Sony 900 MHz BabyCall Nursery Monitor with Receivers (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I had to replace an old analog monitor we'd inherited years ago. I tried a digital monitor, but it felt cheaply made & didn't work well at all compared to our old analog monitor, so I ended up returning it. I found this Sony analog monitor at Amazon & am so pleased with it. I'd never really realized it, but this monitor is not only useful if you have children (& not just infants), but is great if you care for someone who's sick or who's an invalid, if you breed dogs, etc. This monitor is a 1-way monitor, so the receivers cannot communicate back to the monitor. There are 2 receivers that you can clip on or set on a shelf, desk, etc. What's nice about this monitor set is that each receiver has 2 settings: the regular analog setting & a voice-activated setting.When using the regular analog setting, there is constant white noise/static. How loud the white noise is depends on how high you put the volume up. Sometimes, if you do put the volume up very high or all the way up, you can get loud beeping/popping noises or feedback. I find that if I lower the volume a bit, it usually goes away. I've also found that if I have the volume up too high, the monitor will make a weird beeping-type noise if I change my position. I guess I must be interfering in the electronic waves the monitor & other electronics are giving off. However, if I turn down the volume a bit, the noise goes away. This particular model happens to have 27 different channels, so if the default setting isn't right for your house or is having too much interference, you can change to another channel.The voice-activated setting is quieter than the analog setting, more like a digital monitor. There is no white noise/static. However, I prefer the regular analog setting, because the regular analog setting is a lot more sensitive than the voice-activated setting. For instance, you can hear slighter movements or soft snores with the regular analog setting than you can with the voice-activated setting. In order to hear movements or snoring, the movements have to be bigger & louder & the snores have to be louder.The monitors & receivers are little bulkier & heavier than some of the digital ones I've seen. I don't mind the bulk or weight, since they just sit on the shelf or desk. Unlike the smaller, lighter digital monitors/receivers, the Sony feel more durable & sturdy to me. They're also water resistant. I keep the receivers plugged into the adapter, so I can't comment as to the battery life. I use both receivers, even though we have a small house & 1 receiver is strong enough to hear where I need to. Even with both receivers on at the same time with the volumes up to the max, they don't interfere with each other. This is the perfect monitor set, & in the world of increasing digital monitors, I'm glad the Sony analog monitor exists.

MY REQUIREMENTS: I live in a split-level house and just had baby #2. The toddler sleeps and naps regularly in her room, where we keep monitor #1. The baby is a bit more of a wild card. Baby sleeps in mom and dad's room at night, but naps in the swing most often, and that swing is in the basement. I wanted a monitor #2 for the basement so I could hear her if I finally got her to sleep downstairs and needed to run upstairs.PROS:Works well with existing monitor systems: I got this monitor on the reviews that it worked with other monitors. It really does work nicely. I have both systems going at the same time and can 'hear' from one end of the house to the other this way.Loud and clear: this is much better than our original Graco system (no longer on Amazon) for clarity and volume. I can distinguish between the fan in the laundry room vs. the sound of the dryer vs. the hum of the swing. On our Graco monitors, all background noise sounds roughly the same.AC Adapter: Do yourself a favor and NEVER buy battery-operated-only stuff for babies. It's such a complete pain in the rear to always buy/recharge batteries. These have the option to use rechargable batteries, but I've got them on AC all the time.MEHS:Interference/Static: It happens. I had to move the receiver around a lot before I found a good spot for it.2nd set: I thought I'd need that second receiver, but I actually don't ever use it. Could have saved myself some cash by getting the 1-set kind.CONS:Not the cheapest ones on the market, but they work well enouugh.SUMMARY: Works well, especially if you've already got another set and you're trying to find a good 2nd set.

