AT&T 240 Trimline Phone with Caller ID (White)

Rating:
Summary: Great Little Phone
Review: Great Little Phone with Caller ID. Other raters who complain about the caller ID probably forgot to put a battery in.

Rating:
Summary: When electricity is not available.
Review: Great phone for the price.It's not meant to be the greatest full featured phone,but it has good sound quality and the Caller ID works on batteries.I have had Caller ID in power failures and it is great in rooms where the phone jack is away from an electrical outlet.

Rating:
Summary: Great Phone
Review: I have recently purchased this phone and have found it
to be perfect for my needs. Sound is great and love that
it has some weight to it..so that it doesn't move around
when the handset cord is slightly moved. I would highly
recommend this phone.

Rating:
Summary: FAILED AFTER 5 MONTHS-AT&T WON'T HONOR THEIR OWN WARRANTY!!
Review: It seemed like a great product until it forgot how to hang up the phone line, which happened after 5 months of occasional use. The (800) number for warranty service provides a message that "Warranty Service for this Model has been Discontinued" and refers you to the AT&T web site. Using "contact us" on the web site resulted in an email suggesting that I call the (800) number. So much for a one-year warranty, and so much for "GENUINE AT&T QUALITY". Next time I'm buying another brand.

Rating:
Summary: Decent, but not as advertised on Amazon.com
Review: Pros: solid construction, good feel, excellent sound quality, works with power out
Cons: keypad isn't backlit, caller ID isn't backlit (contradicts advertising as of 9/19/2004!), if on table then caller ID visible only when looking down at phone
Neutral: caller ID and programmable buttons (3 of them) dependent on 3 AA batteries

I've been on a quest for the perfect corded phone. I wanted something with a cord so that there's at least one working phone in the event of a power outage, and I wanted caller ID since I enjoy knowing who I'm going to be stuck talking to when I pick up the phone. One of my requirements for caller ID is that it have a backlit display so I wouldn't have to turn on the light in the middle of the night if I got a call. I tried the AT&T 210 trimline paired up with the GE 29096 caller ID box, but that didn't work well since the box wasn't backlit and it kept clicking on the line as if it were trying to flash it.

So you can imagine my delight after having read the specs on the AT&T 240 corded phone. According to the information on Amazon.com, it had the trimline profile that I like, a heavier weight to the handset so it doesn't feel flimsy, and a backlit caller ID unit built into the back of the handset. Plus, it was inexpensive. I bought one immediately. When I unboxed it, I was happy with the weight and design of the phone, even though it doesn't have a backlit keypad like the trimline phones of old do, like the AT&T 210 that I was using. A pity, since that's a nice feature and one for which I would have been glad to pay more.

So anyway, I hooked it up and tested it out. The phone had a good feel to it, comfortable to hold as well as cradle between ear and shoulder. The quality of the sound was excellent, both clear and without the tinny sound that can result from the audio compression in cordless phones. I only had one complaint, but it was a major one: the caller ID wasn't backlit. Moreover, there was nothing in the instruction manual indicating that it was supposed to be, either. This was a big gripe since the real feature of this phone for me was the backlit caller ID that Amazon.com advertises.

A possible problem for others considering the 240 as a telephone would be the orientation of the caller ID window. As it's on the top of the handset, you have to be looking down at the phone if you decide to rest it on a table or nightstand, i.e., there is no accessory to clip on the back to give it an angled elevation nor, due to the location and style of the rubber feet, can an impromptu one be constructed. This essentially means that if you rest the phone on a table then the caller ID window is viewable only if you stand up, lean over, or pick up the entire phone along with the base and look at it. Of course, if you don't care who's calling then you can pick up the phone and just take your chances; to me, however, this defeats my main reason for caller ID -- not having to talk to people I don't want to. If you just use it as a phonebook of recent callers, then this isn't a problem. Also, if you wall mount the telephone then this isn't an issue at all. I use this telephone in my bedroom but have it wall-mounted next to the bed so I can see the caller ID just fine...in the light, that is.

So, in conclusion, the AT&T 240 is a corded phone with great sound quality and a good feel to it. I wish that the keypad were backlit and I'm quite unhappy that the caller ID window isn't backlit. This is a good corded phone that, with a longer cord, could be a great wall-mounted kitchen phone. I would not recommend it for a location where the lights may be out or the area could be dimly lit. I am presently using it for a bedroom phone, but if I find another corded phone in a trimline model that has a real backlit caller ID then I will probably switch and move this phone to the kitchen or in a spare drawer for storage.

Rating:
Summary: not what was advertised
Review: Received this phone and it was not a caller id phone, just a regular trimline phone.

Rating:
Summary: Display is hard to read , just average
Review: The caller ID display is hard to read but overall, it's just your average phone: not terrific but not terrible either. And the price is right too.