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

I read a lot of Amazon reviews for other baby monitors before deciding to give this one a try. I am happy that I did. Sensitivity This is an "open mic" design, not a "voice activated" design. I prefer open mic, and have always had issues with voice activated products. This unit is impressive, picking up a surprising amount of sounds. It picks up blue jays when they are drinking from our patio bird bath. It picks up the sound of the breast pump. During a storm, it picked up the wind blowing outside the windows. The sensitivity is adjustable - 5 settings. Range I haven't thoroughly tested this (haven't gone outdoors with the receiver). We live in a 3 level townhome, and have had no range issues at all. Notifications Beep and vibration notifications that are tuned perfectly. A light sound will not trigger them, and constant crying will not cause them to go off like crazy. Instead, when baby makes enough noise for a few seconds, the audio and vibrate will sound off once, then will wait for a bit to sound off again. Appropriate use of the technology, and nicely implemented. Two-way communications We use this feature all the time. My wife will be upstairs with the baby, trying to get the baby to sleep, and she will need something. She says what she needs out loud in a normal talking voice, which I hear clearly on one of the handsets. I use the push-to-talk on the handset to talk back to her, confirming that I'll bring her whatever she needs. In a 3 story townhouse, this has made our lives much easier; no shouting up/down the stairs, and no need to change floors to communicate clearly. I have a feeling we will continue to use this system even after baby has grown, due to the convenience. We keep one receiver on the first floor, another on the second, and the send unit on the third floor. It's easy to forget the listener is on, so be warned! We have had entire conversations with company over, thinking we were having a private conversation, when it was actually being broadcast throughout the house. Secure communications Uses digital communications with frequency hopping. This is great, because someone with a radio cannot listen in on our conversations. Sound quality and interference Zero interference, and the sound quality is crisp and clear without any noise. Friends with kids comment on how clean and clear the sound is. Overall, we are extremely happy with this product. Thankfully, we haven't had any issues with it (knock on wood), though I have seen in these reviews that others have. We would highly recommend, and we would buy another one. At this time, we have had this unit for 2 and 1/2 months. ***** 6-month Update: We have had this for 6 months now with zero significant issues. I read about the "unlinked" beep prior to purchase. I have experienced this with this product. It is easy to fix - reboot the receiver. Unplug it from the wall socket and remove the battery, count to 10, then reconnect it all. It's a digital device, which means it's a tiny little computer. Every now and then, it needs a power cycle. This is the best monitor out there, in my opinion. Simple, and it works perfectly. The only gremlin (reboot) is easy to live with. I am extremely happy with this product. Highly recommended.

I bought this because I have sleep apnea and have yet to take the test to get the machine to make me breathe. Until I got this, my poor daughter was "sleeping" on a cot beside my bed listening for the alarm on my pulse oximeter to go off so she could wake me. Now, she sleeps in her own space, and I sleep in mine. We both love it. We've never lost connection, and we can hear each other very clearly. It's one of my best investments in a long time.

