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Panasonic KX-TG5110M 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System and Dual Handsets

Panasonic KX-TG5110M 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System and Dual Handsets

List Price: $279.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very impressive phone save for a few minor gripes.
Review: I waited for this phone to come out for what seemed like forever. I was tempted by other 5.8 Ghz phones, but none of them really measured up. Some were not true 5.8 (2.4 one way and 5.8 the other), the others could not use both handsets at the same time or share a phonebook (*cough* Uniden *cough*). I must tell you, when I got this phone, it was worth the wait.
Pros:

The buttons are very responsive.
True 5.8Ghz phone
Excellent sound quality
Shared phonebook between base and other handsets (you can transfer each number individually)
Almost lifelike speakerphone quality (best that I've heard so far)
Redial of the last 5 made calls
3 mail boxes
Phone conference between handsets and/or base
Call transfer between handsets and/or base
Backlit display and buttons
Privacy button, so other handsets cannot join (if you wish)
Mute button (where have you been all my life, no more covering the mic with a hand)

Cons:

Huge handset (when compared to earlier Panasonic models)
No clock on the handset display (AT&T and Uniden have this feature)
Can't figure out how to erase messages from handset (maybe its just me)

Bottom Line:

I love this phone. Definitely worth the wait. Best panasonic so far and by far the best 5.8 Ghz phone out there right now. (not the cheapest though)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not a bad phone, but not perfect.
Review: I recently returned my Uniden 448-2 to pick up this phone. Here are some of my reasons for the change:

The TG5110M is expandable up to eight handsets vs Uniden's two. This is a great feature for those with families or if you'd simply like more cordless phones around the house. I also enjoy the intercom feature that allows you to page any one of the eight optional handsets or the base unit individually. Want to talk to Sarah in the family room? Press intercom then the number of the family room handset. It's really user friendly and convenient. I also like the speaker phone on the handsets. Tired of holding the phone while talking to grandma for hours? Set the phone on the couch and talk from a distance. A really cool feature.

As a fair reviewer I also have a few gripes. For one, there's no speed dial. With the Uniden you can press one button to dial a number, and with the Panasonic you have to scroll through the phone book. There is also no distinctive ring option that some cordless phones have. I also have a problem with the design. This phone seems very bulky and heavy compared to most cordless phones on the market. It doesn't feel comfortable in your hand. I also think that the talk and off buttons should be backlit. Some have complained about battery life, but unless you plan on talking for over four hours straight it shouldn't be much of a concern. Hey, you have at least two of them, switch!

Bottom line, this isn't a perfect phone, in fact I don't think it's enough phone for the money, but it's not terrible either. It has some nice features and would make a great addition to any household.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not worth the money
Review: I bought this to replace my 3-4 year old Panasonic 2.4 GHz which worked great all around. This one has some features that I like, but the Caller ID works only about 1/2 the time, even the base doesnt get it, and I get static from about 25 feet away.

I thought the new frequency would be better, however it is actually worse in terms of noise, and range.

If I could buy my old setup again, I would in a skinny minute, but alas, it is not availiable

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Eats Batteries Like No Tomorrow
Review: Generally I like Panasonic products and if I'd have rated this product when I first bought it, I'd have given it 5 stars. Six months of living with it has dimmed my like for it a lot. I've had to replace every battery in it (I've got the original 2 handsets and 2 more) once and the second set of batteries are weakening. I get a maximum 1.5 hours talk time now. Batteries are very expensive and not carried by my local retailers (Fry's, Circuit City, etc.) except for batteries plus ($18 each). Anyway after about 3 months batteries really start getting weak and deep discharging with long recharges does nothing, within about 4 months, you're down to 5-6 minutes of talk time. I don't have this problem with my other NIcad powered electronics, including my 2.4 Ghz Panasonic phone, so I can only conclude that Panasonic under engineered the power requirements for this phone. Avoid this turkey.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: great features, not good sound quality
Review: Being a big fan of panasonic phones I got this to replace my aging 2.4ghz panasonic coldless. The features are great, handset speaker phone, extra handset, ability to check messages from handsets, but for some reason, I'm getting bad sound quality, kind of a crackeling sound when i turn on the phone, my wife says that all calls sound like you're on a bad cell phone call because it breaks up. Well back it goes to amazon, I think I will try the 2.4ghz with 2 handsets. It should be known that I do use Vonage voIP, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but old panasonic 2.4 ghz worked fine on it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good design, but not completely thought out
Review: This is a flexible, easy to use phone system which has a number of valuable features, is an excellent design, but has some flaws in its execution you've got to live with.

There are plenty of bonus features, that other reveiwers have detailed, so I'm just going to touch on a few key points that you should consider when deciding to buy.

A KEY point in its favor: It is a TRUE 5.8 Ghz system. That is transmissions between handset and base unit are 5.8 Ghz BOTH ways. Most (if not all) other systems anywhere near this price range are 5.8 Ghz one way and 2.4 Ghz the other--but they're still marketed as "5.8 Ghz". Caveat Emptor. This is significant if your handsets are going to be near any wireless network you might set up. 2.4 Ghz Will interefere. Sometimes it's the computer that gets messed sometimes, it's the phone itself (AT&T for example, advises not to put their "5.8" Ghz phones near any wireless device, the phone experiences interference). So, if you've got a wireless network and you want to use a wireless handset near one of the componenets, for now this system is your only choice.

