Binatone Fusion 2510 TWIN

For some people, the mere concept of a phone with no cord, no connection, no visible means of support, is right up there with keeping an aeroplane in the sky and microwave popcorn. "I mean, how......just how.....?" For others, the convenience of an handset you can take literally anywhere in your house is unsurpassed. Cooking advice as you stand at the stove; business consultation as you contemplate your toes in the bathroom; identification of greenfly as you look at your roses and pillow talk as you lay in your bed.

Cordless phones, even the latest DECT digital generation, have one major disadvantage They cannot be used in the event of a power cut. So, in a rural situation prone to the odd blackout, it seemed that I was doomed to be tethered to a corded phone. And just the one in the sitting room unless I ran an extension cord halfway across the East Midlands to get a phone in my bedroom.

Then I saw this combo in the Argos catalogue. A corded base unit, with answering machine, combined with a DECT cordless handset. EXCELLENT!!! And at what seemed like an amazingly reasonable price of under £40. Setting it up was straightforward for the base unit, literally 'plug and play' and simple for the handset after the initial charging period. One good feature was that the handset did not need 'registering' to the base unit; it was already done. The answering machine or cordless handset will not work in a power cut, but the main base unit will. Sound quality in both base and hand set was good with variable sound levels, perfect if your hearing is a little compromised.

If you have used a DECT and/or answering machine system before you may find the differences with this set-up slightly annoying, but a careful read of the pretty good manual should help. There are 18 ring tones, some of which are so appalling they would rouse your teenage child before 7 a.m. There are also levels of the ringer, handy if you have a large home or dislike a strident noise. Add in a good amount of name and number storage, transfering calls between base and handset (which took a few tries to figure out but works well), speakerphone, redial and caller display and this is a cracking package and stunning value for money. Highly recommended if you want the security of a standard base unit with the versatility of a DECT cordless at a reasonable price.