any case, it works very well within my house, with no evidence of powerline or other interference. The sound quality is much better than average.

Having each handset operate as a small speakerphone is also a big plus, especially when reviewing voicemail.

I'm delighted to have a small red LED on each handset to indicate when there are unread messages. With 5 handsets in my house, it's very useful to NOT have to connect to the base to check if there are new messages. You can disable this LED, or go a step further and have the handsets/base beep every 15 seconds as well. Another thoughtful voicemail feature -- if you try to delete all messages, it won't do so if any of them are still unread.

The phone fully supports the new Call Waiting Deluxe features offered by some phone companies -- you get to choose what happens to an incoming call while you're on another call.

Room monitoring is better than on the Siemans -- you can choose which handset (or base) does the monitoring, and which does the receiving. Monitoring and answer machine call screening can both be turned off if you don't want these features to be used.

The ring tones include a very subdued "Soft Alert" tone, which is perfect for the bedroom. A good collection of tones and tunes is also provided.

You can assign any ring tone to any number in the directory; this will be used as a distinctive ring whenever an assigned phone number (with caller ID) calls you.

The display is bright

Great phone from the perspective of features and clarity, ergonomics. The only gripe is that the range is kind of pathetic. I had a 2.4GHz Panasonic before this one that beat its pants off for range. Might have something to do with the fact that it has no antenna on the phone or the base unit. Do these guys test their stuff? I thought 5.8 would actually have better range.

One other idiotic aspect I just realized. When someone calls you, caller id shows their number, complete w/area code of course. If you try and just dial from the caller id list, the phone is too stupid to put the one in front. This is also a big nuisance when you go to store the numbers.

Turns out there's a simple solution to the above problem: press the * key and it puts a one in front of the #.

I looked (and purchased) a number of cordless phones. The Uniden 88xx series clearly one. The phone is just the right size. Nice display. Super handset speaker phone - I set the handset in front of my computer keyboard and you can't tell you're on a speakerphone. Another feature I like is the "do not disturb" - which turns the ringer off for all phones. Great feature when I leave the house for a long weekend and want to turn off all the ringers on the phones in the house so I don't disturb others.

The only things they could improve on is: 1) clearing the CID on ALL phones when clearing one phone. 2) The caller ID should pull the name in my address book. 3) Have a history of numbers I called (like a cell phone) so I can just scroll down and hit redial.

All of the improvements are really minor.

I have Vonage IP Telephony and this phone works great with the service. Message indicator lite works with their voice mail. I also can just hit one button and it calls the service and enters my password (you can program in pauses).

Great phone. My sister bought the same one after I recommended it. She also loves the phone.

I love this phone and all of the easy to learn features it has. There is nothing difficult about learning how to use this phone. There was only one thing that I was disappointed in. This is also advertised as a wall phone but actually it is a desk phone modified for use on the wall. ...........and it looks like a desk phone hanging on the wall (not attractive on the wall). If this is not a problem for you, then I highly recommend this phone.

When I bought my townhouse, I decided to use Voice Over IP (VOIP) instead of the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). To that end, I decided to use Vonage. The problem became, what should I use for my phone?

I thought about using the existing wiring (disconnecting from the outside world) but then I'd still have to buy phones for all over the house. Instead, I came up with a new set of rules so I'd need a single phone only.

1. Multi handset and expandable.
2. Caller ID.
3. Voicemail indicator.
4. 5.8 GHz and digital.
5. Speakerphone base.
6. No answering machine.

Luckily I found this phone and shortly thereafter, it was offered on [...] refurbished for a great price. As added bonuses, one can add standard headsets into the phones as well as a speakerphone feature built into every handset.

So far, the phone has worked perfectly. The range covers my entire house and the clarity has been terrific. My only gripe is the battery life when not sitting in the charger. It may be due to the voicemail indicator feature (which works great), but if left off the base long enough, the charge is lost. The charge isn't even lost quickly when talking on the phone (thankfully), but it's odd.

