Graco Digital Deluxe iMonitor Baby Monitor
by Graco Baby
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List Price: Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Graco Digital Deluxe iMonitor Baby Monitor
Customer Review: NOT BAD! Does what it should, but could be improved! I give it 3 1/2 stars!
Summary: 4 Stars
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: DOT NOT TURN ON SYSTEM BEFORE READING THIS.
You have to open up the parent receivers and plug in the battery pack before usage, then Charge the system for 16 hours. DO NOT TURN SYSTEM ON WHILE CHARGING FOR THIS FIRST TIME!!!
I did a lot of research on monitors and found this one to have pretty good feedback on several parents' websites. With most items, there are pros and cons... see below:
Pros:
-You will not pick-up any feedback from the neighbors. This is a significant improvement from monitors in the past. ABSOLUTLY NO INTERFERENCE!
-Great reception. You will have no problems picking up your child with this. I can take it outside and work in the yard, with confidence that I will know when my baby needs me.
-Interchangeable AC power cords make it easy to move the system around to different rooms in the house.
-Lightweight and compact system.
Cons:
-The biggest issue is battery life. HORRIBLE BATTERY LIFE, TYPICALLY ONLY 3-4 HOURS at a time! The battery drain on this system is almost a deal breaker in my husband's opinion. This system comes with the options of 1 or 2 docking stations, I HIGHLY RECOMMED the one with two stations because the system is constantly running low on batteries and and can recharge while the parents portion is on the dock. Or the second receiver can be used while the other is charging on the dock.
-With any power interruption the child's unit shuts off. The parents unit beeps and flashes red to inform you of the issue, but it can be irritating at 2:00 A.M. to have to get up to turn it back on. Graco really needs to find a way to have the system stay on at all times that it is plugged in.
-Belt clip does not work well with normal amount of movement. The system is better left unattached to belt, unless you want to be constantly picking it up from the ground.
-A bit expensive.
A little of both... Pros/Cons:
-Sound: Pro: Great sound, very clear. In fact I can often hear dogs barking outside with this monitor. Con: Picks up on every little sound because it is so sensitive. For the light sleepers, on the softest level still can be very loud.
-Loud, every 5 seconds, parents warning: Pro: Beeping will let you know that system is not functioning correctly so you can fix the system. This was nice for us one day when the baby's system had fallen and came unplugged. If the system had not beeped, we would not have known. Con: Annoying beeping while searching for signal... a startling fact in the middle of the night.
*Overall the system does what it should, but there a few area's that could be improved. I gave it 3 1/2 stars but rounded it up.*
Customer Review: YMMV, but it works great for us
Summary: 4 Stars
Our old Sony NTM-900 monitor (which had two receivers) finally died after a few years of excellent service. There arean't all that many models with AC adapters (not just chargers) and dual receivers. We first tried the cheapo analog Graco because that's what my wife saw at Target; that didn't cut it. We next tried the Secure Sounds monitor because it was a little cheaper than the iMonitor, but that was a total disaster, and we returned it. Obviously, the range of any transmitter/receiver system will depend a lot on local conditions; I'm sure very few will get anything close to 2000 feet--but what other monitor does? For us, the Secure Sounds worked only at about 20' of separation, we certainly have no trouble getting more than ten times that with the iMonitor.
For us, this monitor works extremely well, and we have a bevy of cordless phones and WiFi and cell phones and wireless thermometers and so on and so forth (and so do all of our neighbors). Despite this, the iMonitor delivers a clear signal, no static or hiss at all (well, unless the baby is hissing).
But some caveats: I don't care about battery life; these monitors run just fine plugged in to the wall, we don't even have the batteries installed in the receivers at all. (Why people can't just leave them plugged in or on the charing cradle while they're asleep is beyond me--do people really not have outlets in the master bedroom?) The lowest volume setting is indeed not that low, but my wife and I are heavy sleepers, so that's not an issue for us. I don't use the belt clip, either, so I have no opinion on that. So if those things are important to you, maybe this isn't the best choice.
There's one other thing I need to comment on, though. Yes, the transmitter does turn off if there's a power outage, and I can see how that would be a problem; I was bitten by that myself when I turned off a breaker to install a ceiling fan. However, after that I looked at the the transmitter and I discovered you can install batteries in the transmitter unit. If you do, then it will stay on across power outages. So that really isn't a "deal breaker" unless you can't install a few AAA batteries. (This is probably in the manual, but who reads manuals?)
And seriously, if four little green LEDs is enough light to wake you up, you have sleep issues and should see a doctor. Or maybe just put a dark handkerchief over the thing.
Customer Review: This monitor is the bane of my existence
Summary: 2 Stars
Nothing irks me more than this supposed "baby monitor". Because isn't the point of a baby monitor to monitor babies? Not to work sometimes, if the moon and stars are aligned perfectly, and work only when it feels like working. Not to beep endlessly and flip channels until I want to pull my hair out and throw the thing against the wall, not necessarily in that order.
