VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor with up to 1,000 ft of Range, Vibrating Sound-Alert, Talk Back Intercom & Night Light Loop, White/Silver

I wrote a very long and angry review about the loud BEEPING you might see others complain about on here, but I fixed it by using the manual- I had the sound mute feature on without realizing it; I could still hear my baby on the device so it’s not like it was actually muted. However, that feature was on so whenever it picked up noise from her room, it would loudly beep. I turned off that feature, and I’m back to loving this monitor. We already have a camera in her room, so I just wanted something to be able to constantly hear her room during the night, and this does the trick.

I like this monitor, but the connection range does not come close to 1,000ft. End to end, my apartment is about 150 feet and the units don’t connect if I put them the farthest distance from each other. I’d say the range is more like 100 feet.

My wife and I bought this to replace the $10 craigslist monitor we got a couple of months ago. Our biggest complaint about THAT monitor was it was an analog signal and super prone to interference and awful bouts of beeping. We finally sucked it up and purchased this unit a month ago and have been moderately happy. This units signal is crystal clear and the strength is enough to go through all the walls of the house so the wife and I can sit out on the back deck while baby sleeps. The parent units nightlight is Ok, albeit kinda gimmicky. However its simple to setup, just plug it in and turn it on. Good to go. My main gripe is the receiver unit. My complaint is two fold. 1) Battery life on this unit sucks and charge times are ponderously slow. Forgot to plug it in after you went to bed? Enjoy being tethered to the charger the next night. Only charged it for an hour? Enjoy that 1 bar out of 3 of battery life that might get you thirty minutes (what Im doing right now.) The battery life is atrocious, plain and simple. Want to page the receiver unit from the parent unit? Pray that the battery is charged (it wasnt the one time we needed it). 2) Background volume of the monitor. I think this is more me than the monitor as our old monitor could be heard from the other room and more specifically the wave sound machine we have to help baby sleep. I always used that sound as the fail-deadly switch, meaning that if I heard the waves stop it meant either the monitor was dead or that there was an issue in the bedroom. Vigilance is my middle name. The VTech I think filters out alot of background noise as a feature however, its just disconcerting to me. Take it for what it is. In all fairness though, you will definitely hear baby if baby wakes up, the mic is especially tuned to those little wails. So, if you can stomach abysmmal battery life, this monitor is cheap and easy to use. Overall, Id recommend it as long as youre OK with being tethered to a charge cord.

I 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.

This monitor is so good because it alerts you in different ways. From sound, to beeps when the volume is off, vibrate and lights. There is no way that you can miss a sound. Range, sensitivity and clarity are great. You can use it as a Walkie talkie.

Good

I received this product today and have tested it. It seems to be working as advertised. Amazon asked to rate vibration strength and battery life, neither one of which is of any interest to me and I have not tested these features. This item will be used by me exclusively on line current. It works, and I hope it will help me protect my 93-year old mother. But, I wish the receiver could produce enough sound volume to wake me from a sound sleep. Im afraid that is not the case. It will be fine, assuming Im already awake...but, not if Im asleep which was the desire when I bought it.

I love this product. It is so simple and easy to use!

I did a lot of research before buying a monitor, and am glad I purchased this one. There is very very minimal white noise. Both the monitors I had used with previous children had a lot of static and would sometimes keep me awake at night. I have heard white noise once from this monitor. It was during a storm and not loud enough to be bothersome. The part that goes in the childs room has a night light on the top that you can turn on and off from the parent unit. Its a great feature, I do however, wish that the light could be turned on/off using the baby unit. Or that it would go off on its own after a set time. But it is a nice feature. The parent unit has a light system to guage how loud the noise is, I havent really found this useful yet, but I guess its a way to have the volume on low and be able to tell if the baby is crying or just talking. I know my so hums himself to sleep sometimes, so it might help in a situation like that. Another feature I havent found useful with the baby is the two-way talk. That isnt to say I havent used it though. I use it quite frequently to call my other son to me without having to yell across the house. I just havent found a way to use it for the baby. But I still love that it has the capability. All in all, this product does exactly what is it is intended for and does it well. I love it and have recommended it to all my friends having babies and even bought one as a baby shower gift. I also want to note that I live in an 1110 square foot apartment. I have reception from everywhere in the apartment. I dont know if there are any other monitors in the building, but there are other babies and small children, and I have never had any interferance.

UPDATE 6/4/13 - Im keeping the Vtech rating at 4 stars. This is due to battery life. I can get about maybe 6-8 hours out of a charge, which is not very much. Im guessing they really cheaped out on the battery. It does beep to alert you when the battery is running low. As long as you remember to plug it in every evening, its not a problem. Otherwise, its a fabulous unit and has been working excellent for our family. Still the best choice of the 3 I reviewed below. UPDATED 3/28/13 Ive owned the below 3 units over the course of the last 2 years. I recommend the VTech for now (Ive only had it a few weeks, but it is by far the winner in performance AND value). For features, I only listed the features that I felt would be important to the average buyer. Some of the units had other features that I didnt list because I didnt think there were critical in my decision making process. Also, it might be important to note that we live in a 2 story house and we have Wi Fi.