Rating: 
Summary: Great features; reasonable performance
Review: I have to disagree with the previous reviewer. I found KX-TC1980B a terrifically well-designed phone, with great features and impressive performance. Each line has its own settings, from ring style and number of rings before answer to outgoing message. All features are available from either handset or basestation, and the display on the handset allows for menu-driven programming for most functions. The handset is well balanced, and cradles nicely against the shoulder.As with other good DSS phones, the range is great. We get about 100 yards. There's a slight hiss, common to DSS, and sometimes a click once or twice in a conversation, again often found in DSS. The usual DSS echo is not apparant, however. The only slight wish I've got is that the phone could be a bit louder in amplifying my own outgoing voice and the incoming caller's. But otherwise we're delighted with it. . .
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing performance
Review: I purchased this for the security of digital DSS, and was pleased by the feature set. After several months use, though, I'm looking for a new phone. The features are still a good match for what I need, but the ability of this set to keep a clear connection from handset to base is very poor. When the connection is good, it's very good, but it often decays as you converse, whether or not you're moving. The incoming sound begins to break up and you're required to manually search for new channels by pressing a button on the handset. This includes a noticeable delay during which you cannot hear the calling party, and they can't hear you. Given the ballyhoo about 900 MHz and DSS, one would expect this to phone keep a clear, steady connection - but it doesn't, even when you're in the same room as the base! The supposed superiority of this system, and the extended range it supposedly provides is useless without being able to handle the simplest of situations. Perhaps other manufacturers have better implementations of 900 MHz DSS? One can only hope.
Rating: 
Summary: No more Panasonic at home
Review: I purchased this phone 1-1/2 years ago and use it as our main phone, so it does get a lot of use. The features are wonderful (for example, the length of the call stays on the display for a few seconds after hanging up so you can see how long the phone call lasted, you can see which line is in use at any time, you don't listen to the outgoing message with each incoming), and this was the only phone I found at the time that had everything I wanted (2-line DSS, CallerID, speaker, answerer). The answerer is very clear, I can erase 1 message at a time, or all messages (same thing with CallerID). Now for the bad news: no mute button on the handset, CallerID usually takes 3-4 rings to show up, and the main reason I gave this only 2 stars (and the reason I am shopping again) - dropouts. I will be in the middle of a conversation and the line will seem to go blank. The person on the other end can hear me, but I can't hear him or her. It's gotten worse over time, and it is really annoying, especially when the doctor called me to give me some news last week, and I couldn't hear him for at least 10 seconds (the longest 10 seconds of my life). Also, we just got 10 digit dialing, and if you enter your correct area code, the phone will display only 7 digits locally, which doesn't allow you to return calls through CallerID. I fixed it by putting in a "home" area code that is somewhere in the Midwest. I could live with the inconvienences because this phone is packed with other good things
Rating:
Summary: This phone is the dropout king
Review: I purchased this phone 1-1/2 years ago and use it as our main phone, so it does get a lot of use. The features are wonderful (for example, the length of the call stays on the display for a few seconds after hanging up so you can see how long the phone call lasted, you can see which line is in use at any time, you don't listen to the outgoing message with each incoming), and this was the only phone I found at the time that had everything I wanted (2-line DSS, CallerID, speaker, answerer). The answerer is very clear, I can erase 1 message at a time, or all messages (same thing with CallerID). Now for the bad news: no mute button on the handset, CallerID usually takes 3-4 rings to show up, and the main reason I gave this only 2 stars (and the reason I am shopping again) - dropouts. I will be in the middle of a conversation and the line will seem to go blank. The person on the other end can hear me, but I can't hear him or her. It's gotten worse over time, and it is really annoying, especially when the doctor called me to give me some news last week, and I couldn't hear him for at least 10 seconds (the longest 10 seconds of my life). Also, we just got 10 digit dialing, and if you enter your correct area code, the phone will display only 7 digits locally, which doesn't allow you to return calls through CallerID. I fixed it by putting in a "home" area code that is somewhere in the Midwest. I could live with the inconvienences because this phone is packed with other good things
Rating:
Summary: Look Elsewhere!
Review: I researched the purchase of a new phone for quite a while. When I came upon this one, I thought it was the best. I was wrong! There is no caller id display on the base unit. If the handset is away, you will not know who is calling. The sound quality is awful. Nobody that calls us can hear anything! In my stubbornness, I was really thinking that it was their phone that was the problem. It couldn't be the...Panasonic that I had just purchased, right? Wrong! While I was at work, I called my husband and the only thing that told me he was on the line was the lack of ringing. I could not hear a word he said. If you are reading this while looking to buy a cordless phone, know this: The output is awful and look elsewhere!
Rating:
Summary: No more Panasonic at home
Review: I've had in the past excelent experience with my Panasonic cordless phones, but not this time. I payed the price of this...phone because of the quality I expected, but PLEASE, dont make the same mistake, this phone has very poor quality. For a few weeks everything was ok, now, the second line has no audio, line one, can suddenly hang up, and the dialing pad dials several numbers at the same touch...
Rating:
Summary: You can do much better
Review: OK, I admit that I lived with this phone for 12 months, but I can assure you that it was painful. It would be a very solid contender if not for one problem - dropouts. You are talking on the phone when sound is suddenly garbled and you hear painful squealing and squeaks coming from the earpiece. What to do? Press the channel button and it will clear up. That's not so bad if it just happens once a month, or even once a week. This one does it much more frequently. For me, its several times a day. I returned the phone once and got another unit, but it was the same story. Then I convinced myself that a light or my computer was interfering, so I kept relocating equipment. It still was a problem. Finally I did some more research online and then I discovered that this line of Panasonic phones has a reputation for this dropout problem. Personally, I'm trying to get Panasonic to make good. So far it does not look too likely. Do yourself a favor, look elsewhere. I went with a seperate cordless phone (Uniden 9966) and answering machine (Casio). I am a lot happier.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The features are okay, but it suffers from two main performance problems: --Volume is too low on the caller's side, and there's no way to improve it. They simply have a hard time hearing you. --Range is poor, compared to other 900mhz digitals, and it suffers from dropout, up to a second or two, even when close to the basestation.
Rating:
Summary: Great Phone #1
Review: This is a great phone. It has wonderful receptions with 25 different channels. Can work very nicely when the handset is far from the base unit. You have so many options with it. On the answering machine, you can choose the number of rings, what line you want the message on and you can make a different message for each line. You can also buy a headphone set where you can plug it in the the handset and put the phone on your belt with the belt clip and talk totally hands free. With the caller ID/call waiting on the back of the phone, you can know who is calling even when the handset is on the base.
Rating:
Summary: Great Phone, #1
Review: This phone is great and I disagree with the person who says this phone is bad. It has great sound quality and can still work nicely far from the base unit. You have so many options with the digital answering machine. You can make two different messages, one for each line. You can choose the number of rings and can record upto 15 minutes of messages. The caller id/call waiting is great because when you are resting the phone on the base, you can see who is calling. The belt clip is very handy when you are walking around and need both hands. You can even connect a headset to the phone for totally hands free use.
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