Testing, testing...

An essential tool for any parent is the baby monitor. It's actually one of the tools I have heard the older generation actually praise as opposed to the usual mocking which is heard whenever there is a mention about all of the new baby gadgets out there.
Anyway, there are lots of these monitors out there and they all make wonderful claims, and the problem is there is no way to test out these gadgets without ripping open the boxes and using them.
Some have a special pad you place under the crib mattress which will sound an alarm once no movement is detected. It is supposed help against SIDS. The review on this monitor at $150 from Rob's sister is, it isn't worth the money. Apparently it tends to go off if the conditions it is used in aren't perfect, and I think they had a few false alarms, which doesn't do the heart very good at 3 in the morning.
Rob and I both agreed we did not want one of the new video monitors that they have, and we thought it best to leave spying on our child until he turns at least 16.
We chose the monitor we put on our registry because of its long range. We figured with our property and business it would be handy to be able to be outside etc. when our little one is asleep and a monitor with a longer than average range would be beneficial.
So after charging up the batteries we put it to the test. It seemed to work well, and even though we didn't test its range, we were quite happy with our selection. All was good until the phone rang, or we used the microwave, and then the thing went crazy. The interference was annoying, and we acutally didn't realize until we heard someone else's monitor, that it's not actually supposed to have that annoying clicking sound.
Our monitor was a dud and the interference was starting to drive us crazy.
I started doing some more research on baby monitors and read some reviews online. I came across a new monitor just out on the market that is digital, and is guaranteed not to have any interference. I haven't been able to find it in stores yet, but to my surprise, while out shopping last week I discovered another digital-type monitor. I read over the box carefully and it said its digital technology was guaranteed to have no interference. So, $90 later, and I was ready to put this claim to the test.
I get the monitor home, unpack it and after a day of charging the batteries we were ready to go. We turned on the battery powered unit in Quinn's room and took the parent unit downstairs. We turned them on, and there were red lights going off everywhere. Rob and I frantically read the instructions and it turns out you have "pair" up the two units, so they will talk to each other, even though in the instruction manual it proudly tells us that each nursery and parent unit is made specifically to only work with each other. So the next time Quinn goes for a nap, we try to "pair" the units up. Everything was working fine until I came downstairs, then the red lights went off again. Apparently our "pairing" exercise didn't work very well. We went back to the instruction booklet, where it tells us that if the red light goes on it means it is out of range, or it could be do to interference i.e. walls, ceilings, electronic devices, flourecsent lightbulbs etc., despite the manufacturer's guarantee. Great, we bought another dud.
So, at bedtime that night, Rob and I methodically go through the instructions, and finally the units are now talking to each other, even though this exercise in frustration has left Rob and I silent partners. After about an hour the red light goes off again. By this time we give up, hook up the old monitor and promise to figure it all out the next day.
Nap time rolls around again and we discover the batteries in the nursery unit are dead. They barely lasted a day, and they aren't rechargeable. Great, another device that gives us reason to start looking into buying stocks in a battery company.
After a couple of days of troubleshooting, we finally figured this new gadet out, and to our great surprise, the guarntee is true to its word. There's no interference and everything seems to be "talking" just fine, including Rob and I.