Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Panasonic KX-TG6545B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Digital Cordless Answering System with 5 Handsets EDIT - I originally purchased this set here on Amazon on July 6th 2010 and have been adding updates to this review (toward the bottom of this post) ever since, for an exhaustive full history right up to the final edit on December 7th 2013. I hope you find this helpful... Just to qualify - I rely HEAVILY on my phones for constant daily use in work / business calls and I use the headset feature a lot as well as speakerphone. I've been using similar types of phones for about 5 years now and have owned Uniden TRU8885, Uniden TRU9485, Uniden DECT2085-3, and Panasonic KX-TG1033S. I've been using this new set of Panasonic KX-TG6545B DECT 6.0 for about 32 days (as of the time of this review) and so far these are the best out of the bunch. LIKES: - Handsets are lightweight and comfortable - VERY EASY TO SET UP AND GET RUNNING - Sound is clear on handset AND HEADSET (optional separate purchase), the latter of which is really important to me - Almost no crackling noise when I accidentally shift the headset connector around - Talking Caller ID actually works! It's not perfect at pronouncing some words, but you definitely know who is calling without looking - Very full array of features! - Buttons are big enough for people like me with big hands, and the spacing between the buttons really helps avoid wrong presses - Battery life is excellent AND they take standard NiMH AAA rechargeables, so NO MORE PROPRIETARY BATTERY REPLACEMENT HASSLES! BIG PLUS! - Lots of redial and caller ID memory - Phonebook groups for easy lookup and dial quickly - AUTOMATICALLY copies your phonebooks to all handsets just by saving an entry on one handset - Intercom feature lets you page / talk to other handsets and base - The wall chargers stay completely cool when phones are charged, and only get slightly warm when actually charging - (Aug. 2011 update) The buttons and navigation are still like new even after year of heavy use - (Aug. 2011 update) Still using the original batteries and the battery life is incredible, no sign of degradation DISLIKES: - The speaker phone on the handsets is a tiny bit too susceptible to background noise, but still acceptable - Still, as with all others like these, on rare occasion the sound drops out or phone says no signal even 2-feet away from base. (HOWEVER, this problem occurs less than with any of the other 4 or 5 brands/models I've tried) - Intercom feature is buried in the menu navigation instead of simple button on the face - There is some lag (delay) when answering a new call or flashing to another incoming call. Have to wait a couple seconds for the other party to hear you pick up. OVERALL IMPRESSION: I'm much more satisfied with this set than any of the others I've tried in this price-range. It's not perfect, but definitely 4-Star worthy and I would recommend trying this set if you need a multi-handest DECT 6 solution to cover the whole house. UPDATE - MARCH 7, 2011 I've now been using this KX-TG6545B set daily for over 6 months, and I still love it. It is undoubtedly better (in my opinion) then all of the other sets I tried and listed in the beginning of my review. The headset jacks on the handsets still sound perfectly clean with no crackling (whereas almost all the other sets had headset jack noise issues) and the phones hold a charge for far longer than I expected. The features are fantastic and easy to customize. And even on 3 different floors of the house including the basement I can only recall losing signal / range twice since I wrote the original review. Best in class, in my opinion, and I would definitely recommend this set over any of the others I mentioned! If you depend on your phones daily for heavy use and important calls, but you don't have a thousand bucks to spend, this set is affordable, reliable, easy, and feature-rich. UPDATE - AUGUST 10, 2011 It's been a year now since I wrote this review, and these phones are still incredible. Under heavy constant use (work from home) the battery life is still incredible (never have to switch phones even on the longest days of use) the buttons and navigation sensitivity is still like new, and I still consider this to be the best phone set in it's class / price range. Very happy! Can't go wrong with these! UPDATE - JULY 4, 2013 Bought this set on July 6th 2010. It's officially 3 years now of HEAVY use and still VERY happy with these. Finally one problem - the earpiece on one of the handsets went bad, but that handset still works fine on Speaker and Headset. Everything else is fine, and all handsets are still running on the same batteries they came with :-) UPDATE - DECEMBER 7, 2013 Finally after 3 years and 5 months of VERY HEAVY USE, suddenly a few of my handsets just started to experience some problems - enough to the point where it was simply time to order some new handsets. A couple of the handsets started displaying the charge inaccurately for one thing. I tested this by replacing the batteries in the handsets with the exact official Panasonic batteries (brand new ones) that Panasonic provides with these handsets when you buy them new. I took a fully charged brand new pair of batteries out of a brand new handset and placed them in the failing handsets, and within 30 minutes they would show only 3 out of 5 bars charge level. Then I took those same batteries and put them in one of the two still properly functioning handsets and sure enough they showed a full five bars charge level. In addition to a few of the handsets incorrectly reporting the battery charge levels, a couple of the headset jacks on the handsets have become intermittently operational. The set as a whole still functions well, the base is fine, speakerphone feature / dial pads / etc... on all are still functioning properly, but clearly I have now "worn-out" at least three of the five handsets and they have become "buggy" and undependable. OVERALL I am STILL happy with the purchase of this set - it has survived almost 4 years of extremely heavy daily use in my home office environment, including occasional drops to the floor, occasional rough handling, and repetitive use of ALL of the functions, this set has been without a doubt one of THE best I've ever owned. For what I originally paid for this set here on Amazon (about $140) I'd say I got my money's worth. I did try purchasing replacement handsets, but the new ones don't have the entire backlit keypads that I so rely on and therefore don't quite operate as advertised / expected. But based on all of this, I've been given the perfect excuse to step up to the Panasonic KXTG7875S which is a very similar set but with more modern features (such as Bluetooth headset connectivity and Link2Cell technology) which I just bought and have had for a week now and so far I'm also extremely happy with. I know this was a tiresome long review for some people, but as a home-office user who has been through many brands and models of sets like these, I felt it was important to share everything that I could think of here in order to help others like me make a decision. This KX-TG6545B is an excellent product that I'd still highly recommend (and probably wouldn't even need to switch from if I were a "normal use" consumer), but after almost 4 years and changing times I've decided it's better off for someone like me to just step up to the newer version KXTG7875S. Just as awesome with newer features and more functionality. Kudos to Panasonic for creating and maintaining this line of phone sets and continuously taking them to the next level!