Update: July 25th, 2014: I left a comment on my review and updated this on July 7th and waited to see if VTech would see and respond to my comment or my update. I assumed that they were busy and I am sure overloaded with emails to find my comment/update. So I called them today and the lady I talked to was very helpful, since I had previously called and had issues they had my number on file and swiftly took care of my issues. They are going to send me another replacement set for the one that stopped working properly. I also asked that she note on my file that when they receive my unit back that is defective if there is something I did wrong, or that I could do to keep this from happening to have them give me a call. I am going to also try a couple of things I discussed with her to see if I can make them work and if I find a solution that works for me I will be more than happy to update this review with some step by step instructions that may be helpful to others as well. Update: July 7th, 2014: Well we decided to move into a new home and the set that I was sent from VTech are actually still in the box because I bought another set. Well the other set I purchased when I unplugged them and moved them will not communicate with each other rendering them useless and in the same state as my others were that caused this review in the first place. I may have to resort to opening the replacement set VTech sent me and throw these away or put them in a box to never be seen again. I love them but not if they won't sync back up after unplugging them. Update: January 4th, 2014: After Vtech Support left a comment on this review, I called this per their request and within 10 minutes of being on the phone with them they are sending me a new system with expedited freight. So I should get them early next week, and once I get them I can pack up my current "bad" set and send it back to them. Didn't cost me anything other than the phone call. Talk about good support! Before I got their comment and talked to them I went ahead and purchased a second set because out of all of the ones I have had, reviewed and otherwise had friends complain about they are still top notch. Their quality has been great, their range has been great it was just the issue of it not wanting to link anymore. Hopefully I don't have that issue again in the future. We have been dealing with an Angelcare Sound Monitor system in between getting the new Vtech set, mainly because I bought it with the motion board setup and never used it. The Sound Monitor worked out of the box but has some major interference issues with the parent monitor. It is odd too cause I cannot identify what is causing it to have a loud audible hum.. but doesn't matter now since I have a set of Vtech's and another on the way. not going to return my second set, will just use it for travel or will take to my parents and set it up for when we visit. If your unit stops working, read the comments left by Vtech that have their 800# and call them, tell them your situation and see how well they can help you. If you are looking for a system that can be used within a house with multiple levels, our babies room will be on the upper floor and the monitor works in the basement, out by the pool and etc... the pool is stretching it but it does work. They seem very durable and the belt clip seemed pretty sturdy as well if you clip it on your pants or belt. I have banged it a few times and it never fell off. So over all I can't complain about the system especially after they have jumped in and are replacing our faulty set. -------------- my old review below: THIS IS OUTDATED IS UNTRUE AS OF JANUARY 4th, 2014. Well I purchased these on December 18, 2012 and yesterday we powered them off to take to my parents house so that we could use them there. Come to our surprise that no matter what we did we couldn't get them linked back up. I thought it may be because I only brought one of the parent unit's with me instead of both and that the one I didn't bring was like a main unit... nope. So I am sitting here, barely got a year usage out of them (considering I bought them in December and the boys were not born till March) and now the transmitter communication in the baby monitor unit has gone out.... seriously? I cannot say I would recommend them, but if you get them because of the large amount of reviews it has then I would say once they are working DO NOT SHUT THEM OFF or MOVE THEM! God forbid you try to do something like that and have them function again. ---------------

***Update!! After 20 months of use. This monitor still works! I'm impressed for the price. However, we recently moved and now have issues daily with the parent unit becoming unlinked from the baby unit.. even when we are in the next room! If we move it closer, it will link back up. Sometimes it will link again on its own. So that's a bit disappointing. The other issue we have, is the battery of the parent unit does not last. We now plug it in every time our son is awake, and unplug when he's sleeping to use. Doing this keeps it charged enough not to die. However it's always at 1 or 2 battery level. Also, we have to keep it on ALL the time. Even if it has a full battery, when we turn it off it'll turn back on and display "low battery" and need to be plugged in. While these issues aren't deal breakers, they are annoying. But again, for the price I'm impressed with how well it's held up. Our toddler loves to play with it, the handle on top of the parent unit is cracked, but the screen works still! Still recommended if you're looking for a quality baby monitor for daily use that won't get too much abuse. *original review: We've had our monitor for a few weeks now and I'm pretty happy with our purchase. For the money, it's worth it. We bought it as a supplement to our video monitor (we bought a WiFi one so our long distance family could see our little boy) and only needed something for use while he's napping. It works when the baby unit is upstairs and our parent unit is downstairs and on the patio with us, so the range is perfect. We haven't had any issues with the screen dying or it breaking at all. The volume is loud enough for us to hear him when were spending time with loud company. And the sensitivity settings make it so we can hear him when he cries but not listen to his rock and play rocking in the background. My only complaint is the battery dies relatively fast, after using it for a few hours it displays "low battery" and needs to be charged.

