AT&T TRIMLINE 210 Corded Home Phone, No AC Power Required, Improved Easy-Wall-Mount, Lighted Big Button Keypad, 13 SpeedDial Keys, Last Number Redial, Mute, Flash, Volume Control, Beige

It has been a LONG time since I had a landline. We still pay for a landline (it is part of a TV/internet/phone bundle), but we disconnected the phone a long time ago because of telemarketing calls. The phones that we used to have were those cordless rechargerable and I could not find the base, so I had to get new landlines because we realized that if we had an emergency and had to call 911, we needed a fast way to call that did not involve running around the house trying to find a cell phone. So I went to Amazon and found old faithful AT&T trimline. They arrive quickly. These are lightweight plastic, but functional. I doubt we will ever use them, but they worked. One hangs on the wall in our laundry room, and the other sits on the desk next to our bed. There is a slider to control the ringer volume. I put it on the lowest setting, which I hope is OFF. So far, I haven't heard it ring, which means either it really is OFF for the sound or telemarketers aren't calling me. Either way, this is exactly what we needed for a great price. AT&T for the win!

Our home had become littered with the invisible weeds of modern technological convenience: three wifi routers (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, their powerful signals pumping out radio signals day and night), a few "repeaters" that picked the signal up and boosted it to the far corners of our home, an AppleTV, video baby monitors (2), and our old cordless 5Ghz phones we've had since the dawn of home wifi. The old phones worked beautifully as standalone beacons of communication until their signals became entangled, snared, choked by the growing noise and interference of the newer toys that promised richer communication. I tried switching channels on the wifi routers, moving the video cameras of the baby's rooms to different corners that were farther away, keeping the use of our land-line based cordless phones to a bare minimum to spare ourselves and anyone unfortunate enough to be on the other end of that line the ear splitting bray and crackle of static that I was determined to alleviate somehow, some way. Then, one day the solution presented itself to me in brilliant, shining, pure simplicity. Eureka! That's it! We'll retrograde our land-line communication to The Way It Was, the ways of my childhood, my parents childhood, and their parents.....well, not childhood but at least early adulthood. I was excited to announce my creative, revolutionary idea to my wife. "Babe, I've got it. Are you sitting down?" "What? I can't hear you. Static." "BABE, I'VE GOT IT. ARE YOU SITTING DOWN? WE'RE GOING TO BUY CORDED PHONES! OUR LONG, FAMILY NIGHTMARE OF STATIC FILLED LANDLINE CALLS HAS ENDED!" "What? We're going to buy buttered scones?" "Nevermind. I'll tell you when I get home." I was eager to begin my research. (That's what I do, I research tech-y things online. It's like a hobby. A sad, pathetic, obsessive hobby based in consumerist Want and the filling of holes with Stuff....but that's a review for another thing I'll probably buy later this week). What differed about this research was profound: for the first time, maybe EVER, I was not looking for the most advanced iThing, the sparkliest techno-gadget, the most powerful thingamabob. Nay, I was searching for the antithesis of that. The most simple form of long distance communication device available. By "long distance" I mean farther away than the end of my driveway...who wants to actually GO OUTSIDE to talk to anyone these days?. Then, as I searched corded phones, I saw it. The AT&T 210 Corded (yes CorDED) Phone, Black. Yes, yes! YES! That's it. That's The One. I even think my family may have had one very similar if not exactly like one of these back in ancient times, back in my high school years, that nostalgic time when life was new and opportunity a-plenty: the 1980's. And? Could it be? No, that must be a typo. No way could such a simple, pure, elegant communications interface be....$9.34 with my Amazon Prime membership! No, certainly that must be a typo. Dear reader, it was not. It was true. I could hardly continue my review of this wondrous discovery through the tears of joy blurring my screen and setting my heart alight. Oh, what joy! Why buy just one? Why not by a half dozen of the little buggers? They're so..cute! So simple! I'd put them in every room. No, no. That would be wrong. I don't NEED six land line phones (both my wife and I have iPhones, for goodness sakes). Let's not get crazy. But two. Yes. Two. That's the perfect amount. One upstairs, one downstairs in the kitchen. My wife and I could recreate that long-lost practice of yelling upstairs to the other "Pick up the phone! It's your Dad!", then hearing the clunks and thunks as the handset is lifted from its cradle, then balanced on the shoulder. Yes, that's it! Two. What a pure number, what a perfect end to a truly fruitful and satisfying research session. The End. PS Oh, as far as how the phone actually works? PERFECTLY. Clear, crisp, and - best of all! - provides the ability to execute that long-lost satisfying slam of the phone when hanging up on robocalls, rude telemarketers, and the like. SLAM! Oh, so much more satisfying than tapping the glass screen of my phone, or pressing the tiny OFF button of our old cordless phones. SLAM! So wonderful, so satisfying. SLAM!!! Maybe I should have bought six after all.

