Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
50 of 53 people found the following review helpful.
Wow!
By A Customer
Purchased this phone to use as an additional handset to the Siemens 4215. For those not familar with the Siemens system - up to three of the 4200 series handsets can be used to expand the 4215 base system. You can have phones (4 total)all over the house without the cost of adding wiring and new jacks.
I am able to walk to a neighbors home on the two acres next to mine & make/receieve calls with prefect clarity - even inside!
One more thing - this phone takes two regular AA rechargeable batteries, so no more expensive batteries that sometimes can cost more than the original phone.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Good Phone with some minor flaws
By John W. Graham
Having owned the 4215 base station for about 1 year, I decided to shell out some $$$ and get the 4200 "extension" handset.
My review will focus on the negative - since the other reviews have already pointed out the strong points of the 4200.
It seemed simple - put the batteries in the 4200 handset, turn it off, put it in the base station and it automatically registers with the master base station. At least this is what the 1 page quick start pamphlet said (the only documnentaiton that comes with the 4200). Unfortunately, this did not work for me. After searching for 30 minutes for the big user manual to the 4215, I finally found it. These instructions indicate that the 4200 can be registered with the base station manually. This is when I discovered the undocumented solution to my problem through 30 minutes of trial and error...back when I first registered the 4215 base station, I changed the system from its default factory '0000' setting to my own setting for security reasons as the manual suggested. When you try to register the 4200 base station, it assumes that your default pin number is still being used on the master base station. After I did the manual handset registration and entered my "altered" pin number, the additional handset was recognized immediately! Thanks for documenting that one, Siemens!
My other gripe with the 4200 phone is the low batery life as some other reviewers mentioned. The solution here is simple..ditch those el-cheapo factory batteries that come with the 4200 and get yourself some quality *rechargable* NiMH batteries. I use the Energizer NH15-AA batteries which are rated for 1850mAh. My "stock" batteries (which may differ from yours) are rated for 700mAh. After swaping out the batteries, I have not had a single problem with the batteries dying too soon.
Other than the poor documentation and steep learning curve associated with learning how to use all the docunmented and undocumented features, this is a great extension phone. The small footprint is nice.
I wish the keys were more "responsive" -- they have to be pressed and held slightly to hang up or to delete messages -- or hit multiple times. I wish the message indicator would only flash when there were voice mails - not just missed calls where no voice mail was left.
The 4200 series handset is way too expensive. ... The design could be more ergonomic. This thing is kind of bulky and square -- not something you want to chat on for hours unless you like ear pain.
Despite all my negative comments, this is a solid phone. The range is incredibly good for me. The ring tones are a nice touch as well as the evening volume lowering feature that someone mentioned in another review. I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Here is my breakdown: Minus 1 star for poor documentation. Minus 1 star for all the pesky little things that bug me about the phone (only some of which are mentioned here for space reasons). Maybe these little bugs will be ironed out when they come out with a 5 Ghz model.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Be forewarned!
By A Customer
The Siemens Gigaset 4200, 4210, and 4215 units are powerful telephones, but be FOREWARNED....
Customers residing in the 14-state Qwest (formerly US West) service area may NOT be able to utilize some of the advanced telephone features.
Siemens claims that the 4200-series provides support for "Advanced Caller ID on Call Waiting" (aka "Caller ID 2.5") when the service is obtained from the local telephone company. The Siemens 4215 User's Manual states, "The Gigaset 4215 fully supports this convenient telephone company feature."
Don't believe it!!!!
Siemens provides support for "Caller ID 2.5" and claims it is a "standard".
[Local Company] provides "Call Waiting Deluxe" which requires Type 3 (aka ADSI or Analog Display Service Interface) CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). Type 3 CPE can be programmed (by calling a [local company]-provided 800 number) for use in the [local] service area with the "Call Waiting Deluxe" service. Siemens' Gigaset 4200-series CANNOT be programmed to work with the [local] "Call Waiting Deluxe" service.
How Siemens can sell a brand new telephone boldly claiming support for features that require support from, but are not provided by, one of the major national telephone companies (serving 14 states and millions of consumers) is absolutely beyond me!
Siemens customer support is rather unknowledgeable regarding these matters. They're good at making excuses and claiming that "2.5 is the current standard", but absolutely of no assistance in making this customer happy.
I won't be buying any more of these telephones and can't recommend them to anyone.
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