Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I know that a lot of people are using their home phones less and less these days because of cell phones - but we still use ours a lot. Believe it or not, my wife was interviewed to be on the Oprah show a few years ago because of the amount of time she spends on the phone:). With her and the three kids competing for the phones, these end up getting a lot of hard use. Anyway, the main problems we run into with phones are typically sound quality and durability. With these DECT 6.0+ phones from Panasonic, the sound quality is truly as good as a corded phone. We live in a 3000 square foot, 2-story house and these phones easily cover that space as well as the yard. We never really take the handsets past the yard boundaries, so I don't know what the maximum range is before these start breaking up. I'm also an early-adopter tech person; so our house is probably one of the most challenging environments a wireless phone could exist in. This is the second set of DECT 6.0 phones we've had from Panasonic and the sound quality is head and shoulders above the wireless phones we've had from other manufacturers. When it comes to features, here are the things we like about these: 1) The handsets have pocket clips that work well and stay attached to the phone for walking around. 2) There is a headset jack on the handsets, which is also great for walking around. 3) Panasonic has improved the caller ID and redial features from their previous generations - both features are now much easier to access. 4) I like that the lights on the handset tend to stay off in the base unit so we can sleep with the phone in its base. 5) These phones use standard NiMH AAA batteries, so they are easy to replace, or even to charge outside the phone if you want. 6) We use voicemail anyway, so I like that this particular phone does NOT include an answering machine. (I hate paying for a feature that we'll never use.) 7) I love that we can pick up any handset and immediately join the call without having to do anything special to let a new caller join. 8) The handsets are a great size and shape - so they're very easy to use. I can't imagine wanting a home phone that is the size of a cell phone... As far as durability goes, we've only had these for a couple of weeks now so it's hard to know how long they will last. They do feel solid; and, based on the longevity of our last Panasonic phones, I'm expecting that they will last quite a while. In fact, the last Panasonic DECT 6.0 cordless phones we owned are the first phones we've ever had that have made it past a year without breaking - and they lasted more than two years! I've come to the conclusion that Panasonic phones are the only phones available that can be dropped repeatedly (including an occasional dunk in the sink or bounce off the tile) without completely dying. Overall, if you're looking for a high-quality phone that doesn't have an answering machine, I think this phone should be at the top of your list. I won't claim to have used every phone that is currently on the market; but we are extremely pleased with these! [*** UPDATE 8/11/2011 ***] Well, it looks like Panasonic did it again! We've had these phones for over a year now and they're still going strong. Before you know it, we're going to be expecting our phones to last longer than a year... :) [*** UPDATE 1/23/2014 ***] Believe it or not, we are still using these phones; although, they are definitely looking worn now - and the headset jack is completely broken on a couple of them. About a year ago, we also added a set of Panasonic KX-TG7742S phones that we're using side-by-side with these, and I suspect that's helping extend the life a bit since we're able to spread the usage around a bit more. Regardless, I'll definitely post once these phones start dying - for now, they're still going strong! :)