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Electronics : REPORTER RIFMS2 Wireless Flush-Mount Intercom, Pair |
- GREAT PRODUCT but...We own two homes and put these in our beach house so we didn't have to yell all the time from the third floor to the ground floor; initially a little tricky to get each unit linked to the other but after a little trial and error they were all up and working in short order. We were so impressed with the clarity and simplicity of these we ordered more to have one in each bedroom too. BUT, simplicity, which has it's advantages, can be TOO simple sometime...
...if you forget to switch back to ALL channels after calling a single station, you may be calling the single station when you meant to page all or a different station. Since there are only four, it can work well for four stations but we have 6 in one house and 12 in another home.
...lack of handsfree response, which IS possible since they make a front door unit (we have that too) would be a significant benefit. When calling someone, THEY must come to the intercom and press the button to respond. Most wired intercoms (considerably more expensive and not wireless) offer this feature - since Chamberlain offers a front door unit that allows handsfree, couldn't they incorporate that technology into this unit?
...design, while simple and neutral, could be a bit more modern looking, perhaps LCD for channels, different colors (at least two or three.) The face plates are ok looking for most homes but lack a hi-tech appearance and almost look a little old fashioned or dated in their appearance, depending on your perspective. Picky, I know, but that is how I see it. In our case not enough of an issue to not buy them - the benefits far outweight the cosmetics.
...outside units should, like the front door unit, be allowed to be excluded from the all call feature; we have one on a patio and another in a storage shed and they blast away during the initial ALL CALL until someone answers and locks in the private conversation - very annoying. If they can exclude the front door unit there should be a way to exclude the (Black) outside units.
...batteries - so far, great - we have been using them in both homes now for over a year and a half and I have yet to replace batteries in any unit. Since we use the units in our primary home every day, that's a very good track record - honestly I thought I would have to replace these every few months. One feature that does kind of potentially concern me - when the batteries do go bad, supposedly they give a warning beep - I can hardly wait for that to start at 3AM in our bedroom. I guess that is the price you pay for wireless and battery operation. Considering the quality, a small sacrafice - not sure I'll say that the morning I am awakened by a "chirp!" but we'll have to see - I guess I could just arbitrarily change the batteries every so often but that seems wasteful.
As I mentioned, we have a dozen of these in our primary home - one in almost every room and we do find them invaluable. But the limited channels (4) pretty much require us to us the "ALL CALL" 99% of the time at our primary home and as a result, you have to disturb people in other rooms that you are not calling at all - the good news is that once the other party you are trying to reach answers, it does lock in the two to a private conversation - that is it's saving grace.
So, owning 18 of these, I think it's safe to say we like them - alot - versus having to buy a $4,000 wired intercom (with CD/Radio and many more features - but...) and have an electrician run the wires through multiples walls. That alone would be another grand or two. So yes, these are simple but they do the job and the clarity is excellent - they can be interconnected with Chamerlains gate openers and driveway alert units, so they have much functionality given their size and costs - a great deal. Watch out though, the prices on the Internet and eBay are all over the place - best price we ever found was about $53/ea (usually sold in pairs) - which is a great deal but I've seen these at nearly double that price too.
Honestly, if Chamberlain were smart, they would make an upgraded "PRO" version of these, with some more features (handsfree would be #1 on my list!) and LCD screen (I know, batteries are the issue but given how little juice LCD uses and the already long battery life, why not?) A flush mount or thinner profile front door unit would be nicer than what is currently offered, one that looks more like it was built-in (as the inside units look.)
All in all, a 4 star product but it could be a 5 PLUS star unit with just a little upgrading / re-engineering and design/cosmetic enhancements. In fact they could run Nutone out of business on theirs unless people just have to have CD/radio playback, a nice feature that batteries simply could not handle.
Rating:
- Great UnitFirst pair arrived DOA (minus one star) and took an hour with tech support before everyone gave up, but the next pair came and I set it up in under a minute.
Here's a hint: the instructions tell you to install each one (which usually means separating them), THEN set it up, but to do that, you have to use both units at nearly the same time, and that would take two people. So instead, to do it all yourself, do it in the REVERSE order. With both units sitting in front of you, press and hold the two big buttons (Talk and Channel) on ONE unit for about 3 seconds - until you've heard the second beep (about 3 seconds after you pressed both buttons - they beep when you press them, but wait a few seconds for the second beep), then let go. Then, within ten seconds, do the exact same thing on the other unit - press and hold both buttons for about 3 seconds or so (until you hear the second beep) and then let go.
That's it, you're done.
To test them, just press and briefly hold the talk button with the units next to one another. You'll hear a very loud noise: the two units are creating feedback if they are working.
Now you can install them in the wall or the door of a cabinet, or you can buy a cheap frame or two for each unit and use that as a desk mount.
Rating:
- Excellent ProductI bought this intercom sometime in August 2008. It works perfectly, absolutely no issues, it comes over loud and clear. I have it mounted into the wall. The package comes with 2 intercoms, each intercom takes 4 "C" batteries. You have to press the talk button to speak, then let go of the button. There is no open air, so you are not hearing what is going on in another room unless you press the talk button. Get it? Apparently you can add additional intercoms which is great and something I might do. I gave this product 4 stars out of 5 only because I don't know the issues (if any) there would be if you add the additional intercoms. In short this intercom works GREAT. It is worth every penny.
Rating:
- Great Intercoms With Excellent Range and FidelityI bought a pair of these REPORTER Wireless Flush-Mount Intercoms so as to be able to answer the bell outside our large foyer doors without exposing ourselves to strangers and salespeople. I was really very surprised how clear the sound was - no static, hiss or walkie-talkie shreechiness. Very, very cool!
Before I permanently mounted these, I tried an experiment. We own a very large home and I tested these units from our garage to the furthest bedroom about 120 feet away - and with four intervening walls between the units. They worked beautifully, with no dimunition in sound quality or signal strength.
These units are designed to be recessed mostly into drywall in the interior home. However, if one has some basic word-working skills, simple mitered frames can be made for them and then attached to the wall, thus avoiding a permnanent 4.5" x 6.5" hole in the wall you might later regret. That size hole is not easy to repair, believe me, and framing the units also makes them a lot more portable should you later wish to change the location of the intercom[s]. I also chose this method of mounting to avoid cutting a hole through stucco on the exterior wall. Then I fastened the frame with two long molly bolts. This is a protected entryway, so I am not worried about the exterior mount.
A word of caution: The frames must be at least 1 3/4" deep to accommodate these units. I ripped 2 by 4 douglas fir to size and grooved the inside of the frame (saw blaxe width) to accommodate the four mountig hold-down tabs which hold the unit to the mounting plate. Study how this mounting arrangement works before you make that frame. It has to be exactly 4.5" x 6'5" on its inside dimension, and the groove cut about dead middle on the inside of the frame.
Rating:
- Good productNot as good as a wired-in intercom, but definately worth the money if wireless is your option/choice. We have 4K sq ft house and it works well.
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