 Wonderful static/interference free baby monitor. Good for people in apartments/city/etc. |
| Review Date: November 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Francis E. Reyes, Denver, Colorado USA |
I was hesitant to get a monitor at this price ($90-100) considering there are other baby monitors out there available for much less. However, I'm glad to say it was well worth the investment.
Pros:
- No Interference from other devices
The largest concern for me was interference free performance as I live in a condo/apartment complex and there are at least 12 other 2.4ghz wireless routers that I can see from my computer. Who knows how many other 900mhz telephones/ 2.4 ghz cordless phones there are. We also are able to use cell phones around this baby monitor without interference as well.
- Safety in the event of a power outage / batteries.
The monitor also has battery backup for both the parent and the child unit (with the child unit being rechargeable and the parent unit non rechargeable). Both units can plug into the wall. I accidentally turned off the child unit the other evening and as a safety feature the parent unit started beeping (in case the parent unit for some reason fails / loses power). Unfortunately there are no precautions when the parent unit fails/runs out of battery. It simply shuts off. However, the rechargeable battery in the parent unit (at least while it is still new) can last for multiple evenings on a sensitivity level of about 1/2. However, we are fortunate to have an power outlet next to our bed so the parent unit can be plugged in and the batteries used only if the power goes out. The disadvantage though is this will likely dramatically decrease the life of the rechargeable battery.
- Distances/coverages
I live in a 1100 sq ft condo with the parent and child's room located about 50 feet away on the same level. The walls that separate us are simple drywall. No interference or sound quality issues.
-Crystal clear sound / very good detection of crying.
The parent unit will only alert if the noise level of the room is above a background noise level (set by the 'sensitivity' setting on the parent unit). What this means is that the baby mobile can be running and this will not alert the parent unit. However, when our child begins crying (while the baby mobile is running) the parent unit will alert. At very high sensitivity levels one can hear the baby breathing (with the child unit about 1-2 ft from the child, we set ours on the 'ledge' of his crib).
- Sound level lights on parent unit allow you to observe sound levels in the baby room without actually hearing it.
The *very* bright blue lights on the parent unit act as a sound level monitor in the room. Therefore, you can tell whether the baby is just fussing or epically crying based on this level. This may be useful if you want to turn off the speaker but still want to know what the sound level in the room is (my spouse and I put the parent unit on the coffee table directly in front of us while watching a movie and have the speaker turned off, the brightness of the sound level lights are enough to distract us from the movie and attend to baby).
-Two way radio chat between the parent unit and the baby unit.
Extremely useful! At first thought this was for talking to the baby. Sometimes (particularly in the evenings), baby will be soothed by just changing the diaper/holding/etc. However, if this isn't the case it is easy to radio to your spouse (likely trying to get some sleep) that he/she is really needed (for breast feeding for example).
Cons:
- the lights are extremely bright on the parent unit
While I don't mind the blue sound level lights being bright (they only come on when the child unit is picking up crying, etc), the constantly on LED lights for the battery and power-on for the baby unit are really bright. |
Not Just for Monitoring Babies
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| Review Date: April 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Phyllis Staff, Dallas, Texas USA |
As the caregiver for an elder who's recovering from stroke, I need to monitor her condition constantly -- a difficult task when you're also taking care of additional household responsibilities. When I found this monitor offered DECT technology, I jumped on it because I've been very pleased with the quality of sound from my DECT wireless phones.
This wireless monitor is just as good as my phones. I keep the parent monitor with me at all times, and I'm able to hear the smallest sounds from my elder's room. Add to this that I'm able to talk to her even though I'm somewhere else in house or yard -- just what I needed!
Setup was quick and easy. I charged the parent monitor overnight, installed lithium batteries in the baby monitor, and I was ready to go. The two monitors linked up immediately.
This monitor solves my problem and gives me peace of mind. Excellent product, Philips!
