BT 150 Digital Baby Monitor

I bought this item about 4 months ago after giving up on the Tomy Platinum after having two Tomy units that broke over 18 months (if you're deciding between this and the Tomy do read my review on that item).

I was a little reluctant to buy a product that BT have stuck their name on as the BT brand just means 'mediocre' to me but I'm glad I overcame my irrational brand prejudice as this item is just BRILLIANT. It's solid, the features and product design are well thought out and the battery life is phenomenal, which is such a huge help when you're travelling with your baby monitor. A small point but indicative of the attention to detail is that the baby light is a warm yellow rather than a cold blue as on the Tomy (which was nasty and felt like one of those UV fly traps left on in shops over night).

It's probably got more features than I need but hardly a negative particularly given it's well priced. After 18 months of being disappointed and annoyed by the Tomy I'm just delighted with this BT product. It's cured me of my brand prejudice to the extent that I've just bought a BT internet radio.

The BT Baby Monitor 150 is a well designed baby monitor incorporating a whole host of handy functions to help parents with keeping an eye (or ear) on their little ones once they have been put down for the night.

Both core sections of the monitor are constructed using a thick plastic casing giving them a sturdy exterior in case of any accidental knocks or droppages. Both sections need to be placed relatively close to a plug socket so that they can be plugged in (the leads that are supplied give about a metre's worth of length).

The monitor includes a temperature gauge which alerts the parents when the room's temperature is either higher or lower than the pre-set temperature range (e.g. between 14 and 23 degrees centigrade). The pre-set temperature range can be easily adjusted, allowing for total control for the parents.

The monitor has five different lullabies it can play to your baby/babies, which each last for 15 minutes on a constant loop. You can even record your own lullaby, lasting a maximum of 2 minutes. This is a nice little feature for all those aspiring musicians out there or simply for parents who would like their baby/babies to be soothed to sleep by their voices. You can even plug in an MP3 player or other similar device and have the monitor play music from that instead. There's also a `talk' function which basically acts as a one-sided walkie-talkie between the base unit and the parent unit (great fun for scaring the hell out of your partner when they go to check up on the baby-babies).

Other handy features are a comforting nightlight to help the baby/babies get to sleep with. A torch on the parents unit (this is a lot handier than you would have thought). A `paging' function for when you undoubtedly misplace the parents portable unit. There's also a timer, so that you can monitor/schedule how long you want the baby/babies to sleep for. Finally the unit includes a digital clock, which to be honest we haven't used once - but maybe others do!

All of the alerts and speakers can have their volumes and/or sensitivities adjusted, including using the vibrate facility (like with a mobile phone). The parents unit also comes with an incredibly handy clip so that it can be easily secured on to a belt or item of clothing. This means you can get on with things around the house without having to remember to constantly pick up the monitor.

The batteries in the parent monitor are automatically re-charged on the charging cradle each time you put it back on it. The rechargeable batteries should give up to 14 hours of continuous performance. The parent unit takes 2 x AA rechargeable batteries (supplied) and the monitor unit can take 4 x AA Alkaline batteries (not supplied) if it wasn't going to be plugged in to a mains socket.

I bought this monitor after having several Tomy and Fisher Price ones and this one is exceptional. The quality of the sound is remarkable and I would certainly recommend you buy this product. The temperature reading on the monitor is very useful to.