I prefer devices with multiple functions

November 11, 2010 1:07 PM

Anyone use cordless phones that act as room monitors? I'm bewildered by the choices...

I'm looking for a baby monitor that can serve other purposes after the kid is grown up. And I've seen some hints that there are cordless phones that work (well?) as room monitors via an intercom feature... but I'm wondering if anyone out there can recommend a specific phone or post their experience with using a cordless phone as a baby monitor. Is DECT 5.8GHz the best way to go..?

posted by mhh5 to technology (5 answers total)

Before we got a dedicated monitor, we used our Panasonic DECT phones (model KX TG1032S) for this purpose. The downside is that battery life was not amazing, so just having two phones on intercom all the time was killing the battery; say, an hour or two at most.

I'd say this does work in a pinch, but isn't a long-term way to go.

I wholeheartedly recommend getting a dedicated baby video monitor, at least for having the video - it is immensely helpful.
posted by hijinx at 1:17 PM on November 11, 2010

(Of course, YMMV with regards to battery life.)
posted by hijinx at 1:18 PM on November 11, 2010

My cordless phone has a room monitor function; it eats the battery if I leave it on. It's nice to be able to check, though. I would just go ahead and buy a single-purpose baby monitor. If it's the re-use angle - look for one at a thrift store. But you may be surprised by how many years you can use a baby monitor, depending on how big your house is. When I watch tv down in the basement I turn mine on to keep an ear on my 11 year old to make sure he hasn't woken up and gotten to rambling. I take it when we travel, so that when I'm up later than he is, in case he doesn't sleep well in an unfamiliar place. Plus the basic models are cheap, and you can always give them away.
posted by lemniskate at 4:22 PM on November 11, 2010

Thanks for the advice, folks. I guess I'm disappointed that cordless phones can't do what I want exactly, but such is life... But it doesn't seem like it'd be so hard to allow a handset to sit in its charging base and still operate as a room monitor. I'm still baffled why there are a gazillion different Panasonic models that are all cordless phones but have 1 or 2 different features added/subtracted.
posted by mhh5 at 6:31 PM on November 11, 2010

second hand baby stuff stores have lots of monitors for cheap
posted by wurly at 6:47 PM on November 11, 2010