So far so good. The phone met my expectations, and works well. It's not as sturdy as the older models, but for the price it suits me just fine.

For the price, which included Free SuperSaver Shipping, one would have a hard time finding a better deal. It is a solid little phone (did not quite expect the "heft" to it that it has), appears to be well-put-together, rings fine and has a good sound quality (not tinny or with interference as one might expect for a phone for this price ~ I've had "cheap" phones before and "sound quality" is just not something I would expect to find at this price ~ under $13). The white color and sleek modern styling go well with our post-modern decor. We needed an inexpensive corded phone with no added features (the 13-Number Memoy feature is something we will never use) as we live in an area which occasionally experiences untility outages due to severe weather. The phone service usually stays intact during these periods, however anything requiring electric is dead until the power is restored. Cell phone coverage here is also very sporadic and hard to come by, so a corded phone was essential to our well-being. This phone fit the bill perfectly for our needs. The only thing I didn't particularly care for was that it comes with a "favorite phone numbers" paper label stuck on the base (under the handset). There is no plastic covering for this and I can see where it will eventually get "dirty-looking" or unsightly with regular cleaning. I would have preferred receiving the label separately as something I had the option (or not) of placing there myself. That is no big deal and did not affect my overall rating as I will just remove it eventually (carefully, as the base cannot be immersed, however have found the blue D**n dishwashing liquid on a coarse cloth is perfect for removing sticky substances such as labels, etc.). I suppose if someone wished to use this label to write their "favorite numbers" on, they could place transparent packing tape over it so it would not get dirty and/or wear with regular cleaning. But again, for the money, even this inveterate bargain-hunter could not find a better deal. I must say I am a little amazed at some of the reviews on here which portray a sort of "shock" that this is made in China. It is very hard to find products NOT made there these days and current and past administrations are to blame for this ~ NOT Amazon (although I do wish Amazon would place the Country of Origin on ALL of their product descriptions). I would have been "shocked" if it WASN'T made in China or some other overseas location ~ although my family does try to search out American-made products (however they are increasingly harder to find). Amazon itself, as they have been with every order I have placed with them, was wonderful and had it on my doorstep within four days of ordering (along with two other items in the order). It was packed well in its own box and packed by Amazon Fulfillment quite adequately. I love sitting at home in my pajamas searching for great deals on Amazon and not having to run from store to store looking (and not having the benefit also of others' reviews) and then having my chosen item(s) on my doorstep within a few days. That benefit alone is, well, ------> Price-less!

Great Home Phone, works great.