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Great 2 way monitor
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| Review Date: January 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A. Ryan, San Francisco, CA |
| This is a great monitor. We had to move our bedroom far from the kids' room and I was worried about being able to hear them, with this monitor I can hear the kids crystal clear (no static) and I can talk to my kids from the parent base. I am 100% satisfied. |
absolutely brilliant
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| Review Date: November 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Gary R. Richfield, |
| Works exactly as advertised. Gives you crystal clear sound. Needs no battteries to work if you don't move around. And gives you a light indicator of the level of sound in the room. It is absolutely perfect. |
Static and interference-free baby monitor
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| Review Date: March 22, 2010 |
| Reviewer: S. Drew, Jackson, MN USA |
We purchased this baby monitor after the birth of our son, whom we needed to monitor in his crib while we're elsewhere in the house. We've now owned the monitor for a few months, and here's what I've observed:
The monitor is crystal-clear in its reception; none of the constant static of other monitors. The monitor does not transmit unless a sound is made, which triggers the monitor to turn on and begin transmitting. We'll usually hear our son mid-cry on the first cry. The monitor is capable of filtering white noise: we have a noise machine between the monitor and the baby, and the monitor picks up the baby's sounds but not the white noise.
The parent unit is very portable. It's roughly the size of a deck of cards. I clip it to my pants and carry it around the house--main floor and basement are no problem with baby's room upstairs. I've even taken it outside briefly while baby was napping, and the green light that indicates I'm within range of the base remains lit. Battery life seems quite long: we can use it for several days during nap times and through the night without recharging it.
The features on the parent unit are as follows: In addition to the speaker that transmits from the base unit, there are five very bright blue lights that light up when the unit is transmitting. The number of lights lit correlates wtih the noise level. The lights are bright enough to wake us at night when the monitor is next to our bed and baby is in another room--especially helpful because we wear earplugs, and the lights usually wake us just before the sound does. For this reason, I'd recommend the monitor to deaf or hard-of-hearing parents.
The parent unit has volume control (to adjust what comes out of the speaker), a sensitivity button to adjust the level of noise picked up and transmitted by the base, and a talk button, which allows a parent to speak reassuringly to baby from anywhere within range. At any time I want to hear what's going on in the nursery and the unit is silent, I press the sensitivity button, and the unit transmits for a few seconds. The talk button transmits just as clearly to the base.
When the parent unit needs charging, the battery indicator light blinks and makes a soft beeping sound for 30 mins. before the unit shuts off. The unit has a rechargeable battery pack, so we just plug it in and wait for it to finish charging. It usually takes several hours to charge and is fully usable while plugged in.
The base also has volume control, a page button for locating the parent unit (only when the parent unit is turned on), and a soft orange night light--useful for peeking in the crib without disturbing baby. The unit is always plugged in but can also run on non-rechargeable batteries.
The DECT technology causes the monitor to scan constantly for a free channel, so there is no interference from other devices. We have 5.8GHz cordless phones, wireless internet, and a microwave regularly in use with no interference. There's a home daycare a few houses away and we've never had problems with competing monitors on the same channel. |
Great Product!
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| Review Date: May 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Kimberly R. Shaw, USA |
| This is a fantastic monitor! We can hear her breathing from the other room with it. There is no static and no noise interfering. I love the portable receiver with belt clip. I can go outside to water the dogs or cook dinner without worrying about if I can hear the baby or carrying the monitor. |
Best Available
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| Review Date: January 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Spirit, KY |
| There isn't a better baby monitor being sold. It is a great improvement over the previous model and 1/2 the price. No Interference at all and plenty of Volume. |
Great Baby monitor
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| Review Date: April 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Gloria S. Beacco, New York, NY |
I'm really happy with this monitor!! After suffering for 5 months with a VERY noisy/static safety first monitor and asking in many stores which was "less" noisy and they would tell me "NO ONE is really quite". The Philips Avent IS!! very quite, small and picks up baby's "noises" very quick...
