Panasonic KX TG5439 5.8 GHz Twin 1-Line Cordless Phone

Those who hate long reviews need read no further than the next line:

IT HAS ANNOYING AND BIZARRE PROBLEMS SO DON'T BUY IT.

If however you like nitty-gritty details about sub-par technology, then certainly read on…

I'm currently shopping for an answering machine/cordless phone to replace an old Sony 900 Mhz system which recently died. My needs are pretty basic. I want a digital answering machine + 5.8 Ghz cordless phone, with caller id, good reception/sound quality, at least a couple hours of talk time, able to speed dial a number containing a least 28 digits so I can use my work's Sprint card (or 'chain' dial using more than one speed-dial number), and record at least 10-15 minutes worth of messages at 1 minute apiece. Additional handsets were not one of my original requirements, but seeing how many systems come with them now, I think one extra would come in handy. Considering the choices available right now, in theory I should be able to pick any of the less expensive systems and it should work reasonably well. Unfortunately this is the third new phone system I've tried, and will unfortunately be the third I'll be returning.

This model happened to be the least expensive Panasonic answering system + 5.8 Ghz cordless phone I could find locally, and this was at Sam's Club. It also came blister-packed, which in retrospect seems a bit cheesy. These facts alone are probably good enough reason to suspect this is not a high-quality product.

I'd normally list what I liked about a product first, but I didn't really find anything to get even mildly excited about with this one. Most of it's features seem to be standard fare on digital phones now, and the bells and whistles unique to Panasonic and/or this phone didn't really interest me. So if you'd like a lot of detail about the features of this phone then visit Panasonic's website. I'm just going to list the major shortcomings I found after a few days use.

- I haven't recorded a greeting message yet, instead I let the answering machine default to it's 'canned' greeting message, figuring I'd get around to it in a few days. I should mention the pre-recorded message is in a pleasant female voice, and sounded very clear at home when I previewed it. While I was at the store the other evening I called home from my cellphone to ask my wife a question. She didn't get to the phone and the answering machine picked up. The pre-recorded greeting kicked in, and it was barely audible. Now we'd already used the phone for regular conversations a couple times, including from my cellphone, and the sound quality at both ends had been good. But for some reason the greeting message volume was very low. So after I got home I recorded my own greeting, reviewed it to make sure it was loud and clear, and called the phone from my cell. Again, the greeting message was very low in volume. I tried re-recording my greeting in a louder voice, but again, on playback on the caller's phone it was not any louder (must have a automatic level control on the recording). The volume on the greeting message is so minimal that, with any background noise at the caller's end, the greeting message is unintelligible.

- Now I swear I'm not making this up. For the second night in a row, a certain charitable institution has called us. When they called last night, on the Panasonic's handsets it simply said "incoming call", and never displayed any caller id. After the third ring I walked over to our old corded wall phone (with external Ameritech caller id box I'd added) to see if it showed the caller. It did. After the caller hung up without leaving a message, I reviewed the incoming call history on both Panasonic handsets. Neither handset showed that incoming call. Both the Ameritech caller id box and a cheap Uniden cordless phone with caller id in our bedroom showed the correct last call. And tonight it happened again (I should mention this charity is relentless. They call several times a month, we've told them NO until we're hoarse, and we're considering getting Call Blocker service just for them). And again, the Panasonic handsets just said "incoming call", and after the call ended, no caller id was in the incoming call history. Now the phones DO show the caller ids of my wife's relatives who've called, my buddy from work, the auto repair shop that called yesterday telling me the car was ready, every other call we've had – except the calls from this charity. Bizarre? You bet!

This phone system also has some annoyances that seem (after trying a couple other brands) to be common problems with these answering systems with multiple 5.8 Ghz cordless handsets. I'd hazard a guess that these companies either farm out their chip design work to the same bunch of nitwits, or more likely, they simply use the same chips. I'll hit a couple of the major problems here, but just remember you may have the same problems with other brands:

- The clock on the base station has to be set manually. Once it's set, it will update/correct it's time from incoming caller id information (according to the manual). Unfortunately I live in a neighborhood with a LOT of building/renovation going on, and we get numerous momentary power outages when the electric company does installs/upgrades, which seem to occur several times a week now. All my other electronics handle these momentary power outages without losing their settings, but not this phone. For the last 3 days, I've been treated to a flashing "CL" on the phone base, and I have to re-set the clock. Very annoying, and also puzzling. The handsets for this phone don't need THEIR clock's set manually, they set theirs entirely from incoming caller id data. Why not the base also?

- If you pick up a call with one handset, the other handset shows "1 missed call". This means the "missed call" information on one handset or the other WILL ALWAYS BE WRONG. Unless you pick up both handsets to answer a call 'in stereo', then it may not be a problem.

And so, you and I are probably in the same boat. I'm still looking for a GOOD answering system with 5.8 Ghz cordless phone(s), and obviously so are you. So here's a couple of tips to help in your quest: don't misplace your receipt, and remember to save all the packaging. Good luck.