Clearly, one's review of this depends on how much interference is in your house. Buy it, test it out, return it if it doesn't work. That was my plan, and it turns out it works great in our 2000 sq foot, 2 floor townhouse. No problems with range and I can literally hear every breath even though the monitor is about 5-6 feet from her crib. I particularly like the voice activation feature, which allows me to only her crying/noises above a certain decibel level if I choose. This was a better choice for us for two reasons: 1) it's analog, and I had been reading too many scary articles re: radiation and DECT and wifi monitors and 2) it keeps me from being too neurotic with a video monitor. Honestly, we tried one and I just stared at that sucker all night long. It had infrared---and I didn't sleep. That's just me though. You might be less neurotic!UPDATE: It's 3/2016 and this thing is still kicking in great shape and perfect sound. We tried a camera for a little while to get more of a feel for what she was doing in there, but this one has better sound---I like being able to actually hear her breathe and I can on this one. We were happy to be able to see what she was doing, but came back to this one for health/safety reasons and because the sound is so good.

This is a very basic monitor. It gives you the ability to leave it plugged in or run on rechargeable battery life. The battery life itself is pretty good and the range can sometimes be hit to miss. For instance, sometimes it doesn't work from the baby's room to our room which is just down the hall (so we have to fiddle and reposition it) and sometimes it works from the baby's room all the way to the neighbours yard, no problem. It all depends on what you have going on in your house. I haven't had any problems with interference, but the static is very loud and almost sounds like a white noise machine to the point where it was keeping me awake. It does have the option to be silent and only activate when the baby cries, but I like to hear the little nosies, which means leaving it on all the time and putting up with the static. Overall decent for the price.

Baby isn't here yet but we opened and tested ours and they work great! Volume goes super loud if needed, I like the range detector that beeps if you go too far away or if the transmitter is turned off and receivers are on. Like the regard able batteries or wall plug in options. And the voice activated option so you aren't constantly listening to white noise. As well as being able to have the volume down but still knowing if it's picking up noise by the flashing red dots on the receivers! Also being able to change to so many different channels if there's ever interference is nice.

Bought this for a family vacation. Overall, I was happy with the performance. I was impressed with the "silent" mode that only turns the receiver speaker on when the baby cries -- it works quite well. On the downside, there were a few times when the receiver picked up interference and spewed out static. I guess that's a problem with the technology in use rather than the product itself.

Dear everyone,I never write negative reviews, however I felt it was necessary to inform everyone regarding this product.Prior to this purchase:- I read the reviews (4 star),and- Based my purchase on the fact that Sony is a very reputable company.Let's keep in mind that this is the same company (Sony) that is producing the very high end gaming console: Playstation 4.My first hint that this was potentially not a great product was the fact that it still operates on the "circa 2001" 900mhz frequency. At first glance I thought this was a typo, but then figured that Sony must have somehow: "engineered some super software code that maximizes the 900mhz frequency". This is not the case, the unit has a range of "outside the immediate room". Luckily it comes equipped with a "range alarm" so it can annoyingly remind you of this deficiency.Once you finally do find a strategic location to capture some essence of the ancient 900mhz signal, it clicks and screeches loudly even with the volume is at low.Wait there is more...In a day and age where I can access all of my computing requirements in the palm of my hand, Sony has decided that the most suitable size for this piece of "toilet paper technology" is extra-extra large. This is great as I love walking around my yard with an extra-extra large, super loud clicking and screeching, range alarm ringing, unreliable piece of technology that monitors MY BABIES!!! well being!!!Amazon has been great! Shipping was fast. I have already ordered my return label.I am very disappointed Sony would put their name on this!Please save yourself time and effort and order another unit.

I am very disappointed in this product. It was purchased for its high ratings, but it definitely hasn’t delivered. Although the speakers do turn up quite loudly, there’s absolutely no range. You can hardly even have it in the next room without it beeping that it’s ‘out of range’. The batteries on the two devices do not hold little to no charge either, which means that they always have to be plugged in. I will be discarding this monitor and purchasing the Graco Secure Coverage monitor. It’s tons cheaper and of much better quality.