May 102013
Philips AVENT Basic Baby Monitor with DECT Technology
- Zero Interference DECT Technology
- Crystal clear sound
- Sleek parent unit
- Simple to use and easily mobile
- Over 100 channels
510 Features: -DECT technology guarantees zero interference.-Parent talkback feature.-Soothing soft-glow night-light for baby’s comfort.-360 yard range and belt clip for convenient, hands-free monitoring.-Crystal clear sound.Even when you’re away from the nursery, you can rely on the SCD510/00 DECT Baby Monitor from Philips AVENT to keep track of your baby. With a generous operating range, advanced sound technology, a 100 percent private connection with zero interference, and a unique Talk Back
List Price: $ 119.99
Price: $ 78.40
Must be adjusted correctly,
Speaking as someone who works in the electronics industry, most baby monitors are simply junk. I’ve owned several of them. The Philips model is the one we kept and the one we used. It has a crystal-clear signal and zero annoying interference.
That said, I have read the reviews of people who have had trouble with this unit, and I think I understand what’s happening in those cases. The monitor has a sensitivity adjustment. This is a useful feature: if you don’t want to hear every little sound coming from your baby’s room, you can set the sensitivity accordingly. When the adjustment is done correctly, you won’t hear every yawn and stretch, but you will hear your child crying or calling for you.
But, here’s the problem: the same buttons that adjust the volume on the parent unit also adjust the sensitivity. To adjust the volume, you press the +/- buttons. To adjust the sensitivity, you press the “sensitivity button” (which is sort of hidden on the side), and then press the +/- buttons. Hence, it is really easy to adjust the sensitivity by accident, when you think you’re adjusting the volume. Poor user interface design, to be sure. But when this monitor is adjusted correctly, we’ve found it to work much better than any other we’ve tried.
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|Wonderful static/interference free baby monitor. Good for people in apartments/city/etc.,
I was hesitant to get a monitor at this price ($90-100) considering there are other baby monitors out there available for much less. However, I’m glad to say it was well worth the investment.
Pros:
- No Interference from other devices
The largest concern for me was interference free performance as I live in a condo/apartment complex and there are at least 12 other 2.4ghz wireless routers that I can see from my computer. Who knows how many other 900mhz telephones/ 2.4 ghz cordless phones there are. We also are able to use cell phones around this baby monitor without interference as well.
- Safety in the event of a power outage / batteries.
The monitor also has battery backup for both the parent and the child unit (with the child unit being rechargeable and the parent unit non rechargeable). Both units can plug into the wall. I accidentally turned off the child unit the other evening and as a safety feature the parent unit started beeping (in case the parent unit for some reason fails / loses power). Unfortunately there are no precautions when the parent unit fails/runs out of battery. It simply shuts off. However, the rechargeable battery in the parent unit (at least while it is still new) can last for multiple evenings on a sensitivity level of about 1/2. However, we are fortunate to have an power outlet next to our bed so the parent unit can be plugged in and the batteries used only if the power goes out. The disadvantage though is this will likely dramatically decrease the life of the rechargeable battery.
- Distances/coverages
I live in a 1100 sq ft condo with the parent and child’s room located about 50 feet away on the same level. The walls that separate us are simple drywall. No interference or sound quality issues.
-Crystal clear sound / very good detection of crying.
The parent unit will only alert if the noise level of the room is above a background noise level (set by the ‘sensitivity’ setting on the parent unit). What this means is that the baby mobile can be running and this will not alert the parent unit. However, when our child begins crying (while the baby mobile is running) the parent unit will alert. At very high sensitivity levels one can hear the baby breathing (with the child unit about 1-2 ft from the child, we set ours on the ‘ledge’ of his crib).
- Sound level lights on parent unit allow you to observe sound levels in the baby room without actually hearing it.
The *very* bright blue lights on the parent unit act as a sound level monitor in the room. Therefore, you can tell whether the baby is just fussing or epically crying based on this level. This may be useful if you want to turn off the speaker but still want to know what the sound level in the room is (my spouse and I put the parent unit on the coffee table directly in front of us while watching a movie and have the speaker turned off, the brightness of the sound level lights are enough to distract us from the movie and attend to baby).
-Two way radio chat between the parent unit and the baby unit.
Extremely useful! At first thought this was for talking to the baby. Sometimes (particularly in the evenings), baby will be soothed by just changing the diaper/holding/etc. However, if this isn’t the case it is easy to radio to your spouse (likely trying to get some sleep) that he/she is really needed (for breast feeding for example).
Cons:
- the lights are extremely bright on the parent unit
While I don’t mind the blue sound level lights being bright (they only come on when the child unit is picking up crying, etc), the constantly on LED lights for the battery and power-on for the baby unit are really bright.
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|Amazing product rendered useless by a design flaw.,
Getting a good baby monitor became a priority for my wife and I when our son arrived 6 weeks early. As a premature baby he suffered from the risk of apnea, (where he stops breathing) so we had to have something that would let us hear if he was in distress.
After getting fed up with constant static and feedback of lesser monitors, we decided to bite the bullet and buy what most websites consider to be the “Top of The Line” when it comes to monitors.
Some of the features we were impressed with:
* DECT.
* Long Range.
* Adjustable sensitivity.
* “Talk” function that allows you to talk from the parent unit to the baby unit.
* Night Light.
* Physical size and looks.
When we turned it on we were amazed by its crystal clear sound, complete lack of static and the adjustable sensitivity. I was sold – this was the perfect monitor for us! Until we discovered a design flaw that renders this unit more of an “Alert” than a “Monitor”.
As previous reviewers have pointed out, the unit is equipped with a “Silent Mode” that in essence turns the baby unit’s mic off when there is only ambient noise. (As a side note, this silent mode is not referred to in the manual, and the customer service agent at Philips had never heard of it and told me the unit was faulty.) The idea is that the baby unit will not broadcast ambient noise, but come to life when the baby makes noise over and above what the unit deems as ambient. In theory this could be a neat feature, but in practice it’s an unacceptable safety hazard. My wife and I ran tests with the unit, and could not reliably get it to pick up noises – I could stand outside my son’s room and hear him coughing and spitting up but the parent unit remained silent. No matter what the sensitivity or volume was, it was the same story. I even exchanged the unit once to see if it was a defective unit as the Philips rep had suggested, but it wasn’t.
Without this flaw this is a 5 star, best in class, excellent unit. However, as you can’t turn off the silent feature, it’s a one star safety hazard for babies that truly need monitoring.
If you are looking for a unit that will simply alert you when your child wakes up, then this could be a perfect unit for you. As a monitor however, I am thoroughly disappointed in it.
**UPDATE** I have since spoken with another Philips representative who explained to me that all Philips monitors (except the SCD600 video monitor) have the “Silent Mode” feature. The way that it works is that the mic turns off after a nominal amount of time with only ambient noise, and only comes back to life when the baby-unit detects sound that would register a 4 out of 5 on the light scale. That first sound is a trigger and wouldn’t be heard. All sounds less than a 4/5 will go unnoticed, and the first 4/5 sound will not be transmitted. This feature can’t be turned off. The rep could offer me no explanation as to why this feature is not mentioned on their website, the monitor box or the manual.
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