BT Diverse 6450 Trio review

BT 6450 is an excellent product which came second to the Panasonic in Which? magazine's review. I believe it should have come top. There is only one negative comment I would make; the power on light on the additional charger bases is too bright especially in a bedroom. Both BT's & Which?'s review state that it cannot be mounted on a wall. That is true of the base unit but the additional units can be wall mounted and a bracket is supplied with each additional unit.

The service from Ligo was excellent. Kept informed by email when product despatched and it arrived the next day. Highly recommended.
Regards JR

Top Notch - love the headset although my wife things it looks too camp: ;-). No instructions how to register th headset with the phone though. Had to search online in the end. In summary a good product.
Regards Malcolm

Works exactly as expected. Excellent range and quality and a doddle to set up. Headset is a real bonus. Only minor quirk is that I could only upload something like 8 pictures before the phones ran out of memory, and those pictures are obscured with the callout box containing the callers name when I get an incoming call. Think I can live with that though!
Regards Jeremy

Parcel arrived very promptly and worked right away! and the biggest bonus the instructions were in fairly plain English, even I could work out how to put numbers in my
phone book, first time ever. I dont suppose I shall ever learn how to use all the clever bits but as I'm of a generation that wants a phone to be a phone I am quite happy. The second handset is very useful as I can have it permanently along side my chair or take it around the garden, and the ring is nice and loud! Glad I stuck to BT, thanks
Regards doris

Fantastic pair of Items that work very well together. Only slight problem was pairing them up, but once achieved all was well.
Regards Ms. Andrea Gold

The BT 6450 does just what it says on the box. Uploading numbers from my mobile Sim card was easy. The numbers can also be transferred just as easily to the other handsets. The controls are intuitive and I would recommend it to anyone.
Regards Michael

All in all a really great phone system - much better than any I've had in the past. I particularly like the ability to set up a phone book on one phone and then transfer it to each other handset - a bugbear that I've had with previous telephones. I particularly chose this phone system for the sms support. I provide out-of-hours support for an IT company and the alerts are sent via sms. It would be nice if the 'new sms' alert was more configurable - ie volume, tone, repeat frequency. The only other complaint I have is that the screen doesn't turn off when the phone is on it's charger - a little annoying in my bedroom - soon remedied with the judicious use of a spare sock!
Regards Mr. Richard Smith

I have had several cordless phones lately but returned all items as unsatisfactory - battery life, functionality, reception. However, I will be sticking with the 6450 trio as it meets all my needs. I have found it to be robust, has good range & battery life.
The only dissappointment was that my wife spent ages with each handset downloading pictures of the people in our directory only to find that a speech-bubble announcing the caller covers their picture when they call!
Regards Barry

A clever phone that shares of lot of the features of a mobile. Good points: Can load contacts from a mobile phone's sim card; can customise different ringtones for specific callers; easy to access the answering machine from any of the handsets or another line. Poor point: Only lists missed calls if the caller leaves a message.
Regards Kate

Ligo service excellent - delivered free next day.

Phone: excellent except vol - a bit quiet on full (I'm young with good hearing!). Doesn't ruin the phone - I'm happy to keep it - but I find my self using the handsfree function when a louder earpiece is required.

It's looking like I may not be able to get my fax machine to grab faxes via the digital ansaphone, although this is probably as much a problem with the HP PSC2510 as the phone system. May be worth checking compatability if this is important to you.
Regards Peter

Very pleased with prompt delivery. No problems so far . Easy to handle and use Have not yet had time to make use of all the extra options.
Regards Mr. Mark Cwynarski

Great features at a fairly inexpensive price, easy set up and use.
Regards Simon Turner

Very easy to set up and sync phone books, very useful in being able to upload phone sims as well. Only item that doesn't work is SMS - it is easy to create and send an SMS but after a while it reports it has encountered errors. This is most likely a BT thing as I already subscribe to the necessary BT service to enable this but somehow the registration is not acheived. So in the end it does not work as instructions but this is not the fault of the product as I guess it would happen with any system.
Regards David

Great piece of kit, easy to set up and the SIM card reader makes transferring numbers very easy. Also compatible with older BY phones
Regards Paul

I ordered these phones from Ligo and they were delivered the next day. Good service from Ligo there.

As for the phones, well, so far, they have been excellent. They are easy to use, very clear sounds with no interference, and if you are familiar with toying with a mobile phone it'll make customising them (such as ringtone, wallpaper picture, etc) easy. The phones are actually larger than I expected, but thats no bad thing because they fit nicely in your hand, and also snugly up against your ear.

The sim card reader is a good idea, which saves you having to enter all your phone numbers, you just insert your mobiles sim card, and it reads them all in for you. You can then simply transfer the phonebook between phones. However, it didn't read my sim card, as my mobile phone allows many numbers per name, and this BT phone doesn't support this format (you have to have 1 entry for Andy home, then another for Andy Mobile, etc. rather than just one called 'Andy' with all the numbers listed within). However, it only took 20 minutes to enter about 30 numbers, it's easy to use to add names and numbers.

