Panasonic KX-TG5230M 5.8 GHz Expandable Cordless Phone

Rating:
Summary: A nice expandable system with lackluster sound quality.
Review: After researching the options in expandable systems I narrowed my choices to Panasonic KX-TG5230M and Motorola MD-671. So this review is also a comparison of the two.
Handset Sound Quality: I found Motorola to have the best sound quality of any cordless I've ever used. It was rivaling the sound of a corded phone and it was much better than the good sounding 900MHz and 2.4GHz phones I currently own. Panasonic, on the other hand, while not terrible - had a muffled sound and the callers on the other end found its sound muted compared to my other phones. I even exchanged the first set thinking that it could be defective. The voice enhancer provided only a marginal improvement.
Speakerphone Sound Quality: Both bases were excellent. Handsets performed identical to earpiece mode.
Range: I was disappointed with both. I would estimate it at about 80 feet. Both units lost the signal as I approached the front of a neighbor's house. Panasonic did a little better but not by much.
System Wide Features: Nether system excels but this is one area where Panasonic is a clear winner. With Motorola the concept of the phone system appears to be an after-thought. Essentially all it has is an intercom between handsets and a base and the ability to transfer calls. But you cannot rename the handsets, so you have to memorize where Handset N is. Everything else is individual to each piece. There is no way to share phonebook entries between handsets and only the base has the voicemail indicator.
Panasonic expands on Motorola with a room monitor feature and voicemail indicators on handsets. In addition, the handsets IDs are customizable. While I would prefer the base as a central phone book repository, Panasonic at least has the ability to copy phonebook entries between handsets.

As for the looks, I prefer Panasonic multicolor design and overall shape. Motorola looks good by itself but next to Panasonic it appears cheap. However, if you plan to wall mount the base Panasonic's design is less than optimal. Ergonomically I found Motorola slim but long handset very comfortable. Panasonic was also good but for longer conversations I preferred Motorola. Both phones rely heavily on menus and soft keys but Panasonic offers more essential hard keys its menus are more intuitive and easier to navigate. Panasonic's base is shallow on features with no LCD and thus no phonebook ability. I don't think talking caller ID compensates for this omission. Motorola's base has its own LCD and phonebook, but lacks the programmable key to call voice mail. In addition, Motorola base can accepts an optional backup battery that allows the system to operate during power outages.
Motorola systems can be extended to six handsets. Panasonic is limited to four.

In the end, I cannot recommend either system. Motorola's gets kudos for the excellent sound quality but falls short on system wide features and clunky interface. Panasonic's poor sound quality nullifies the otherwise nice expandable system.


Rating:
Summary: Horrible reception
Review: Do not buy this phone. I received this phone and started to call my friends. Most of them told me they could barely hear me and that my voice was breaking up as if I were out of area service on my cell phone (I was actually a few feet away from the base). I am returning this phone today.

Rating:
Summary: Not really Wall Mountable
Review: DON'T buy this phone if you want to mount it in your kitchen. Panasonic advertises the phone as "wall-mountable," and it comes with an adapter. In truth, it is a terrible design. It mounts horizontally -- so it sticks out like a shelf. It looks ridiculous. And if your wall mount is four feet or higher, you will have a very hard time reading a display.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy this phone - it won't work if you are within 5'
Review: I have been trying many different phones trying to have a clear signal so my customers will hear me clearly. Tried a Uniden it buzzed all the time. On-line reviews verified this. Bought this Panasonic based on a consumer web site review, and had I looked in this web site on Amazon, I would not have bought it. If I am within 5' of this thing it cuts up bad like you are on a cell phone in the middle of nowhere with a bad analog signal....well you get the jist.

Look at the other reviews, there are at least 5 others, and I have the exact same issue. Since I work in an office in a cubical, and need to be close to the base unit this will not work for me. Back to the store it goes! Too bad too, as it had a ton of features that I really liked (talking CID, base unit speakerphone, etc).

Rating:
Summary: Great Phone
Review: I needed at 5.5 GHz phone to work with my wireless network. I do thorough research on these types of items and I'm happy I chose the KX-TG5230.

I looked at it originally because I like the looks, affordable price (it was one sale) and most of the features. When I went to stores to compare it I liked it even more. The Motorola phones are not attractive and the AT& T models are quite a bit heavier. And I didn't like the Uniden or or VTech models as they just looked and felt cheap. This is just my opinion, decide for yourself.

Getting the phone for a very long house I immediately checked the range, even going outside. It works as good or better than hoped for and I'm very happy with my purchase. My internet works much better now without the 2.4 phone and I don't have any problems with people hearing me; and this is in a 1920's era house.

I think the Voice Enhancer feature is fantastic - it's like talking to someone face-to-face. I also like the message waiting feature where the tip of the phone blinks.

I really like this phone and look at my other reviews (and the other reviews here) to see if I'm legitimate or just a plant. I don't need a phone to be important to me - I just need it to talk to people without any problems. I've had it over a month and am VERY happy with it. Good bang for the buck.

Rating:
Summary: stay close
Review: I ordered this phone because part of its title was giga range.I assumed that meant it had a decent range of usability from the base set. I cannott walk in the yard and get a clear signal. forget about going to the garden. over fifteen years ago I bought two escort brand cordless phones.Their range was at least ten times the panasonic.Sadly all escort makes now days is radar detectors.I kept one of them going as long as I could. Now I need a phone with some range.This phone goes back.

