BT Graphite 2100

So, do BTs home brand landline phones actually work with Virgin cable? Or with any other cable service come to think of it. We bought these guys before we moved to Virgin from BT and the landline connection was excellent on the generic BT line. But now the same phones are acting up on the new Virgin connection into the house. The problems we get make you feel like you are being bugged by the FBI. Lines go dead; a strange static beeping sound can be heard that won’t click out when you put the receiver back on the base. It’s not been a big enough issue to complain to either BT or Virgin about and it and I just wondered if you guys are having the same issues with non compatible branded phones with likewise cable connections, perhaps a fix on offer? It doesn’t make a lot of sense for the companies to do that but you do wonder it it’s a sneaky tactic by the pair of them to get you to buy the line to go with their home brand phones. I’m pretty sure a Virgin landline phone set would work a whole lot better than these BT guys? We all know how badly the mobile phone networks talk to each other to aid compatibility and bring down prices and so it hard not to be cynic around telecommunications these days.

With the BT graphite range you can have up to four mobile handsets being supported by one hub phone that has to be permanently grounded and charged to keep the connection working efficiently. These phones have those chunky rechargeable batteries in them and so if you switch the adapters off at night they may not work in the morning. Batteries only work well when constantly juiced. These are not, though, like cell phone batteries where if you overcharge or under charge them they don’t last as long. The price of rechargeable batteries is up there with printer ink cartridges in the rip-off stakes.

Buttons wise you have all the basic settings like speaker phone, redial and call-waiting and caller display etc, although the later two are subscription services with this model. You can record answer phone personal messages too. It also has a secrecy setting to block out people listening into your conversation on the extensions and you can also program in your various numbers although the small display window isn’t great for that. It has 5 boring standard handset ringtones (on or off option) and a handset ringer volume control. You can do lots other wonderful things with your ringtone if you are that way inclined. You can also name your handset if you are really sad.

The keypad lock stops the kids ringing Russia and a useful earpiece and handsfree volume control help with mobility use. The further away from the hub the more crackle you get and the quieter the volume so a must. You can time your outward calls for billing reasons and there’s a clock alarm to get you up in the morning for work. The low battery indicator is critical (red and green lights on the base) and you get a low battery alert to make sure the phones don’t go flat. If they do flat, you miss your calls, simple as. Range wise there is an alert if you are about to lose the signal in your back garden and the like and you have up to 10 hours talk time on a fully charged battery. If left on the base unused and not charging you have about 100 hours standby life. Again, keep them charged or your battery life fades. I reckon I have kept the connection with a 25 yards distance from the base.

Although 40 bucks is a fair price for the three phones you can match up other bands with your hub phone and so you can buy just a single BT Graphite phone. It’s a simple code procedure to get old phones to work with your new set. The Graphite range has energy proficient claims, stating that the batteries use half as much electricity as other models although if you have to leave them on charge you are still using much more than just the one fixed non portable landline unit.

Technical Details
• 50 names and numbers phonebook
• 10 last numbers redial
• Backlist display
• Handsfree speakerphone
• Type 2 caller display compatible

My thoughts on the phones is they are as only as bad as your line. The dead line issues maybe my doing but there’s also another fault like this. When you get phoned by those automated call centre pests that dial multiple numbers from machines and then hang up on you the moment five callers answer the operators this kit doesn’t deal with it well. These lines are often still open and the Graphite phone doesn’t cut them off when you replace the handset on the base sometimes, meaning no line in to receive calls. The government was supposed to ban them but still they call.

Price wise they are very good value on Amazon at 40 quid for the trio box set and stylish too, light to pick up and sturdy on the base at a 40 degrees angle. With a one year warrantee and an ok caller display they are idea for younger families. If you are a doddery old pensioner though the caller-display is quite small and the numbers and names written and scrolling smaller and so something to think about. Apart from that it’s a good product and all you can do is just hope your line and phone get on. If they don’t then tough.