Panasonic Expandable Digital Cordless Dect 6.0 Phone System (KXTG8232B)
From Panasonic
The KX-TG8232B Expandable Cordless System uses DECT 6.0 technology to provide clear sound, great range and reduced interference with common household devices. The system comes with 2 Handsets and allows you to expand up to 6 handsets.
- Color: Black
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: KX-TG8232B
- Dimensions: 6.50" h x 6.90" w x 6.50" l, 2.85 pounds
The Panasonic KX-TG8232B DECT 6.0 Expandable Digital Cordless Phone System with Two Handsets uses the latest DECT 6.0 (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) technology for outstanding range and clarity. It operates on the 1.9 GHz frequency for less interference from household items such as wireless networks, keyboards, and microwaves, and is less susceptible to eavesdropping. Two handsets are included and up to four additional handsets can be used with the base unit without any need for wires or setup.
An all-digital answering system is built into the base and features flash memory that holds 16 minutes of recording time. The phonebook can hold 50 entries and the Caller ID can be linked to the phonebook so that a certain color gets flashed depending on who is calling. Call-waiting Caller ID shows you the name and number of an incoming call even while you are already on a call. Digital duplex speakerphones are built into the back of both handsets for clear hands-free conversations.
Sleek sexy phone that's missing a couple critical features
Overall, this phone set is terrific. It features a bright color screen and a sleek glossy black look. (Once you go with a color screen, it's hard to go back) The base station is surprisingly compact. Call clarity is excellent. Speakerphone is plenty loud. You can even check your answering machine through the handset! Panasonic's usual mess of small buttons has been streamlined somewhat to reduce confusion.
A slight gripe is that while Panasonic gives you a color screen, it doesn't really use it to its full potential. You have a choice of *three*, count 'em, three wallpapers. And that's it! All but one are pretty tacky.
A bigger gripe revolves around the answering machine. First of all, Panasonic removed the talking Caller ID that was standard on almost all their previous models. Secondly, there is no on-phone notification that someone left a message on your machine. The *only* indication is a hard-to-see blinking red light on the base station. There is no audio notification that there are new message either (many other phones beep when there's a new message). So unless you are frequently near the base station (which I'm not), you may have messages and not know it.
So in a nutshell:
PROS
Great sound
No WiFi/Bluetooth Interference with DECT6
Compact, sleek styling
Backlit keypad
Good speakerphone
Answering machine operation from handset.
CONS
No audible or visual new message alert on handset
Limited customizability (few wallpapers/ringtones)
No talking caller ID.
Not the dream phone, but good
My quest for the ideal house phone is on hold for a while, if I change phones again in the near future my wife is going to hit me with something. Nevertheless, I am fairly happy with this phone, which performs well with an excellent battery life ( something that kiled the Philips DECT phone I had bought previously) and good sound quality but has some shortcomings.
A premise: I can only speak for the phone, we do not use the answering machine because we prefer the service provided by our VOIP service, Broadvoice, which allows for email notifications my wife likes.
Pros
Sound quality is very good.
Screen is well sized, allows for easy reading of the caller ID which is a plus for my over 40 eyes, do not need to grab reading glasses which I hate enough already.
Phone size is right, keys are precise and responsive, if a bit small.
As I mentioned, the battery life is very good, and the phone indicates "charge complete" when on the cradle which is useful. With other phones we had, we were always rushing to put them back in the cradle after calls, this one you can leave hanging around for days.
Cons
Volume, volume, volume. Way too low; when I work from home people ask me to raise my voice more than with the Philips phones. It gets tiring when you are working from home.
It has a dedicated Mute button (instead of a soft key appearing only during conversations), which was intelligently placed by their engineers immmediately below the Off button. I have dropped off inadvertenly from conference calls more than once because of this.
It lacks a visual indicator on the unit to notify of VM. Other units have a light blinking on every unit, this model displays a message on the screen which means you have to remember to look at it when you come home.
So, while I can definitively live with this phone long enough to wait for new models to appear, it's not going to be a life long affair.
Best phone I've ever have!
Target has a great deal for this phone this week (only $78!!) and this store has good return policy (90 days without any re-stocking fee). Hence, I decide to give it a try. I feel completely satisfied and happy with this product after a few days. The phone is stylish, clear, loud, and good battery life. The speaker phone is very clear and loud, which is very important to me so that I can type on my computer at same time. In addition, it comes with lots of extra features such as colorful wall paper (only 3 to choose from), background color customization (blue, yellow, pink, green), caller ID, one-touch dial, phone book with 50 entries, date/time display, alarm clock, lots of ring tones selections ....etc. You can even "copy all" the phone book from one phone to another phone which saves me lots of time from entering the phone book again. There is a cool feature that you can assign different phone numbers to different groups (i.e. family, friend). Each group can be customized with different ring tones and background color! Also, you can listen your record messages from any phone. I don't have anything to complain about this product except I wish the phone can be packed with more cell-phone-like features such as camera and USB/blue tooth so that I can transfer my own ring tone and background pictures from my computer to the phone.
