Home > Consumer Reviews > GE 29992 Digital Messaging System with Caller ID

I've been extremely disappointed with this answering machine, for two main reasons. First, there is no way to retrieve an erased message. This is especially a problem because the system doesn't really pause after messages as you're playing them back. So after listening to a message you can't hit erase, or you will end up erasing the next (unheard) message. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. Second, the unit often clicks loudly when you pick up the phone, presumably because it's trying to get the caller ID. It's extremely annoying and also has interfered with dial-up connections I was trying to make on more than one occasion. Bottom line, I'd suggest you shop around for something built with real consumers in mind.

As an answering device, this machine offers a lot of features
for an amazingly low price. The sound quality is good, it's
easy to use, and I especially like the informative lighted LCD
display.

I was hoping from the product description that this machine would
offer protection from solicitors, but that feature turned out to
be useless. The blocked-call feature literally handles only
calls identified as "blocked"; it's unable to handle or identify
(with its audible signal) calls identified as "anonymous" or
"unknown", which covers most solicitation calls. You cannot do
any other special call handling, such as a specific greeting,
with unknown calls.

This product is almost what I wanted. I hope they fix the
blocked-call "feature" in the next version. As an answering
machine, it's still better than any others I've tried.

With configurable outgoing messages based on caller ID, this machine would be real nice (although you can't configure ring/message options for anonymous callers like you can on the Casio TA-140 & 145). Unfortunately the 29992 suffers from several intermittent flaws. For example, for about 25% of the calls it doesn't record any caller ID information (on the same calls, other caller-ID boxes in the house work just fine). I bought two different 29992 units for my relatives last Christmas and both units had the same intermittent flaws. There was no information in the box on how to contact Thomson Consumer Electronics to resolve these issues, so I sent them back and I bought them the Casio TA-140 from Amazon.com instead.

I bought this product over three months ago and I am returning to buy another for my mother. I am very impressed by the quality and great features of this product.

Two features made me buy this product. The first is that messages are saved in memory chips not on tape. On tape if you have consecutive messages they are difficult to delete without having to listen to the whole message. The second reason I bought this answering machine is that my area is subject to power outages and all voice recordings are saved in memory when the power goes out.

I read other reviews of this product on the sound quality of the recodings which almost dissuaded me from purchasing this product but I now feel they were misleading. For me, this was a significant improvement from my last answering machine and yes, the sound quality is superb.

For the price I paid for this thing, it's well worth it. The sound on it is crisp and clear. Has a TON of features. Even when the power goes out, everything is saved when it comes back on with out a battery.

The Good: Great Sound Quality, Tons Of Features. Good remote options The Bad: Might Be A Little complicated for the new user and a lot of features you really don't need might interfere if you don't know how to set it up properly The Bottom Line: The best one I have owned. And for the price you really can't go wrong, you really can't.

Some stuff it has on it Caller ID with call waiting 14 minutes of full-digital recording time with remote voice menu 3-Line backlit caller ID display (99 name and number memory) 50 programmable numbers for any of 5 custom responses Light weight (0.8 pounds)

It truly is more than your basic answering machine. I would pick one up and toss the tape.