Caller ID is great for screening calls, but you still have to run across the room just to see that someone's calling whom you'd rather not talk to. By letting you add custom rings to signal the caller (along with digital pictures for the fun of it), the VTech i5801 cordless phone and i5881 base ($240) takes most of the unknown out of answering the phone.

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The i5801's chief innovation is the addition of a colorful, backlit LCD screen on the handset, comparable to what you find on many new cellphones. By plugging the i5801 into your PC, you can download digital pictures and assign an image to the numbers you have programmed into the phone. The result is that whenever your brother calls from St. Louis, the phone displays a photo of him by the Gateway Arch. You also download and assign your favorite songs to your favorite relatives–you know, like the screeching strings of the Psycho shower scene for your in-laws.

The handset and the base are sold separately. While the combined price isn't unreasonable for a 5.8-gigahertz phone loaded with features, getting it all in one box would be more convenient. And, while downloading pictures from the PC isn't too difficult, a smart card slot built into the handset would spare the hassle of plugging into a computer.

This cordless set rings true.
–Kenneth Terrell