The answerphone is well implemented, allowing you to screen calls before you answer, and the display makes it easy to know how many messages you have. The playback volume is also fairly loud, which hasn't always been the case on previous BT phones I've owned.

The handsfree speaker is ok for use in quiet rooms, but needs to be louder to hold a handsfree conversation in my opinion. This speaker problem is also apparant when you choose certain ringtones, even on their loudest volume ring setting they aren't always loud enough. There are, however, lots of ringtones to choose from and some are louder than others. You can also load your own (in .mid format) if you so choose, or, (and I like this one!) you can just record any sounds as a ringtone directly onto the phone!

So overall I recommend this phone. The most important features are there: crystal clear clarity, ease of use, lots of settings to toy with if you choose to. I can't comment on reliability yet, but all seems good so far!
Regards J Thomas

Does what it says on the tin. Good phones, easy setup, improvement over older models,
sim card reader very useful.
Regards Nigel

Excellent product and excellent service.

The BT Diverse 6450 delivers a high level of technology in a simple to use package. Pricier than some units I looked at - but worth the extra expense. No cheap plastic handsets, these feel solid and are of a very good quality. Simple set up and as easy to use as a mobile phone, the system provides excellent call quality and a useful intercom, and overall I am very impressed!!
Regards Ms. Sandra Davies

Our (now defunct) old cordless phone was about 7 years old, and the BT Diverse is an interesting mixture of an old-style cordless and a mobile. Fairly easy to get the hang of, menu system OK. Handsets are a decent size given that I often use the home phone for long calls to parents. Bad points - the additional (third) handset arrived with its batteries wrongly inserted, so initially wouldn't charge up; the ringer isn't very loud even on the highest setting; names entered on Handset 1 don't transfer to the other sets so if you check your calls from there you still only get the phone number. Good points - handset size; good sized colour screen; easy to use. I'm quite happy with it, though I haven't tried all the features eg. headset, computer/SIM card connection etc.
Regards C

Some nice features like the sim card reader - I had the system up and running with all my numbers in no time! Great set of phones but dissapointed that the base unit cannot be used to answer calls - you need to find a handset when it rings! A word of advice - don't put the base unit in your bedroom!
Regards George

High quality home phone. Particularly like SIM transfer to handset and then the ability to transfer the phone book from one handset to the others at the push of a button. Phone feels pretty much like a mobile, you can store photos of people with their number and download photos for the screensaver and ringtones. Very easy to set up and use. A good buy worth the money.
Regards Mark

This product was delivered the day after ordering it – an excellent service.

We found it well made and well presented, and it looks and feels to be a quality item.

In the late 1960s I attended a meeting with John Bray, then head of research for Post Office Telephones (now BT) and Alec Reeves, the inventor of PCM. [ Digital representation of sound, as used in this and many other systems.] One of the subjects discussed was the future of the telephone. We now live in that future and this is what the telephone has become. It is becoming more than a crude telecommunications instrument: it is turning into a device to enable people to converse at a distance with some of the features of a personal meeting. Also see www alecharleyreeves com where Reeves writes of the “optimum telecommunications coupling” between individuals.

If you want to speak with someone in person, you do not burst in and just start. With this device, the recipient knows who is calling even by the ring tone, so he can prepare mentally for the conversation or indeed even decide not to accept it. When speaking users can see a still picture of the person calling which adds to the meeting of minds.

However there are still some technical snags which could be improved.

The instrument has the ability to play different midi files when different people telephone the user. Midi is a far better feature than using ring tone files which are expensive to buy. Midi files can be downloaded from the Internet for nothing.

However the number of files allowed appears very limited compared to the 200 numbers that the system is capable of storing. Reducing the length of the files did not help.

Similarly different pictures can be displayed according to the caller. Reducing the size or the resolution of pictures did not increase the number that could be stored. Also, when the conversation is in progress the picture is obliterated by a needless message that says “call in progress”.

Of course these two defects are due to memory size and memory management. Reeves proposed a magnetic tape loop for this sort of thing, (see website) which would be pretty unreliable and impracticable. He never predicted the magnitude of the dramatic fall in integrated circuit prices, although it was beginning when he perished in 1971. The reality of this age is one gigabyte of non volatile memory in devices with a similar price to these handsets [mp3 players, “quadcorders” ie combined low end still and video cameras, audio recorders and mp3 players]. But it is clear that these “Diverse” telephones have far less than that.

The other failing is the fact that although there is a USB link for the purposes of uploading midi files and pictures, it cannot be used to make backups of the handsets, or update the software. Ideally a complete “dump” onto a PC of each handset and its contents should be possible, so it could be recorded onto CDs.

Although it is possible to copy the names and numbers between handsets, it is not possible to copy the pictures or ring tone between them. Again this is irritating, as every one has to be done by hand. There is a potential for 200 names.