It's easy to set up, and relatively intuitive, although to take full advantage of its capabilities you need to play with it. Some things take a bit of getting used to. For example, the answering system will always play unheard messages first, not all messages in the order received. So, if there's a message you want to rehear that you've already listened to but you've got 5 new messages, you Have to listen to them first before you can get to the older ones. On the other hand, once you get used to it, it's actually kind of nice to always have messages you haven't heard come up first. There are a number of design calls the engineers made that are like that (for one thing, the robot talks too much--once you've learned their system it still treats you like a novice).

You can add up to six more auxiliary handsets.

3 mailboxes accessible remotely or from any handset is also nice in theory, but most folks may not use it.

I am quite pleased with my system, but there are a few downers you need to know when considering this unit.

1. Its range is not that good, about 2/3 of the range of the 2.4 Ghz GE system I replaced. Still more than adequate for homes, but I can't take my handset to the neighobr 2-3 houses down and use the system as I could with the 2.4 Ghz I replaced. Don't know why this is, 5.8 Ghz is supposed to have Greater range.

2. For whatever reason, Panasonic chose Nicad batteries for this system. Maybe to hit a price point, but this is a Serious limitation. Nicads don't retain their charge all that long or have a great shelf life. They also have "a memory". In other words, if you recharge the handset when its 1/4 depleted, pretty soon that length of time (1/4 of its capacity)will be all the battery will last before it needs to be recharged again. In fact, Panasonic's instructions say once charged, to leave the handsets Off their charger/stands (or I guess unplug the charger/stands) unitl the handsets show they are nearly depleted ("charge for six hours" shows in the screen). This is the biggest limitation of this system. However, there is an easy fix. A number of manufacturers make NiMH replacements for Panasonic Nicads, e.g., the Eveready ER-P111. RUN and get NiMH batteries for this system, it totally transfroms it. But allow that you're going to have to spend $15-20/handset to do tis. I did, and it was worth it. Panasonic says that their next 5.8 Ghz system will have NiMH, but not sure when it's coming out.

3. The caller cannot leave a message of any length as can be done with most phones. You must select 1,2 or 3 minute maximum recording lengths for messages. Now the system only has a total of 15 minutes recording time shared between all three mailboxes. This includes the outgoing message. If you set it to 3 mintue incoming messages and you have verbose callers, you could find out that you can only hold four messages unless you purge often. My advice is to set the incoming message length to one minute, but Be Sure To Tell Callers This In Your Greeting because most people today are expecting an answer machine to allow infinite length messages.

So, a mixed bag. Good quality, but a couple of dubious design decisions. If you've got a wireless network, this is really your only choice (for now). If you get NiMH batteries and adapt to the way it works, it's a really good system, worth the money. I'm happy with it, but also know it could have been a really great system.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pathetic range
Review: I purchased one of these units based on the performance of the 2.4 unit and the other reviewers. I am sad to say this unit performed misably. Oh, don't get me wrong all the bells and whilstes in the extensive feature set worked great, when standing next to the base. But the distance you could move away from the base before being out of range was pathetic. I consider this to be MOST INPORTANT after all that is why I bought a CORDLESS PHONE. OK, to be fair and accurate I should say that I received the out of range signal when walking to another room. If that room had one of its four walls made out of concrete or brick then I received the frustrating out of range message on the handset. The frustrating thing was that the solid wall did not have to be between the base and the handset! I tested this phenomenon in various rooms with similar results. I even tested another unit. They just do not work over any distance once you place a concrete or brick wall anywhere near the signal path.

Now some may say I was expecting too much so I tried a control experiment. Got a $19.95 900 MHz phone from R*dio Shack and talked the same path through my house. Perfect signal even around the concrete walls! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

So now what have I learned - the 5.8 unit is not ready for Primetime! If you want an expensive short range phone and live in a small house/apartment without interior load bearing walls (concrete/brick) then this may due. Note this is an expensive solution. Also DO NOT believe the sale staff in the large retail chains that say they can talk from one end of their store to the other. That may be and we should all be so luck as to have a 40,000 square foot living room.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No Parts
Review: This unit does not ship with the necessary parts. Even worse, the missing parts can be ordered only from Panasonic (Radio Shack will not know what you are talking about) for $30+ including shipping and handling. In early May, 2004 they are BACK ORDERED for over a month!

The problem is that the base unit only has two ports for telephone cords. If you have two two-line telephone jacks in the wall, you are ok. If you have four wall jacks you will need two KX-J24 T-Adaptors plus two 2 wire telephone line cords. The T adaptors are available only from Panasonic. On May 3,2004 these were back ordered until June 6, 2004.

This phone looks nice sitting on my desk, but until the parts arrive, it is only a two line phone.

This is unacceptable -- a $500 piece of equipment that requires unusual adaptors that are not readily available.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Phone System
Review: This phone system is great! We love it. Lightning shipping!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Is it a lemon or Not any good - time will tell
Review: We purchased this phone 31 Dec 03. We have had problems with the life of the handsets meaning, we charge it, the next day we can be on the handset with it showing (3 life batteries) then at the drop of a hat, its at one, and then I'm disconnected. Bought new batteries, for both handsets with no difference. Panasonic not much help. I took mine back to where I bought it, and we decided maybe we just got a lemon, so are trying a brand new one. If its not better, the store has agreed to refund us the money.


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