Philips
Digital Babyphone

Score:

What you get: Digital 120 channel sound monitor with visual sounds display, out-of-range alarm, talk-back facility and 300m reception. Pager style parent unit with belt clip. Baby unit with night light. Battery or mains operated.

Stockists: tel 0870 900 9070
or visit www.philips.com

babyworld verdict: This is an all singing, all dancing monitoring system which has a fabulously small and portable parent unit and allows you to talk to your baby from another room. If money is no object this is a superb system and can double as an intercom system after baby use.

Parents' comments:

Exceptionally compact and user-friendly parent unit - light-weight, pager style easily clipped to a belt and carried around with you.

Discreet baby unit with good sized night light

Good clear reception easily achieved via a wide choice of channels

Brilliant talk-back facility so your baby can hear you talk to her while you are on your way. System can double up as an intercom with two-way talking once no longer needed as a baby monitor.

Visual lights display of the baby's sounds are quite small - but perfectly clear.

Expensive.

Tomy
Walkabout Digital Monitor

Price: £49.99

Score:

What you get: An 8-channel digital sounds monitor with visual sounds display, 100 m reception, out-of-range alarm and temperature guage and room-to-hot-alarm. Baby unit with stand and night light. Parent unit with dual stand/belt clip.

babyworld verdict: This is a straight-forward, good quality system with some good added features which all work well.

Parents' comments:

Easy to set up either as battery or mains.

Parent unit is quite compact and has a belt clip plus out of range alarm.

8-channels so no risk of interference - good clear reception.

Comprehensive lights display - very clear and obvious.

Very fairly price given the features and technology.

Temperature shows on both parent and baby unit and alarm sounds when baby's room temperature gets over 22 degrees.

Lindam
Baby Talk Digital

Price: £59.99

Score:

What you get:  A digital 20-channel sound monitor with visual sound display, 100m reception, clock, temperature guage, signal strength indicator and battery level indicator. Two free-standing units with belt and cot clips, battery or mains operated. Baby unit with night light.

Stockists: Tel. 0870 1118118, or visit www.lindam.com

babyworld verdict: This is a good, effective monitor with very clear reception and no-hiss technology - only opening the airways when the baby cries - ideal if you suffer from a lot of local interference or hate white-noise hissing!

Parents' comments:

Easy to set up and with good clear sound reception.

Voice activated so parent unit totally silent when child is quiet - no background hiss - but with the reassurance of a light indicator to assure you it is still working even though silent.

Good added features - night-light, temperature guage on both units, and clock.

Temperature shows on both baby and parent monitor so you can check room temperature from a far.

Fair price for the digital technology.

Parent unit quite big to carry around on a belt clip.

Maws
Reassurance Baby Monitor

Price: £64

Score:

What you get:Digital sound monitor with visual sound display, 100m reception with SoundSeek technology - designed to amplify the baby's sound while reducing background noise. Includes a temperature guage, out-of-range warning and low battery indicator. Battery or mains operated. Baby unit with optional night light.

Stockists: Tel: 0500 97 98 99

babyworld verdict: This is a neat system with several high-tech and added extra features which are useful and add value. Not the cheapest but a quality item with good benefits.

Parents' comments:

Good clear reception enhanced if need be by using the sound seek button to differentiate between baby sounds and background noise.

Parent unit compact and light weight but no belt clip.

Useful digital temperature guage on parent unit and night light on baby unit.

Quite pricey but with some useful features for your money.

Only two channels so some risk of interference.

Safety 1st
Rechargeable Monitor

Score:

What you get: A two-channel rechargeable monitor with visual sounds display, 122m reception, low battery warning and adjustable volume. Parent unit with belt clip. Battery or mains operated.

Stockists: Tel. 020 8236 7300, or visit www.safety1st.com

babyworld verdict: This is an uncomplicated monitoring system which does the job for a very fair price.

Parents' comments:

Very straight-forward to set up either with the mains adapters or batteries.

Good clear sound reception with useful lights display.

Very fairly priced.

Simple and fuss free.

Parent unit has a belt clip but also has a very long integral aeriel which makes attaching it to a belt pretty uncomfortable!

Only two-channels so some risk of interference.

Angelcare
Movement and Sound Monitor

Price: £69.99

Score:

What you get: : A two-channel sound monitor with visual sounds display and movement sensor pad to monitor breathing and movement.

Stockists: Tel. 020 8236 7300, or visit www.angelcare.com

babyworld verdict: This is a very reassuring monitor if you have real worries that your baby may stop breathing, it is easy to use and will definitely alert you quickly to a problem - but if you are not overly anxious it is a relatively expensive listening device and not the most user-friendly.

Parents' comments:

Easy to set up as just a sound monitor, or as a sound and movement monitor.

Baby unit is a sweet cloud shape, unobtrusive in the nursery, and has sensitivity adjustments to reduce the risks of false alarms./p>

Parent unit is 'angel' shaped and light weight but does not have any belt clip and is relatively big to carry around.

No-movement detector sets off a very loud piercing alarm which is terrifying - no question you would hear it and run to your baby immediately but leaves you completely shaking when it's a false alarm ie if the baby has just wriggled off the sensor pad.

Movement sensor pad very easy to use and reassuring for anxious parents although the gentle tick designed to reassure you that it is working can be annoying!

No out of range alarm.

Only two channels so some risk of interference.