I bought the BT 4500 recently, for my parents.
It's most likely the big price difference is because it's sold in sets of one, two, and three handsets. I think you can even buy a handset on its own to add-on. IIRC, DECT allows up to six handsets on one base station.
On the 'phone itself, having set it up for them and them having used it for a month or so, I think it's an ever-so-nearly 'phone. Here are a few thoughts:
Good bits:
- large buttons,
- easy conferencing (they like that, so they can both take part in a call easily),
- hearing aid coil support,
- an 'amplify' button on the side that adds about 3dB to a call (not much but it does work).
- socket for a headset (oddly like hen's teeth, but really useful if you are happy to use a headset - 2.5mm plug)
- shared phone book - one entry is cloned to all handsets automatically
Bad bits:
- a lot bigger than normal DECT units, a bit slippery and probably too rounded
- no provision for a clip or a lanyard
- very, very poor user interface to the firmware - complicated and downright silly in places
- dreadful display (because of the piffpoor firmware), yes big characters but not in a helpful way
- very poor phonebook - very limited space for names (both quantity and length in letters)
- too many buttons and too much modal behaviour ('push button A, then rocker C moves you around list B', etc.)
My parents say they like it, but I think they're just being nice to me. They do appreciate the big buttons, but the rest is horribly confusing. Neither of them is senile -- my Dad was at the bleeding edge of microcomputers in the 1970s and 1980s -- but they struggle with this).
I haven't tried the call blocking stuff, and if this is for an older relative, I strongly recommend you don't either. Why? Many essential services don't present caller ID for very good reasons. For example, doctors surgeries typically don't send it when the GPs dial out on their own lines, to avoid it being used by patients. You can't always tell who the goodies are from the baddies. IIRC, I don't think there is a user-maintained call-barring list (like a mobile 'phone has), so for that reason it's pretty useless. For my parents we enabled caller ID with their telecomms company, so they can see numbers they recognise (if they're in the phone's book, it shows the name).
Hope that's useful, but I fear it's the least worst of the type available. I looked at a lot of DECT systems and all of them have issues - this was the best fit for the task, but it's far from perfect. The firmware really is rubbish, too many modal buttons, and a very poor display.
E.
PS: I thought our Siemens ones were bad, but honestly, if the recipient's eyesight is OK, they're a much better alternative - Bluetooth that passes audio and data, decent phonebook, headphone socket (no hearing aid coil support tho).