Thus I find the software “austere”. But then Reeves lived an austere life and was austere in his predictions for the future of PCM. He did not like the idea of using it for entertainment. When asked about the potential of recording using a laser on disks (CDs, DVDs) or for radio or TV he felt it trivialised his invention. But there are features of these telephones that he would have liked - those features that enable people to get on with each other as individuals.
Regards Mr. John de Rivaz

Service was great. the phone works really well and very easy to use. The batteries last well if you use the battery safe mode.
Regards Annemarie

The Diverse 6540 set look good (apart from the BT logo being far too prominent) and in the short time I have had them seem to perform well. Using your own pictures is fun, and finding your own ringtones is good although they appear to be limited to midi format unless you record your own on the phone itself. These features bring the home phone closer to the minimum expected of mobile phones. I have not tried texting yet as BT prices also mimic mobile phone operators being ludicrously high - if they halved the price I've no doubt they would still make a good margin and get a lot of custom. These represent a good buy in that it is well-featured and competent, but the price seems high so you pay a little too much for the features.
Regards Mr. David Young

Delighted with the service provided by Ligo. We are much happier with this phone than the Philips Zenia 200 it replaces. Intuitive menus. Even my wife is coping well.
Regards Mr. G Donaldson

After speaking with one or two friends, who had purchased other phones, although cheaper, there were definite negatives about their purchases. I looked at a couple of digital cordless phones and wanted a trio pack to place in different areas of the house. The BT Diverse 6450 is fantastic and is so easy to set up. I did it all in 10 minutes. The instructions are very simple to follow and so far I'm exceptionally pleased at the quality and functions my phone offers. It also looks very smart. Thanks LiGo. Giannina Maresca
Regards Ms. Giannina Maresca

Brilliant! Very easy to setup and customise. Adding numbers from SIM is the main reason I chose these phones but have discovered other great functionalities, recording own ring tones etc.
Regards EMMA

Thanks for a very efficient service and I've been pleased with the phones, so far.
Regards Bob

I worked my way systematically through the manual (unusual, I know), but it was very easy to setup. Menus were consistent throughout and although it's not the cheapest phone on the market it combined all the facilities I wanted:
- answer phone with a sensible number of rings before it cuts in, I kept the default 20 secs
- text messaging
- ability to share a directory with a mobile phone
- hands free
- cordless
- clear speech reproduction
- plus fun features like downloading my own pictures onto the display background.
Regards Mr. Bob Tinley

Excellent! I'd been looking to replace my current phones, and waiting for the right product was well worthwhile. An excellent phone from BT with many useful features.
Easy set-up, useful on screen menu's, up and running within minutes! Large viewing screen with added bonus of colour.
Regards Mr. Steve Welstead

As with most things in this world you get what you pay for. The BT 6540 Trio is not cheap but it is a quality product. Very easy to set up and the menus are easy to follow. Good features and an excellent handbook. Highly recommended. Superb service from Ligo Electronics
Regards Geoff Marshall

Easy to install, sim reading facility makes building up the directory a joy - the system has lots of features with clear menus which make it simple to use. Phone has a nice feel to it - raised buttons and display make dialing the wrong number a thing of the past.
Regards Mrs. Shonah McKechnie

Bought a triple pack from Ligo (decent price and good delivery by the way) to replace a double pack of Equinox 1200 (my infant daughters finally dropped them on the floor once too often!). They were ok, but these are much nicer phones to operate, thanks in part to MUCH better quality colour screens. In the box is some easy to install software which allows you to customise the background image and ringtones and is very straightforward to do ... each phone has a small USB port on it's base and they plug straight into your computer (they even give you the cable) .. very easy, very clever!

You can copy from your mobile's SIM card individually or en bloc using the base station (which itself is a lot better quality than the old equinox one and has a digital answer machine which I didn't have before) and then copy the entire phone book to each handset wirelessly which is simple to do and a brilliant idea (or each handset can have it's own independant list of course). I don't think it can copy back to the SIM (which would be REALLY clever ..) but it's still very useful.

Initially I was a little disappointed by the quality of the finish on the phones, the shiny black section from the screen to the top looks a bit low-rent (so maybe four and a half stars .. not five), but nevertheless I would still be happy to recommend them. Definitely a step up from the Equinox 1200. Obviously lots of the functions these phones can give you require enhancing your BT service to enable SMS, caller ID etc., but with all the functions available .. well, you'll want to!

I'm not usually so enthusastic about gizmos .. but if you want a very very good phone, with lots of functions and easy customisation .. I set up all three phones (with three different backgrounds to the screens .. showing the errant infants faces!) within 30 minutes - which included installing and learning the software! .. piece of cake. Get them, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

(I just hope I can keep them out of the kids' hands this time .. or are a bit toughter when juggled. Time no doubt will tell)
Regards David Farndon