Two lines, no waiting: Cobra Model CP-473S two-line cordless phone - from Cobra Electronics Group/Dynascan Corp - Hardware Review - evaluation

Home Office Computing, Feb, 1991 by Stephen Miller

Two Lines, No Waiting Cobra Model CP-473S Two-Line Cordless Phone Rating: * * * AT A GLANCE: Most of the functions one would want in both a two-line and a cordless phone. DOCUMENTATION: Clear and concise. SETUP: Involves nothing more than plugging in the AC adapter and attaching the phone-line cords. EASE OF USE: Simple and straightforward. VALUE: Good; like getting two phones in one. SUPPORT: Courteous and helpful; toll-free. LIST PRICE: $250 STREET PRICE RANGE: N/A FEATURES: Pulse/tone switchable; last-number redial; hold; three-way conferencing; handset paging from base; user-selectable security codes MANUFACTURER: Cobra Electronics Group/ Dynascan Corp., 6500 West Cortland Street, Chicago, IL 60635; (312) 889-8870 DIMENSIONS: 7.6 by 2.1 by 1.5 inches WARRANTY: One year The CP-473S is a cordless two-line phone that has a list of useful features. Cordless phones allow for greater range of movement around your office, and having two lines helps you serve your clients more efficiently. Put them together and you have a tempting combination.

The quality of the reception away from the base was quite good even at extreme distances. I test cordless phones by moving as far away from my sixth-floor apartment as possible to determine when the interference becomes too great. The CP-473S managed a block and a half in line-of-sight, and half a block when the building was between the phone and the base unit.

Its conferencing capability allows you to activate both lines at once for three-way conversations. My phone company offers the ability to bring in a third party on each of my phone lines, so using the phone company's conference ability and the Cobra's I could hold simultaneous conversations with four other people.

All of the Cobra's features make for a very useful home-business peripheral. The hold feature allows for easy switching between conversations, and handset paging from the base unit allows me not only to make calls from any location in range of the base unit, but to use it as a quasi intercom system. If you don't have two lines now, you can grow into this feature later on.

-STEPHEN MILLER