This is an ideal phone to use as a complement to a VOIP service.

Feature rich and expandable. It's an excellent system for home or small office. It's good points far outweigh it's bad.

I bought this system to replace a failing satelight system from Southwest Bell. I use Vonage (and am very happy with it) and have been using satelight systems ever since I became connected to the service. (much more conveinient) I now won't go back to hard wiring cordless phones.

The phones are solid and attractive. Believe me the pictures don't do them justice, they're not nearly so boxey as they look in these photos. The orange LCD screens take a little getting used to, but they're actually easier to read for most. They feel good in your hand and are long enough to reach from ear to mouth without loss. The buttons are silver coloured soft rubber, and are easy to work with.

The good:

*High contrast clear (albeit orange) displays.
*100 number memory in the phone book for each phone, 50 in the base.
*Each handset can have 10 of it's own Quick Dial numbers.
*Each number in memory can be assigned a distinctive ring.
*Each hand set may use a unique ring.
*Phonebook may be copied from phone to phone. (The whole thing or individual numbers. Also, if the recieving phone already has the entry that's being copied it skips it, and does not replace the local record, or create a duplicate.)
*Room monitor is available for EVERY phone. Each phone may act as the monitor or the microphone.
*Speakerphone on base and handsets is clear and easy to use.
*Easy and intuitive menus.
*"do not disturb" mode for all phones.
*Clear sound and great range.
*Handsets can be muted and put the call on hold.
*Supports Advanced Call Waiting features. (if available from your telephone company)
*Multiphone call conferencing.
*Intercom between phones.
*Ability to "name" each phone with a banner.

So much for the plusses, now the minuses: (Keep in mind I view these as not a big enough issue to not like the phones.)

*CallerID entries are stored uniquely on all phones and must be cleared explicitly from each phone.
*When activating the room monitor the handset rings before it engages. (You can mute it, but still sort of odd.)
*You cannot turn off the ringer on one handset for more than ONE incoming call. (You can set the handset to not ring for only the next incoming call.)
*Limited number of ringtones available, especially with the unique ring ability. And you cannot load or create more.
*Phone "animations" either on or off, but again, only one animation available. (Silly little chicken... Bird... Thing.)

I do not regret buying these phones at all, and would recommend them to you.

The new Unidens are very cool and have some very nice features, but they just don't have enough range for a big house.

Over the past month (August 2004) I have tried the latest models of just about every major brand that offers 5.8 ghz multi-handset cordless phones - Uniden, V-Tech, AT&T (made by V-Tech), Motorola, and Panasonic. Each of these phones is nice in its own way, but only the Panasonic had enough range to receive and send clearly from one end of the house to the other. Granted my house is a little large (3,600 square feet, all one one level), but the other brands maxed out about 2/3rds of the way through the house. I have a WiFi network in the house, and had no interference issues from that with any of these brands. I do wish the Panasonic could expand to a total of more than just 4 handsets, but that is a minor issue. Those big honking twin antennae on the base unit seem to actually work. Please note that I got the version without the answering machine, so I can't offer any opinions on that part of this.

This is my first Uniden phone and I am proud of it. I have always had Panasonic and my last one kept dying on me even when the battery is full. I was going to get another Panasonic but after reading the other reviews on this Uniden and decided to get it.
The phone look great. The design look strong. I feel I can drop this phone from the second floor and nothing will happen to it. The buttons are nicely laid out. The menu is simple and easy to use. I also love how the VM indicator is very clear. I never miss voice mails now.
The voice is clear and the speaker phone is great. That's one function I really wanted in a cordless phone. People can't tell if I am on speaker or not.

I never used the belt clip in all my previous phone, just didn't like them. This phone changed my mind and now it is always on. It works great as a shoulder rest and as a stand when you put the phone down on your desk and use the speaker.

I have wireless network and never had problem with this phone interfering with my network.