VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor with up to 1,000 ft of Range, Vibrating Sound-Alert, Talk Back Intercom & Night Light Loop, White/Silver
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Johnny Rexrode
> 24 hourI dont need to be in the area to here what happening. I use the monitor as a security device in my garage, its about 300 feet away.
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AverageJO
> 24 hourI ordered this because I wanted a baby monitor. I didnt want anything wifi enabled (because my cable company isnt the best and weve been known to just lose internet service in the middle of the night). I wanted something slightly better than the baby monitors they had when I was growing up and I had a baby brother sleeping down the hall (I.e. No cordless phone interference). These days companies seem to have worked out that whole everything wireless is on the same frequency debacle so I figured this should be no sweat. This unit set up quickly and is pretty darn sensitive. When my daughter sucks her thumb, it gets picked up on the monitor. I was nearly scared off of this item by some of the negative reviews. Once I established that it worked, I decided to run a few experiments with the sensitivity using the bathroom fan. In a quiet room, the thing is awesome. When you turn down the sensitivity to accommodate say, a white noise machine/air purifier/fan/air conditioner, it begins to show some weakness. Why? Because the sensitivity is based upon volume. If the baby crying doesnt exceed the new threshold youve set, the monitor wont pick up the sound. If the room is heavy on white noise, then you have two choices: a constant flow of white noise on the monitors parent unit or turn down the sensitivity so that only the louder cries will be heard. This isnt a limitation on the unit. It isnt able to distinguish between air conditioner and baby noises. It picks up sound over a certain decibel level. That isnt a flaw. Thats that slight improvement over the units from 20 years ago I was hoping for. If you are running lots of white noise in the room, you may need to switch to video monitors. Or you may just have to deal with the monitor blasting white noise into your room in hopes of picking up every whine and whimper. But if thats your situation, it isnt really the monitors fault for not adapting to your environment (it would be like hanging up a flat screen TV crooked and then writing a negative review for the TV saying the picture is slanted). Its a good monitor. Clear sound and very responsive to baby noises. It may not completely change the way you parent, but they never made that claim.
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Jan B.
> 24 hourI needed to be able to hear my mom from her room, which is on the other side of the house, if she needed help. Had a different monitor previously, but it had a lot of static. This V-Tech works so well. It has 5 volume settings and I able to hear her movement sounds so I know she’s up and about. She feels more relaxed and confident that I can hear her in the middle of the night now. We also like the talk feature on the base unit, because I can let her know I hear her and am on my way to assist her.
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Diana Abarca
> 24 hourLoved these baby monitors Work great
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Vicki
> 24 hourI have two of these in jack and jill rooms (rooms side by side with bathroom in between) and they do not interfere with each other. I have not used the nightlight feature so I cant comment on that. The units are quiet (no static) but they pick up every little sound the kids make, I can hear my baby moving around in her crib and breathing. The range is ok, after about 150 yards outside it starts to beep to let you know it is getting out of range but I can still hear my daughter at that range you just also hear an annoying beeping as well. The two way communication is really nice especially for my older child. The parent side has a backup battery which is nice and it beeps when it is getting low. The child side does not have a backup battery which I dont like. However, if for some reason it gets unplugged or power goes out you will know right away because the unit will become unlinked immediately and start to beep. I have had these unlink for some unknown reason a couple of times in the middle of the night but if you turn them off and then back on they will usually link again just fine. Bottom line I would recommend these just know that baby unit does not have backup battery. I think they are nice and quiet and pick up babys sounds great and the two way communication is extra nice. These have been dropped numerous times (on pavement), played with by the kids, and generally treated pretty rough but continue to work fine and look fine. When I first bought it I had the parent unit hooked on my jeans and forgot about it and went down slide with my older child and clip broke off. I gorilla glued it back and it has worked like new since.
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Dr. Jessy Graham IV
> 24 hourThis is the perfect monitor that I needed for my Mom. She lives with me now, and I am her care giver. A monitor with a camera would be out of the question. She is 85 yrs old, and has fallen 4 times since living with me. The last time she fell she was screaming for help a couple of hours before I heard her. I bought her a Ive fallen and cant get up device, but she takes it off at night. We also use walkie talkies during the day, but if it is out of reach when she falls, that dont work. One time when she fell, my Hero Dog came and got me right away, but the dog prefers to be outside most of the time, so I cant count on that. Ive never used it while unplugged, so I cant say how good it is on battery power. I really like the push to talk button on my end, my Mom can talk to me without the need to push a button, and I can hear whats going on in her room at night. The sound quality is not superb, but it is loud enough to wake me if she has a problem. One reviewer said he uses this device to monitor his goats, so we call it the goat monitor.
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Carmen Gomez
> 24 hourMe gustó pero la mayor razón por lo que lo pedí fue porque creí que podía usarlos sin que estuvieran conectados al cable. El monitor del bebe a fuerza debe estar conectado.
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Jamison
> 24 hourMy mom had cancer surgery and was in bed for several days. I stayed over at my folks house to help with her recovery. I decided to purchase these as the unit for the baby is wireless, which means she could keep it next to her in bed instead of the nightstand, which she could not reach due to surgery pain. It also has a nice nighlight on the baby unit made her feel comfortable after waking up in the middle of the night, a bit disoriented. The unit allowed us to keep her bedroom door closed so that she would not be woken and could rest and recover. If she needed anything, she would just have to speak and we could hear her over the parent unit.
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Maggie
> 24 hourWorks well once you figure out the settings that you like. Could be a little sturdier. I feel like one drop and this could break easily and be inoperable. Also wish it was battery operated instead of rechargeable. I have too many corded baby items that need regular charging!!!
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RMW
> 24 hourThis is not just for babies. I care for an elderly loved one with dementia. This gives me the ability to move about the house or be in another room for a few minutes without concern for her falling or wandering off. The sound is very clear even on a different floor of our home. I can hear rustling in a bed, movement in a room, or agitating noises and I can speak with her through the parent unit. She can understand me very well through her unit and responds which is often all that is required to offer reassurance. At night with volumes turned up, I am actually able to get some real sleep knowing any disturbance will wake me. Sleep matters: I am less anxious and less keyed up allowing me to be a more loving caregiver the following day. It is hard to articulate how important saving tiny bits of energy can be throughout the day, but this product has been immensely helpful to me. Set up was simple. Im always concerned about these things, and it was a relief to not have to stress about it or have to find help. I cannot say enough about this product. Great VTech sound, affordable, simple set up, and a caregivers little helper. Grateful.