I would recommend this to everybody... specially if you have a place full of electronics that can make interference.it is a little pricey, but it works
Absolutely love it!!!! |
Awesome!
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| Review Date: December 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: L. Luttrell, Columbus, GA USA |
| I did A LOT of research online, and just looking at boxes inside the stores, trying to find the right monitor for us. I am a first time mother who wanted something that would work the first time and not dissapoint. On other websites, this monitor had more good than bad reviews, and the only "bad" part that moms were complaining about was the volume being too low. I live in a decent size apartment, and have had no problems with the sound being too low. It even picked up a balloon hitting the wall, and I heard it just fine over the monitor. Amazon had the best price! But basically, this monitor is the one you want. If your looking for no interference, reliability, and something easy to use (I am NOT in ANY WAY technologically savy, and I figured this out!) this is the monitor for you! |
Works great. Better than expected
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| Review Date: September 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Eyal Zohar, Israel |
We're using it on a daily basis. Whenever the baby goes to sleep in the middle of the day, and we need to provide him a quiet environment, we close the door in his room and turn on this amazing device.
We can then stay on another floor and listen to his breath.
Works much better than my "extra super range" Panasonic cordless phone.
For clear sounds you should use batteries only, so purchase also at least 4 AA rechargable batteries, as the main unit lacks it. |
AWESOME Monitor!
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| Review Date: March 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Charlene Taylor, |
I would like to address the volume issue first and foremost to put your concerns at ease. After seeing the mixed reviews regarding the volume I was very uneasy about spending this much on a monitor...but after being woken repeatedly by our five year old, formerly top of the line (and still rated #4 by [...]) Sony NTM-910DUAL Babycall Nursery Monitor w/Two Receivers beeping and tapping and popping...I just couldn't stand it anymore!
I purchased the Avent monitor and set it up, setting the sensitivity and volume both to 5 (max) to ensure a constant connection and waited to test it out on my kids. This monitor was for my 3 and 4 year old kids' room, which is on the opposite end of the house from our room where we'd never hear them! We've had issues with them keeping each other up talking and playing so it was VERY nice to have the feature of talking to them through the monitor and telling them they needed to settle down and go to sleep!
The volume, although it is lower than I'd like, is perfectly fine. If your child is calling out or crying you WILL hear them. My complaint is that when my two are whispering I have to mute the TV and put the monitor to my ear to be sure who is whispering...and that is with the monitor placed in the small bathroom off of their bedroom (we wanted to be sure we could hear someone calling for a wipe in the middle of the night, and that they would not have to call out loudly waking the others). The monitor is about 10-15 ft from my kids' beds and facing away from them...and my complaint is that I have to mute the TV to hear who is whispering. Please let that assure you that this monitor, though it is quiet, WILL do the job and you WILL hear your child.
The second most important factor to us was reception. We were SO sick of the beeping and popping of our old Sony. My 4 year old told me it sounded like the penguins dancing from Happy Feet...and it DID. This monitor has flawless reception and no interference. There is no beeping, no crackling, no popping, no anything except the sound in your kids' room! How awesome is that???
The icing on the cake is being able to talk to the kids and tell them they need to stop talking and go to sleep. This has almost eliminated our issues at bedtime since we no longer procrastinate on going down to their room to fuss at them. They know we can hear them and we tell them immediately. Also, when it's time to wake them up you can call them on the monitor and wake them up. Very nice feature though I'm not sure how necessary it would be in a nursery...
Don't hesitate, the volume is fine on this monitor (though a couple of extra settings WOULD be nice). And though the price is high, it's worth it for a decent monitor that does what it's supposed to do rather than waking you up night after night! |
Finally got a monitor that works well!
