A Great Answering Machine

See bolded items for the executive summary.

Until 2 weeks ago, I used a 10+ year old cassette tape answering machine, AM, for 2 reasons: it worked reliably until then, it had great sound quality, and I was able to archive tapes if needed. By contrast, AMs similar to the 1738 existed for many years but the sound quality was marginal or highly varied at best, many required battery backup for memory, and they were more expensive than slowly disappearing Phillips and micro cassette machines. But all digital machines had very fast or better capabilities for listening, deleting, and remote access.

Well, cassette recorders of all types have finally disappeared. Less folks bother with AMs of any type today, choosing instead to get voice-mail from their phone companies, which are a tad expensive given that for 1 year of a typical $3-5 fee monthly one can buy 3 ATT 1738s.

I choose the 1738 not because it was AT&T but because after so many years, nearly all AMs, regardless of brand, had the same features … they differed mostly in recording time and a need for battery backup. Sound quality has risen to be equal to low quality cassette tape no matter what AM I auditioned in friend's homes. Should I need to archive a phone message, I could easily digitize it by recording playback on my iPod clone.

Price

In 2006, the 1738 is one of the cheapest AMs available for 40 mins of recording time and a single mailbox. RAM and flash memory prices are very cheap, so all digital machines reflect this low cost. However, I was skeptical about the 1738 given some very negative reviews posted by readers versus my experience with no-name brand AMs. If no brand AMs were adequate, can AT&T be worse? For $18, it was a low risk test given $18 buys a DVD movie.

Sound Quality

Maybe AT&T has improved this model to correct negative reviews or there is a large variation in production quality for this model. I was quite surprised; the 1738 is a superb AM. The recorded in and outgoing message was as good as a tape machine, even from a cellphone. There is a catch: the microphone of the unit is poor quality, and one can make high quality outgoing messages by calling your home, say from a cell phone, and recording your outgoing message using remote access; or use the ‘default’ machine generated message. You can use the built in mic, say for the 1738’s memo feature, but with far less quality. Despite having no battery backup, in/out going messages are retained when the machine is unplugged. Rather than resetting, the clock stops at the time the power failed. While backup batteries can last years, remembering to change them is key. Consider the annual problem with the backup fire alarm battery one never ceases to hear in the news at years end.

Overview of Controls

The control buttons are firm and give good feedback, either by feel, its LED or a voice annunciator. The exact actions of all buttons are not standardized on AMs, but there are similarities and the variations are easy to learn. AT&T did some ergonomics in the key layout to make it intuitive without the manual; basic functions are labeled in English and Spanish on each button. For advanced users, buttons have dual functions: e.g. the skip button skips messages if pressed briefly but will fast playback if pressed and held; the memo button will slow-playback when press and held; and both keys are intuitive placed around the play/stop button. You can get up and running on the default settings immediately as a basic AM. The manual is brief, but it still need be read to know advance features, such as those that work only if Caller-ID exists on your landline.

Overview of Function and Remote Access

What I love about digital machines is the capacity to delete messages mid-playback, delete the middle of queued messages while saving other messages, fast and slow play without the ‘chipmunk’ effect, and voice-mail quick response to remote access features. The 1738 uses the #5 button on remote access mode as a HELP, and will read out what all the other remote buttons do, so you needn’t carry a reminder card to operate the 1738 remotely. I only wish AT&T followed the voice-mail control keys of popular systems like Verizon or Meridian, rather than invent their own.

Quality

The construction and plastic used is good quality, like you'd find on an low-end Apple computer product. Without battery backup, the 1738 may use flash memory, which has limited write capacity [ usually over 1000 cycles]. If all memory were written to once daily and erased, it would last about 1000 days or 2.7 years. If not, the memory can last for many years except a non-battery backup means a form of capacitor backup or a built in battery, both of which have limited lifespans and could short out. Regardless, if I bought one 1738 yearly its cheaper than subscribing to voice-mail, but I'd like it to last longer. My $60 tape machine lasted 16 years recording about 3 messages a day. My brothers $30 no name brand digital AM is now over 2 years old recording about as much. I'll report back if the 1738 dies prematurely.

Notes

In my engineering experience there are 2 common pitfalls in digital AMs that are easily fixed and maybe construed as a product defect: memory fragmentation causing poor recording and failure to use a line filter if you have DSL broadband. I had these minor problems when I used my PC as an answering machine for a brief period. When memory fragments due to a glitch, either power down the machine or erase all in/outgoing messages to ‘realign’ the memory. Alas, if the memory is truly defective and no allowance was made in the design to bypass faulty memory [such as in most flash or SD memory cards] the problem could be permanent. The DSL carrier signal on a landline is near the supersonic, but it will give very bad results if recorded on phone lines, especially with digital methods. Nearly all DSL providers give line filters which work well, use them on all landlines.

I highly recommend the 1738 if each product functioned as well as this one.