Now when this monitor works, it works well - it picks up every little sound clearly and I can hear my babies the instant they wake up. I rarely hear static. Despite other reviews, it has a long battery life (7-8 hours). I have twins, and set up this monitor in two different rooms so that I can hear the babies whether they are napping together or separately. I rarely remove the receivers from their battery chargers; they just sit in my office where I'm working, which is incidentally 15 feet from either baby. Since nothing moves, you'd think I'd only have to set it up once and be done, yes?
Not even close. What usually happens is one of two things:
One, it will lose a frequency and search for a signal. It does this whether I'm on the other end of the house or in the next room. It loses a signal at least twice per day. Then it starts endlessly beeping, during which I begin to imagine drop-kicking this monitor across several blocks and into the freeway, where it gets run over again and again by a convoy of tractor trailers.
Two, it will flip channels so that it's suddenly monitoring the same room as the other device, and now one baby is out of communication. It doesn't matter that the switch is set to "room 2", because it's now monitoring room 1. I have no warning this has happened, no beeps or even a flashing light, so unless I'm within earshot and hear her crying, that baby is out of luck should she need attention. This happens at least once every other day, so I simply don't go out of earshot anymore. To which I wonder, why have a baby monitor at all? It's only out of morbid curiosity I keep it plugged in.
I will try to reset the frequency (which you do by clicking buttons which also beep maddeningly) but usually this doesn't work, and it continues to beep. I am actually surprised this monitor hasn't yet been embedded in my wall.
Maybe today will be the day.
Customer Review: Decent product but needs some improvements
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this monitor because our old one was a cheap piece of junk that probably operated on the 49 Mhz. All parts of this set appear well made and feel pleasant in the hand. Setup is a snap, insert batteries and go. Voice quality is good. When it's quiet there isn't a whole lot of white noise coming from the monitor but I still feel it could be less. If you're reading and not actively monitoring the remote room you'll want to turn the monitor off probably. Range of the unit is gravely exaggerated. I put the transmitter in our daughter's room upstairs while I sat in the front yard doing my astronomy activities. There are frequent 'clicks' as the receiver has trouble keeping a lock on the signal, it seems. Our house is made of wood so there isn't a whole lot of material between us. Maybe 1 inner and 1 outer wall. Still the signal makes it but not as confidently as suggested by the 2000 ft range I the box says.
The most annoying thing about this monitor is that after a power failure the transmitter does not turn on by itself. I don't know where the designers of this monitor live but here in CT there are power glitches during storms. You'll want to install batteries in the transmitter. The battery door is hard to open, use a thin bladed screw driver and be patient. I have no idea why they decided to a) not include a rechargeable pack with the product or b) at least allow the customer to install rechargeable batteries. You can probably use your own rechargeable batteries but they won't recharge when the unit is plugged in.
About plugging in. The transmitter power cord is very easily pulled out. You may want to tape it in place if it's in a location with lots of activity such as a nursery :-) The power button is also easily pushed but at least the monitors complain loudly when they don't receive a signal. Put the transmitter on a dedicated location where it will not be disturbed.
The parent units are comfortable and the belt clip is a nice touch as is the recharge cradle. Battery life isn't terrific but should last about a night. I haven't tested it extensively but I remember one night the power got undone and it started beeping at 5AM complaining of a low battery.
Overall I recommend this unit but as you've read there are some pitfalls you need to be aware of.
Customer Review: Beeps way too often - even when it had good reception
Summary: 3 Stars
UPDATE 9/09: We must have had a faulty monitor. After looking and looking, I couldn't get myself to get anything else than this brand. So I decided to try the Graco imonitor Vibe 2 Parent - and have been totally impressed. We've had it for a couple of years now and haven't had the beeping issues at all. The monitor works great. I highly recommend it. I love that I can hear my kids crystal clear - have perfect reception - no beeping and can't hear the neighbor's kids! So don't get this one - get the Graco iMonitor Vibe!
OLD REVIEW: We've had this monitor for 2 years. I bought it because with our old monitor I could hear my neighbor's kids better than I could hear my own - so I didn't want any interference (and wanted to be sure my neighbors didn't hear our kids!) This monitor is good in that you definitely can hear your kids easily - it picks up every tiny little noise - which I did like. The part I didn't like was that it beeps when it doesn't pick up the signal. So middle of the night, even if the lights were green and it was getting reception, if for one second it didn't pick up the signal, it would beep and beep and beep. I would personally rather have it beep after 30 seconds if it couldn't get the signal - but not every single time. Most of the nights, we just had to turn it off because it would keep us awake. Our bedroom is on the same floor as our kids' so it isn't like we were far away so the signal should have stayed strong pretty constantly. I like the idea of it being digital - and not being able to hear the neighbors - but the beeping got too annoying. We are looking for a different monitor. Also, the range wasn't exceptional. My neighbor had a cheap monitor and her monitor easily reached my house without a problem - my monitor would start beeping by the time I got out to the grass. It's a nice monitor for maybe an apt where you have smaller space - and don't want interference from neighbor's monitors. But for a little larger homes, probably not a good idea.