Rating:
Summary: Great phone with no major complaints
Review: I tend to read a lot of reviews and take my time when shopping for a product. I read a lot of sour reviews of every phone out there, and take each of them with a grain of salt. You never know who is reviewing these products being sold. With the cordless phones interference is probably your greatest issue. With that in mind, I considered 900, 2.4 and 5.8 phone options. I didn't need great range and was looking for the fewest interferences issues, so I choose 5.8 GHz. I still use two older vtech and sony 900 mHz phones and like them, but they lacked caller ID and a few other functions.

Enough with those thoughts, what I am getting to is that I feel this phone was an excellent purchase and I have no great issues with the design. We haven't had any interference issues with static. The positives that come to mind are the NiMH battery, backlit display, flashing antenna, on phone speaker phone, size (big enough to hold and cradle in your shoulder) and good voice quality with 5.8 GHz speaker and receiver.

Again, I have had no voice quality issues with the phone. I do not use the voice enhancement function. I run wireless 802.11g without any interference. When using the on-phone speakerphone, you really can't have it anywere but within a few feet of you. This is OK, as the base unit has a more responsive mic. My wife loves the feature and uses it for her teleconferences with great ease. The battery life seems to be quite good and I like having the three bars to let you know when you are talking on borrowed time. One gripe I had with other phones in the past was bulky clips, the one on this phone is very subtle and funcitional. Overall I highly recommend the phone.

The few gripes I have are the lack of ability to talk into the base unit without someone answering it first. Not being able to hear that a message is being recorded until someone is leaving their message. The last one is that when someone is calling and you bump a number, it automatically answers.

Again, I reallly like this phone and plan on getting a second base in the future.

Rating:
Summary: So Far So Good
Review: In the first place, I must comment about the weirdness of product reviews on the Internet. Some people love a product, other people hate a product. Can't be the same product, can it? Who knows. These 5.8 phones are no different. Given the contradictory nature of the reviews, it seems difficult to make an informed decision.

Yet I will cheerfully add my opinion to the mix.

Having recently had my prior phone system die, I decided to step up to 5.8 to avoid interference with my wireless network. Not that I ever had interference before, but hey, you never know, in the future I might. A little preventative paranoia never hurt anyone.

After reading countless Amazon reviews and getting fed up with the love-it hate-it paradoxes, I paid a visit to my local brick and mortar electronics store to actually look at these things in person. Feeling more informed though I wasn't really, I decided to order the new Motorola 761 and one expansion handset. It looked cool, felt rugged, and sounded good. But it had lousy range and after three days the expansion handset died. So I decided to try a different brand.

That's when I bought the Panasonic 5230 (and one expansion handset). As far as I can tell, all the phones in the 5200 series have basically the same guts with a few different features. The 5230 has a speakerphone in the base and a button that automatically dials my voice mail. The talking caller ID feature seemed appealing too, but as other reviewers have pointed out, you'll end up turning it off because it just sounds so silly. Though it may come in handy for a few quick laughs at a party.

Overall, so far so good. The phones sound great at both ends. Now how can this be when so many other reviewers say otherwise? Inconsistent quality control seems the most likely possibility. Or maybe there was a consistent problem that Panasonic just recently fixed. Or maybe some users are getting interference they aren't aware of. Who knows? My handsets both sound great at both ends, and I've tested them thoroughly.

I also don't have the problem described in some reviews of poor sound quality when I'm near the base. In fact, I had someone else stand literally inches from the base and call me at work. Then I had them move around. Nothing changed the superb sound quality at both ends. However, I'm not using the voice enhancer or clarity booster features. I wonder if those features are causing some people problems.

Now again I ask - why is it that my phones work fine right next to the base when so many other reviewers have had this type of problem with the 5200 series? Again the same possible reasons apply. Honestly I have no idea. To paraphrase Lee Iococca: mine works fine, to hell with you. (Lee said something similar about the very first Dodge Viper, VIN #1, which he took for himself. But I'm just kidding.)

The other aspects of these phones I think most reviewers agree on: great features, ease of use, blah blah blah. Quality seems to be the problem for Panasonic right now, so maybe I just got lucky with a rare good pair of phones, or maybe some people are just getting unlucky with rare bad ones. Bear in mind I've only had this system for three days, which was exactly how long it took for the Motorola expansion handset to commit hari-kari, so who knows, I may be back with a follow-up review denouncing Panasonic quality control as a corporate manifestation of Satan himself.

But so far, so good.

Rating:
Summary: Great Cordless for Those Who have Voicemail Service
Review: Just bought it last weekend. I love this phone. I wanted to buy a 5.8 GHz cordless without the answering machine because it already comes with my phone service. This phone is geared perfectly for that purpose. It has a voicemail button to access voicemail. The caller ID works great. The range is good, my front yard is 100 yards and the reception is clear at least to 100 yards. If you buy an expandable phone, the two phones can also act like a baby monitor. The phone also remembers the name and number of the people that call you, much like the Call Register feature on mobile phones.

Rating:
Summary: Poor Phone
Review: Panasonic used to be one of the best electronics makers bar none. Now everything they make is extremely watered-down using the cheapest parts available and shoddy labor.
I bought two of these phones based on the best buy salesman's recommendation and sure enough it was pure junk.
The reception is terrible! People could not hear me whenever I got within 5 feet of the base. That is not something that should happen for $150 phone that is supposed to be "state of the art." My advice is buy the Uniden and you will be much happier.