After using a phone with a built in answer machine for several years, I recently purchased a separate phone and the 1738 answering system which digitally records up to 40 minutes of calls. I paid $18.00 for this unit; a great price.The human engineering on the 1738 is excellent. For example, to set the day of the week you repeatedly press a button until the correct day of the week is announced. Other set up steps are similar.
I like the remote access with toll saver to retrieve calls when traveling. You can select your own three digit remote access code.
They have a feature on this unit that is a first for me. That is the system can be set up to start the message with the phone number of the caller using Caller ID Announce.
The voice quality of a digital message is always an issue. I believe the voice quality of this machine is quite acceptable, admittedly it is not like Carnegie Hall. Manufacturers have to trade off voice quality against memory cost. In this case, I think AT&T did an excellent job. Messages recorded are clear and the outgoing message sounds like me.
It turns off and on and plays messages with a push of a button; the way I like machines to operate.
Other Features of Interest:
Like all digital memories, you can selectively delete calls.
A light blinks when you have messages and the number of messages is displayed.
If you elect to save messages, it tells you how many minutes of recording time are left.
The system has a half speed feature that allows you to press and hold a key to hear a message at half the normal speed. I think this will be nice when you want to write as you listen to the message. The down side is that when played at half speed, it sounds like a drunk is talking. Unfortunately, this feature cannot be used remotely.
Features I don't use but are available:
There is a feature that can be turned on to intercept calls where the phone number of the caller is purposely being blocked. This can intercept nuisance or threatening calls. With this feature on, it will play the message "We're sorry blocked calls to this number cannot be accepted"; then the system hangs up without recording a message. I tested this feature and blocked calls are stopped. It allows unidentified calls to go through (examples: calls from overseas and calls where people use calling cards).
It has a call screening feature.
A couple days ago I went out to buy a new answering machine. I bought two, one made by AT&T and one made by GE. I just now hooked up the ATAT 1738 Digital Answering System. The setup was pretty straight forward. Did not have to refer to manual.
After setting it up, I was eager to test the Caller ID Announce Function as well as the sound quality. I called from my cell phone and this machine clearly announced the entire phone number of my cell. Was happy to hear that as sometimes you just don't want to be bothered and have to get up to check your caller ID to decide if you feel like talking to that person or not.
Anyway, after hearing the machine announce my cell phone number, it then told me from my cell phone to leave a message. I left about a 30 second test message. I then hung up on my cell.
I then went to listen to my test machine. I could not believe what I was hearing. I literally could not understand one word that I left as a test on this answering machine. Also, there is a LOT of background air noise.
Frustrated, I called from my cell phone again and left about a one minute message and made certain that I pronounced my words very clearly. Went to the machine to listen again and sure enough, I could not make out what I had just left on this horrible machine.
Bottom line is that the features this machine offers are great, BUT THE SOUND QUALITY MAKES THE MACHINE COMPLETELY USELESS AND THAT IS NO EXAGGERATION. AT&T USED TO MAKE EXCELLENT PRODUCTS. I ONCE HAD AN AT&T CORDLESS PHONE THAT MY MOTHER BOUGHT ME ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO AND IT LASTED FOR 13 YEARS, AND YES, THE PHOONE HAD BEEN THROWN A TIME OR TWO.
I DID SOME RESEARCH ON A WEBSITE ABOUT 30 MINUTES AGO AND FOUND OUT THAT VTECH I BELIEVE, OR SOME OTHER TELEPHONE MANUFACTURER BOUGHT OUT AT&T A FEW YEARS BACK. I AM PRETTY SURE THE SITE SAID VTECH. THAT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY THEIR PRODUCTS ARE NO LONGER GOOD.
