AT&T CL4940 Corded Standard Phone with Answering System and Backlit Display, White (Renewed)

I am aging. I like for numbers to be big and highly readable. This phone has easy to see, huge digits. The screen that shows caller ID and other info seems bigger, as well. When a call is coming through, the orange back light helps. It is easy to scroll up and down to see missed calls. The answering machine that is part of it is easy to use. Now that I no longer need a headset phone for an online job, this landline phone works GREAT for all my personal calls. I have it sitting under my computer monitor to be within easy reach while I work. It is also a great backup for if cell phone service fails. I have a lot of issues with my neighborhood. So many pluses, plus AT&T products tend to be reliable, and this one is DEFINITELY affordable. I would NEVER rent a phone. Even if this one only lasts a few years, it would be worth it to keep replacing it.

This phone is easy to set up and use. Only complaint I have is that I had to go online and download an instruction manual to find some of the features I didn't know how to use such as deleting missed call message. There is only a one small sheet outlining the main set up features but not how to fine tune the phone.Phone has an answering machine and caller ID features. Simple enough for even an old person like myself to set up and use. Over all this is a good value for this phone. I bought the refurbished model because we have lost two phone in the last six months due to lightening strikes and we have a lightening arrestor on the house and I didn't want to spend a small fortune to have a phone with fax capabilities.

I am replacing an AT&T CL2909 with this model. The reason is that even though the CL2909 has an LCD display screen like this one, for some insane reason, it has no back light (even though it uses four AA batteries, so unless the phone is situated in a direct line-of-sight with a bright light, reading the LCD information is almost impossible. I had to keep a little flash light near the phone just for the purpose of reading the screen. Other than that, it was a great phone and had every conceivable feature. But needing to grab a flashlight just to see the CallerID proved too aggravating, so we decided to replace it with this AT&T CL4940 unit which is almost identical except the LCD screen has a bright yellow backlight that automatically goes on when a call comes in making it super easy to see the incoming Caller ID.BUT -- the one great feature of the CL2909 that this model leaves out, is a HOLD feature. We have three extension on this line so if you pick up a call in the den, but need to continue the call in living room, with the CL2909, you can simply push the HOLD button, hang up the handset, walk into the other room and pick up the call on that phone. That was a GREAT feature and it is missing on this CL4940 version...WHY? Really maddening for those of us who have extension in more than one room. It also is VERY silly of AT&T to eliminate the HOLD feature because it would make the phone attractive for people who have extensions in more than one room and would by multiple units. Without that HOLD feature, they might look to other manufacturers who offer a model with that feature. And I will say this, for people who will only connect one phone and not multiple extensions on the same line, you probably won't miss the HOLD feature and this phone hits all the right notes. But for those of us who would buy a number of phones for a number of extensiion, missing the HOLD feature could be the game changer...as in game over.So other than it not functioning well as a phone for use with multiple extensions, this model has every other bell and whistle you could want -- it even has an EQUALIZER function that instantly and very effectively clarifies the voice of the caller when the audio is poor. And of course it is NOT a cordless -- yes, you have be connect to it with a curly cord, but the advantage of being connected by a wire over transmission over the air in terms of security and especially audio quality (a wire will ALWAYS sound better than a signal needing a radio transmitter on one and a radio receiver on the other end -- that's a simple, inscrutable law of electronics. Pick direct hookup via a wire over a signal transceived over the air.

My old phone finally "gave up the ghost" after 20 years of dependable service. So I spent 2 weeks researching the options for a new phone. Phone options have changed in 20 years to say the least. I decided on this one due to brand reputation, reviews, functionality and being able to replace and answering machine AND a phone extension at the same time. The setup was easier than expected to include the multiple options for the display (font size, backlight intensity and size of font etc.). Can't complain about this phone and very pleased with my purchase.

I ordered this item and found that the manual was in Spanish and the wall hanging bracket was not in the box. I contacted the seller about the manual being in Spanish that I couldn't read and about the wall hanging bracket missing. I returned the phone. I got another phone and it had a Spanish manual and no wall bracket again. I didn't want to do another return and reorder again it would have had the same problem again I figured. I started looking for another phone and a different seller had this phone I contacted him and asked if it had a wall bracket included. I got a reply back and I thought the wall bracket he described didn't sound like it was the correct one, I sent a copy of the picture from the Spanish manual and got a picture back of the bracket the phone had. It didn't look like it was what I needed, the new seller said if I ordered it he would make sure a wall bracket was in the box. I thought about the bracket not looking quite right and this seller had a higher price for the phone. I looked at other types of phones to buy and buying the others sellers phone. I really didn't want to order another phone wait to get it and find that the bracket was the wrong one. I decided that I was going to try and make the bracket myself out of Sheetmetal, the original one was molded plastic. My bracket fit perfectly and I mounted the phone on the wall. I would have put a lower rating on the phone, but the phone has not had any problems up to this date April 2020 so the rating is for the phone the rating for ordering it 2x and the same problem the 2nd time plus time used on another seller then deciding to just make the bracket myself would get a zero or 1 star. what if I wasn't handy enough to make a bracket?