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| Review Date: September 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Emily from Minneapolis, |
I bought this monitor after spending a weekend with several other families who brought their monitors for a weekend at the cabin. Somehow their monitors were able to keep battery power and maintain a signal at a pretty good distance, while mine was a total dud. One of the monitors they had was a Philips Avent, so I got home and purchased this one. I am VERY pleased. I have never lost battery power, there is no feedback whatsoever and I'm pretty sure I could walk around the block (although I haven't tried) with this thing and still keep the signal.
My first monitor was a CR recommended Graco monitor. In short, it stunk. It worked just fine in our very small (1200 sq ft) house, but there was always a lot of feedback/white noise coming out of it. That didn't really bother me because I could hear our baby if he fussed. After a couple of months I noticed that the battery would lose power in a very short amount of time (5-10 minutes, even after charging for many, many hours). I tried to take it into the backyard so I could do some weeding while my son napped and the monitor lost it's signal before I made it out the door (and I was not far from the nursery part of the monitor). The old monitor came with two receivers, so I miss that a bit, but the battery life on this one is so good that I just unplug this one and carry it with me wherever I go - so no real need for two. Don't go with the cheapy monitor if you actually plan to use it! This one is great! I've heard other Philips Avent are really good too, as well as some of the Fisher Price ones. |
Not Just For Infants
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| Review Date: December 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Sharon Butz, PA |
| I have a 71 year old mother who lives in our back house. I needed to be able to hear her if she needs help and have used just about any baby monitor you can buy with very little success. They had way to much static. I stumbled across this one with the walkie feature, which was a big plus, I decided to try it. I am amazed at the sound quality and her ability to here me when I use the walkie feature. It is so clear that I can tell what she is doing without running over to check on her every hour or two. I would highly recommend this to anyone that is in the same situation that I am. |
In a different league
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| Review Date: February 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: C. Corwin, |
I have been through FIVE different monitors. I live in a four story townhouse and have had serious problems with static, feedback and interference with other monitors (and I've tried several types). I also use a white noise machine in my son's room every night, so there is constantly noise in the room.
This monitor is nearly twice the cost of any monitor I have bought in the past, so I was concerned that I was paying for something that wasn't going to deliver. Well, this monitor DOES deliver.
First, once I set the sensitivity up to the max and the volume on the parent unit up, I have no problem with hearing my baby make noise. For example, he was just babbling this morning (not crying) and I heard everything crystal clear. However, I am a "mom" sleeper - I usually wake up when I hear kid-related noises but manage to sleep through thunderstorms and such just fine. So, if you are a really deep sleeper, you may need to have it right next to your head for it to wake you from a dead sleep.
Second, the unit is "smart" enough that the sound from the white noise machine is barely audible and it doesn't trigger the lights on the unit (this is a major improvement over my last monitor).
Unlike others, I have had no problem with the unit picking up the baby noises and then cutting off. I hear everything.
I LOVE that you can turn the units on and off without messing with the volume settings. I usually use it plugged in, except for the few hours he naps or the few hours between the time he goes to bed and my husband and I go to bed, so I haven't had problems with the battery either.
Most importantly, for me at least, there is NO interference or any other noise. Just quiet! LOVE THAT! Apparently, DECT operates at 1.9Ghz, instead of the 2.4Ghz or 900Mhz that other devices typically use. So, there is no opportunity for overlap.
I definitely recommend it 100%. |
Worth the price
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| Review Date: September 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Adam L. Schwartz, |
| We had the Sony monitor for a while. It was pretty good but the range was poor and it would randomly emit a popping sound at night that woke us up. We tried changing the frequencies but that didn't help. After reading tons of reviews we decided to try this Philips product. Some of the negative reviews concerned me. Plus I had an additional reservation: our home phone system is a DECT cordless system. So I wasn't sure if there'd be interference from that. Well, the product works great. The range is fantastic, there is almost no background noise, the baby monitor has a very sensitive microphone (our is about 12 feet from the baby's crib), there is no interference, the parent unit is small and lightweight, and there is plenty of volume. I'm very happy with this product. |
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