I bought this baby monitor over 10 years ago. We moved into a new house built of cinderblock and didn’t realize we could not hear our children on the second floor. They were no longer infants but the youngest was four. One of our children got frightened in the middle of the night and sat on the staircase crying, and we did not hear them. The next day I searched through baby monitors and settled on this one. I had an old set but they just didn’t quite cut it - the sound was patchy and would cut out and I couldn’t differentiate between different sounds of that distance because of the cinderblock. One unit has sat in the corner of our hallway for 10 years, with a parent unit being on the desk in our room. The only time it has not worked is when we had a power outage and I forgot to replace the batteries. The kids forget it’s there and don’t feel intrude upon it at all. We even asked them if they wanted us to take it down as they got older and it made them feel comfortable to know we were just a button click away if they needed us. Communication between the two unit is very clear even if they’re whispering. It’s very easy for both of us and them to use. This became even more important as two of our children were diagnosed with cardiac in rheumatological conditions. The kids rooms are across the house and a flight of stairs from ours- a distance many monitors couldn’t handle through cinderblock. The two way talking has been a great perk, and the sound quality is excellent. The unit sits in the corner on the second story landing but will pick up the TV from the third floor as well. The belt clip is nice when I need to go outside and one of my kids was sick or had just has surgery. I used this in conjunction with a video monitor because while it was nice to see them, I couldn’t always hear the best. Being able to adjust the volume with just a click of a button, and hearing a beep each time the volume was changed as very helpful. The moment communication is lost with the other unit, the monitor will beep to let you know there’s a problem, so I never worried that communication would be lost and I wouldn’t know it. I felt confident that with this monitor I would hear anytime they called for me, or even just whimpered. I’ve had other monitors when my children were little, including a video monitor which I really loved. However, this one has lasted the longest with the best performance. Now that we have a grandchild who was over often, we’re just going to keep it running to see how many more years it will keep going strong. I know that video monitors that connect to the phone are highly preferred, but if someone is looking for something to continuously monitor and doesn’t need a video screen, this is the first one I would recommend, and the first one I’d buy for a baby shower.

We have been using this monitor for almost a year and love it. We had a no WiFi video monitor for our first baby and besides the trouble with charging it constantly and carrying it around from room to room, constantly checking the video feed almost added stress and it stopped working after less than a year so we had to buy a replacement. For our second, we wanted something different, and no WiFi was important to us. These monitors are basic, functional, and zero drama. Plug them in and they work. We keep one adult end in our bedroom and the other in the living room, so we never need to worry about where the monitor is. Depending on your preference, you can just leave them on all the time - we often do this. There are several sound sensitivity settings, and they can get LOUD. I have the baby end on the opposite side of the nursery from the crib and it picks up noise perfectly. The range is great, even across first/second floors. We recommend these without any hesitation.

