Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this at our local Sam's Club at a discount due to noticeable carton damage. When I unpacked the set, I saw that the entire set is packed inside a smaller box that's isolated from the exterior carton to protect its contents. The outside looked pretty bad, but the inside box was undamaged. If you see a dent in the external box, unless it's more than an inch deep, it won't affect the contents. Open the box before you leave the store and you will see what I mean. Setup was a breeze and required no reading of the manual. Setting a few of the features did require the manual but it wasn't very complicated and everything was easy to understand. The manual is well-written. This system has features that can work with bluetooth-enabled cell phones, but I don't have a smartphone, so I can't comment on those features. The phone works with my VOIP service, which is only to be expected of any phone, but if anyone wondered if that was any different, it isn't. It should work with Vonage or any of those services (I use Tin Can Talk myself). One great thing about Panasonic wireless phones is that they no longer use proprietary batteries. Most brands of cordless phones use special battery packs that cost a lot more than the individual AAA cells wold cost you for this set. They use standard, rechargeable NiMH batteries that you can buy in big box stores or through online auction sites (buy name brand or you might be disappointed, though). The set comes with a pair of AAA batteries for each handset, 10 AAA batteries in all. Three belt clips are included, so if you think you're missing two of them, you aren't. I doubt that you'll even use the clips, but if you think they would be useful, install them on the three handsets most likely to be grabbed and hooked onto your belt. This system has a battery backup for the base unit as long as there is a charged handset docked into it. If you have "regular" telephone service and the power goes out, you can still make phone calls, and if you're in the middle of a phone conversation, it won't be interrupted. That's great, but if you don't have a conventional telephone line, you will also need to have your phone modem or ATA device (for VOIP service, as I have) plugged into a battery backup. Mine is, so if the power goes out, my cable modem, router, and VOIP ATA device are all powered by the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) with its internal battery backup. The amount of time you have for your backup depends on the backup time and power output of your UPS device. You can call any of the five handsets from any of the other handsets. This could be very useful if you have a sick person or an invalid in the house. The range of this set is much farther than I have ever seen in a cordless phone system. I didn't test it to its limits, but it reaches about 75-90 feet behind my house, so it will cover my entire city lot without needing the range extender. There is a range extender available, if you need it, for about $30 from the Panasonic web site. This system uses the security of the DECT 6.0 protocol, using: - Frequency Division Multiple Access - 10 channel dynamic switching - Time Division Multiple Access over 24 time slots - Time Division Duplex - Authentication between base unit and handsets - Encryption using DECT Standard Cypher (DSC) - 64 Bit Encryption This protocol is secure enough that you should be able to have nearly zero chance of anyone being able to eavesdrop on your phone conversations. However, it is TECHNICALLY possible to break the encryption and other schemes in the DECT 6.0 protocol. It's been done, but it's not something that your typical neighbor or even most criminals would be able to pull off, so you can feel assured that your conversations are secure. As for the brand, I have never been disappointed in a Panasonic product. I have kicked myself several times for not buying a Panasonic this or that when I had another brand product stop working. If you buy this model and register it online, you have the option of adding an extended warranty for a reasonable price. I have such faith in Panasonic products that the one-year warranty period is plenty for me. The warranties are offered through Square Trade and are based on the price you paid for your product. I have purchased Square Trade extended product warranties on other brands of products a few times, and the one time that I needed to use it they were easy to contact and deal with. However, it's very likely that you'll have your Panasonic product a very, very long time without any breakdowns. Buy the warranty only if it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. I entered "number of features" as both a pro and a con for this set. If this phone system has any fault, it's also a pro: There are so many features that this set has that it may frustrate some as they learn how to use some of the features. Of course, many of these features will be a blessing once you learn how to use them. With an increased feature set comes some increase in complexity, but Panasonic has made this as easy to deal with as possible with a good phone menu system and a well-written manual. When you read sections of the manual, pay attention to whether the section is discussing how to do something on the base unit or on a handset. Otherwise, you might get confused when you don't see the option on a handset if it's an option accessible only on the base unit. If you have lots of phone numbers to store, you'll be pleased with this feature. This phone has enough capacity to store 3,000 numbers and names, enough for an entire large village or small city. Few will ever need that many. The numbers, once stored in a handset, are available to all handsets, so you don't have to enter them more than once. The handset LCD display is very easy to read with large numbers, which should be welcome to those who have problems with tiny characters. Most people will like the features of this set. It looks like it is made to last a long time. I do not regret buying this product and would highly recommend it to anyone who needs a 5-handset wireless home phone. If you don't need the cellular connection (through bluetooth) feature of this set, buy one of the ones without it and save some money. I don't personally need that feature, but it came with the set and I bought it as a much lower cost than I ever expected to (even less than ones without that feature). I might get some use out of the feature eventually, but for the present, my feature phone is fine and it doesn't have bluetooth. If you need a set with fewer handsets, Panasonic has models with two to five handsets available, and they are supposed to be expandable beyond that also. If my review was helpful to you, please click the YES button below. Thanks!!! Donald