DO NOT BUY THIS ANSWERING MACHINE. IF YOU DO DECIDE TO GET IT ANYWAY, TAKE MY ADVICE AND PURCHASE IT SOMEWHERE LOCALLY AND NOT OFF OF THE INTERNET, AS YOU WILL INCUR S&H CHARGES. I RARELY WRITE REVIEWS ON ANYTHING AS I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO WASTE. I WROTE THIS REVIEW ONLY BECAUSE I WAS SHOCKED AT HOW BADLY AN AT&T PRODUCT WAS IN REGARDS TO SOUND QUALITY. TIME TO REPACK THE AT&T UNIT AND TEST OUT THE GE UNIT. I DISLIKE GE PRODUCTS FOR THE MOST PART, BUT HOPEFULLY IT WILL SOUND BETTER. HATE THE FACT THAT I PROBABLY WONT BE ABLE TO FIND AN ANSWERING MACHINE THAT HAS THE CALLER ID ANNOUNCE. IF ONLY THE SOUND QUALITY WAS EVEN SOMEWHAT OKAY ON THE AT&T MODEL. OH WELL!!!
Buy AT&T 1738 40-Minute Digital Answering System with Time/Day Stamp Now
I fully agree with Jack Berry's detailed review. Here's a quick supplement to what was not focused on.I choose the 1738 not because it was AT&T but because after so many years, nearly all AMs, regardless of brand, had the same features; they differ mostly in recording time and a need for battery backup. Sound quality has risen to be equal to low quality cassette tape no matter what AM I auditioned in people's homes. Should I need to archive a phone message, I could easily digitize it by recording playback on my iPod clone.
In 2006, the 1738 is one of the cheapest AMs for price with a 40 min recording time. RAM and flash memory prices are very cheap, so all digital machines reflect this low cost. However, I was skeptical by the mixed reviews posted by many readers given my experience with no-name brand AM. If AMs were all the same, how can AT&T be worse, and for $17, it was low risk test given it cost as much as a list-price music CD.
Maybe AT&T has improved this model to correct negative reviews or there is a large variation in production quality for this model. I was quite surprised; the 1738 is a superb AM. The recorded in and outgoing message was as good as a tape machine. There is a catch: the microphone of the unit is poor quality, and one can make high quality outgoing messages by calling your home, say from a cell phone, and recording your outgoing message using the remote feature; or use the `default' machine generated message. You can use the built in mic, say for the 1738's memo feature, but with far less quality. Despite no battery backup, messages are retained when the unit is unplugged.
What I love about digital machines is the capacity to delete messages mid-playback, delete the middle of queued messages while saving other messages, fast and slow play without the `chipmunk' effect, and voice-mail quick response to remote control features. The 1738 #5 button on the remote is a HELP, and will read out what all the control buttons do, so you needn't carry a reminder card to operate the remote. I only wish AT&T followed the voice-mail control keys of popular systems like Verizon or Meridian, rather than invent their own.
In my engineering experience there are 2 common pitfalls in digital AM that are easily fixed and maybe construed as a product defect: memory fragmentation causing poor recording and failure to use a DSL line filter. I had these minor problems when I used my PC as an answering machine for a brief period. When memory fragments due to a glitch, either power down the machine or erase all the messages to realign memory. Alas, if the memory is truly defective and no allowance was made in the design to bypass faulty memory [such as in most flash or SD memory cards] the problem could be permanent. The DSL carrier signal on a landline is near the supersonic, but it will give very bad results if recorded on phone lines, especially with digital methods. Nearly all DSL providers give line filters which work well, use them on all phone lines.
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it got a lot of features with godd quality. very Clear Voice/ Great sound. I mean it is so darn easy to set up.even I could do it. when you press a botton it prompts and directs you on how to manipulate a feature.the instructional manual is a plus! Remote access & prompts date,time,yr ,phone number. this one is a keeper.Want AT&T 1738 40-Minute Digital Answering System with Time/Day Stamp Discount?
Overall the AT&T 1738 answering machine has good functional qualities. However, the prompt voice is a little insulting in that it talks to you like you have never touched a piece of electronics in your life and will never understand the technology.As for the voice quality, I was going to replace my 15+ year old Code-A-Phone tape-based machine with my new AT&T machine until I heard the announce voice quality from the new device. It sounded as if you were trying to talk through a pillow! Needless to say, my old Code-A-Phone machine will be seeing a lot more service until I can find a solid-state machine with voice quality worthy of my use.
For some reason, the transition from the earlier Lucent machines (I also have a Lucent A560 with excellent voice quality) to the more recent AT&T machines has caused a degadation in the voice quality. It probably has something to do with profits.
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