Cordless Goes Chic

By Anita Hamilton

Bragging about your fancy new cell phone is a fleeting pleasure; after all, today's coolest models tend to be next month's paperweights. By contrast, the half-life of a cordless phone for the home is measured in years. So if you really want to be ahead of the tech curve, forget the cell-phone wars and check out the new 5.8-GHz cordless phones.

Named after the frequency of the radio wave (measured in billions of cycles per second) that carries the signal between the handset and the base station, 5.8-GHz phones promise more clarity because there are fewer devices that operate on the same frequency and thus fewer to cause interference. If you have a cordless phone that is a couple of years old or even a new one that costs less than $50, chances are it is a 900-MHz model that is highly susceptible to static or buzzing from baby monitors, wireless speaker systems and your neighbors' 900-MHz phones. The newer 2.4-GHz units, introduced as an improvement over the 900-MHz models, do get less static, but wireless home networks and microwave ovens can still trigger a snap-crackle-pop effect. Not so the 5.8 MHz.

So far, only a few companies sell the new models, and they don't come cheap. Uniden's TRU5865 costs $149, while the Vtech 5831 is $179. I preferred the Uniden because it was static free both inside my apartment and up to a block away. Its compact design hides the antenna inside the handset, and the glowing orange keys and display look sharp. The VTech got equally clear reception indoors, but I could stray only a few buildings down the block before buzzing set in.

But is it really worth an extra $100 (or more) to step up to 5.8 GHz? Maybe. When I tried out the Panasonic KX-TC1481B, a $39 900-MHz model, I could hear other conversations and even music coming through the phone. I got much clearer reception with the Motorola MA351, a $60 2.4-GHz model--except when I turned on my microwave oven and was assaulted by weird vibrating noises coming through the handset. Still, the Motorola is a decent option at a fair price.

No matter which kind of phone you're considering, a few other factors are worth keeping in mind. First, ask about battery life. While I liked the reception best on the Uniden, for example, it can go only four hours between charges vs. eight on the Vtech. Next, find out if the phone is analog or digital. Both 5.8-MHz phones are digital, but that's not always the case with the models that use other frequencies, and this makes them an easier target for eavesdroppers. The best digitals use digital spread-spectrum (DDS) technology, which sends the signal down a broad range of frequencies to ensure that it gets through.

Finally, shop at a store that offers a money-back guarantee. That way you can torture test the phone for a few days. Then, once you're certain everything's O.K., go ahead and start bragging about it to all your friends.

You can send e-mail to Anita at hamilton@time.com