Didn't ask for much out of this phone. Just needed a phone that can be attached to a wall phone plate and has a ringer, earpiece, mouthpiece and a "9" button - the entire intention was to be the phone that rings when someone comes to the building door, enters our unit number, it calls this phone, it rings, I answer it, confirm who is there and press 9 to open the door. Unfortunately, like seemingly everything these days, somewhere along the line, this classic, once-reliable phone received the typical corporate corner cutting in the quality department. It seemed fine at first, but after only a couple uses (literally!), the button under the earpiece that is supposed to hang up the line broke... So the phone was permanently "off hook." As I had already discarded the box, I did not ask Amazon for a refund (It was under $10 anyhow, so I figured I would chalk it up to learning and never buy anything with "AT&T" imprinted on it, providing services for, etc. - not a difficult move to make as my cumulative experiences with AT&T since the late 1980s have been entirely negative). So, I tossed this piece of junk in the bin and did some research on a better phone - I knew that new businesses such as hotels and airports, etc. still get those solid, well made industrial quality phones that the phone company used to issue when someone subscribed to a telephone line back in the old days before the AT&T breakup in 1984, but where were they getting them I wondered? Well, it turns out, if you only need one, you can get not one, but one of a few different models from Amazon. I selected the Cetis Scitec 2554E Red one because it was red and as it was going in the kitchen, where there are a lot of red appliances (I like Red, what can I say?), it seemed to match my needs. I figured that if I did not like the quality, I would return it and get another model from one of the other manufacturers. All I wanted was a phone built like a tank like they were in the old days... To be honest, The Scitec phone is not so much a tank as it is a Jeep. I say that as the hook is a piece of acrylic or some other rather durable plastic, not the heavy metal hook of yesteryear. It is also lighter and thus less durable than those old phone that the Bell Company hung in my Mom's kitchen in the 1970s. Those old phones back then were occasionally featured in film and TV for the useful purpose of bludgeoning to death someone who oh so rightly deserverd it before Columbo arrived in the morning with his "oh, just one more thing" and... That having bean said, if the current incarnation of the 210 phone were used to whack someone in the head, all that person would get is a very cross face as the attacker stands there with a sheepish grin and a a bunch of cheap broken plastic in their hand! Speaking of broken plastic... When I tossed the thing in the bin, the handset split in half and bits came flying out. I did not throw it in there with any force... I simply tossed it... what a piece of crap!

The ringer on this phone could not be adjusted to not be so extremely loud it could wake the dead. Maybe it's designed for older people who might be hard of hearing, but if your not your surely to be startled. Keep this in mind when purchasing. It is easy to hold though so that's a plus. Looks good for a corded phone, I guess as good as they get. Good reception. Pretty clear. So aside from the blasting ring that is startling and annoying it's a pretty good phone with big numbers.

I had this same phone model over three decades ago, so I'm in a position to compare with this new identical model. I'd like to address some concerns posted in some of the reviews I've seen: 1. Yes, the plastic feels more lightweight, but the phone still feels durable and should not fall apart. 2. Yes, the base is much lighter. But it has 4 black round grippy rubber feet under it, which grab onto my desk nicely , preventing the base from easily sliding. 3. The coiled handset cord is of sufficient length and is light and stretchy enough for me to pull the handset easily to 4 feet from the base without yanking the base or having it slide off the desk. 4. I tested the wall hanging feature because of reviews of the handset falling off the vertically-mounted base. Once you reverse the small plastic "hang-up tab" under the directory card on the base, the plastic lip will hold the phone just fine, as well as it did 3 decades ago. (The directions tell you how to do this.) 5. I like the switch that toggles between Pulse and Touch-Tone dialing. The switch position you need depends on the landline service to your home. 6. I love that there are 3 loudness settings for the earpiece. If you are an older person like me, you'll appreciate the maximum loud setting to clearly hear what the other party is saying. 7. There are 3 settings for the ringing: Loud, Soft, and None. I choose None so that I don't have to hear incoming calls from salespeople. (My cell phone takes the message anyway.) 8. It feels good to have a real phone in your hands. You can dial it with your thumb on the holding hand or use one hand to hold and the other to dial. No annoying batteries or transformers to plug in the wall. 9. Yes, the backlit numbers aren't lit that well. There is just one light in the center, with the numbers farther away dimly lit. I don't care. (The original phone years ago did the same thing.) 10. The handset, though a bit lighter than the original, still has some weight and heft to it, making it feel like a real phone. 11. You can program numbers that can be automatically dialed, especially in an emergency. I'm very happy with the purchase.