No babies in the house, but I bought this for my parents to use as an intercom monitoring system. My parents have a large, ranch style house and my father is recently home from a lengthy hospital and rehab facility stay. I live out of state and cannot be here with my parents full time. The purpose of this monitor was so we could leave the "baby" unit in their bedroom/bathroom, one "parent" unit out in the living areas, and the other parent unit in the kitchen. This way my mom can go about her day without having to run back and forth checking on my dad. We were initially loaned a unit from a friend which didn't have the talk back capability. Although this helped my mom keep tabs on my dad, if she heard something, she couldn't respond without physically running into their bedroom. The "talk back" capability of this unit is what makes this so very handy. If my mom hears my dad moving around, she doesn't have to run into the bedroom to check on him - - - she can just use the monitor to ask "do you need anything?". Since the "baby" unit is the one in their bedroom, he doesn't have to physically have the baby unit in hand - - - he just needs to speak and say he's okay, or ask for help getting dressed. Both parent units are press-to-talk (not open communication), which means they always receive sounds transmitted from the baby unit, but in order to talk to the baby, you have to press-to-talk. Very helpful because if mom is watching tv, listening to music, chatting on the phone etc, there is no worry that any of those sounds in the living areas are being broadcast to the baby unit in their bedroom. The baby base unit reception is incredibly strong. We placed it between their bedroom and their attached master bathroom. It picks up sounds from both bedroom and bathroom amazingly (and sometimes embarrassingly) well. Cannot vouch for the battery life of the parent units, but they easily last several hours, which has been more than sufficient for my mom's use. She takes it with her when she's working out in their garden, and doesn't worry about running in every so often to check on my dad. And, because little things also mean a lot, bonus stars because these units are discreet and don't visually scream out that they're baby monitors. On top of his medical issues, my dad's pride has also taken a hit with his recent dependency needs. If these screamed out that they were for babies, that would be another smack to his pride. We've been calling them portable intercoms, and thus, no dignity issues. The baby unit is about the size of a large lemon, and the parent units are about the size of a small avocado. All of them easily just sit on a counter or table without calling attention to themselves. Super helpful, extremely clear strong transmission. Highly recommended for any household - - -babies and adults alike.

This monitor system has been a trouble-free worry-remover for me. I am using it to keep track of my husband's needs, as I care for the rest of our household, inside and out. He sleeps now in a first-floor room next to a bathroom and close to the kitchen. He gets IV nutrition for 12 hours a day and is tethered to his IV administration setup. Plus, he is weak from a month in the hospital, so he can't do a lot for himself. We have a Linksys EA3500 Router. (Sorry, That's all I know about the channel, frequency, whatever..) The monitor signal has to "cross" this signal and it has not caused any interference at all. The range is well capable of letting me get out in the garden or into the barn, or even across the street (through LOTS of power, cable and telephone lines.) Transmission and reception have been loud & clear at every distance. Though I haven't tried 1000', it is certainly completely adequate for our rambling old house and 5 acre yard and barns. I also like the fact that I talk to my husband from anywhere, to ask if he needs something, etc. Of course, I hear him if he calls out to me. NB Adults are noisier sleepers than babies, but I found that I quickly became accustomed to his "normal" nighttime noises. I quickly learned to recognize the ones I should get up for...like the IV pump bleeping, etc. So I get a pretty good night's sleep. As for the "Parent" batteries not lasting very long...I have found that to be true. They don't last very long...maybe 3-4 hours. But what I do is take the monitor in my bedroom in the morning as my portable monitor. Then, when it starts bleeping that the battery is going dead, I just exchange it with the monitor in our family room. If that unit's battery starts to go, I repeat the switch. Works fine, because you get plenty of notice that the battery needs recharging. Such peace of mind PS I forgot to post this review 2 months ago when I got these monitors. This week, one of the receivers started shutting itself off. What a nuisance, and unsafe, too, because I rely on them tp get me tom husband when he needs me! I will contact the manufacturer...and I will keep you posted.

fast delivery genuine product long range

These are wicked. I have now used them for approximately 7 months. Originally we got a video monitor for our baby shower that hooks up to your phone, but these are so much better. Let me tell you why. These don't rely on your internet connection. They work even when thats down. They sync so easily and ive never had an issue. Not once. They stay charged pretty well. Honestly ours stay plugged in (one bedside, one in living room) but when we do have to take them to do random things, theyre great. Sound quality is phenomenal. Honestly I can hear the quietest whisper when its on 3 out of 5 volume bars. My only issue, and its a non-issue is that there is a little light to show its plugged in and the handle glows slightly. I covered it with electrical tape and the handle actually is very faint, I covered most of that with tape too actually. Anyway, I highly recommend. Will be using these for our next children if we have any. Im very happy with our purchase as I write this at 1:30am because the video monitor has cut out.... again.

Amei. Recomendo.

Perfeito para deficientes auditivos.

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