I need a decent phone...

[Drdogface]

We have at least six phones in our house at various places. Only one is worth a damn...an older Western Bell table model. All the cordless phones we have sound like two Dixie cups and a string.

Trouble is when you buy one you can't try it first. I need a cordless phone set without ans. machine that has good/loud, clear sound...no static and no weak voice. NOT looking for a Cell Phone..just a cordless home model.

Someone must have a decent set so gimme some good ideas please...

[M.D. Holloway]

not that I want to retell the 'phone incident of 05' but we found great success with the Panasonic KX-TG5583.

[Zero10]

I want to know this too, so I'll hop into your thread and hope for good answers


We have 2 cordless phones. 1 is a GE, which is so insensitive that unless you talk DIRECTLY into the mic, that is, angle the phone so that the earpiece is away from your ear, the other person cannot hear you, and the battery on it only lasts for 15 or 20 minutes of talking (it's only 1 year old ). The other is some no-name brand with a built-in answering machine. It is so sensitive that all you can hear from the other end is the person breathing. It seems to normalize all sounds above a mouse farting to the same level, so if a mouse farts in the next room they miss what you are saying.....

So, somebody please reccomend a good phone that is still available today. I don't care if it has an answering machine, but additional handsets would be nice (only one phone plug in the house).

[masraum]

I just recently bought a cheap V-tech dual handset digital answering machine 5.8 GHz phone at Best Buy for something like $50-70 bucks. So far it works great, much better than my last cordless GE phones.

[campbellcj]

We have a 2-line 5.8GHz Uniden setup that has worked-out well. Base station + 4 handsets; I think it can go to 6-8 total. The handsets have speakerphones built-in, which is handy sometimes.

[rfuerst911sc]

We have Panasonic and like them but it does not have answering machine.

[Big Ed]

I was in the same boat as you about a year ago. Went out and bought this AT&T setup basically on feel and expensive price point, hoping it wouldn't suck. It doesn't, actually a pretty good system. One main base as pictured, we have 2 additional handsets with charging cradles..work well on all accounts.

[RickM]

This is what we have....Panasonic KXTG5571. Can handle up to 8 handsets with good range and lots of useful features. I now use it with VOIP and it's great.

http://www.netdropshipper.com/product_expd/8/2489

[azasadny]

We bought the Panasonic phone system with three handsets last year and we've been very happy with them.

[Yellowbird RS]

Motorola MD7091

[M.D. Holloway]

Rick & Art - agree, the Panasonic has been great so far. rfuerst911sc, ours has the answering machine built in. I think you can get tehm without as well.

The Panasonics we have havegreat clearity and range of use. The battery life seems very good as well.

[Drdogface]

Thanks to all for the replies. I will likely try the Panasonic and hope. In the recent past I've tried Uniden and some other brand and they were both crap.

FWIW I looked them all up on www.epinons.com. Some are not available any more or are updated to different model numbers.

Really appreciate the help....what a Great BBS...Thanks Wayne...you Da' Man.

[Don Ro]

I'm with you, Mark...just give me a basic cordless phone with excellent sound.
'Don't want that talking-into-a-50 gallon-barrel sound.
I don't care so much about features, etc.
.
epinions is good for reviews...but Amazon is great!
.
I just Googled on "cordless phone best sound quality."
.
The search continues.

[Zero10]

Uniden! That was the brand of the really sensitive phone.....
I'm leaning towards trying the panasonic now too. The last really good phone I had was a panasonic.

[Jays72T]

In 6 years I've gone through 4 sets of cordless phones and not happy with any:
Sony (model #1pos)
Panasonic (model #2pos)
Uniden (model #3pos)
Vtech(model #4 unknown)
All had speaker in handset and w/ answering machine.

Vtech is #1 for sound on speaker and handset but lacks features. (I have 2 kids so speaker sound is important) They also can take a shock, have dropped them a few times w/ no problems yet.

Panasonic and Uniden were both fine on hand set sound but lacked speaker sound and both sucked at taking a shock. The batteries would die if they just tipped over. They had nice features though.

Sony just sucked.

Of course the Sony was an '00 model, the Panasonic was an '02, Uniden '04 and VTech '05 so things have improved over time.

[RickM]

A bit more on the Panasonic I use.....

The digital answering machine can be hard to understand. However, I havent seen many digital systems that were any better.

The default earpiece sound setting is up to the task but the voice enhancement mode is horrible.

Features I find myself using are the handset speaker phone, intercom system to talk to others around the home and to locate a lost unit.

Surprisingly I kind of like the talking caller ID. While if fcuks up many names it has been beneficial.....and ocassionally good for a laugh.

[fastpat]

I recommend a system that has a base station and the ability to register and ring to a number of handset around the house. Most of the 2.4ghz and higher units have both good sound and fairly good range. I use mine almost 400 feet out in the orchard, but it's pretty weak way out there, still useable though.

In addition to the units listed by others, take a look at the several Panasonic models, that's what we have, that take up to 6-8 handsets. It does have answering included, almost all of them do, but we don't use that feature, or many of the others. You just get the features along with the key ability to have multiple handsets.

[RallyJon]

Love the base station + handset systems. First we had the Siemens Gigaset, which was a pioneer in the category. Now we have the Uniden 5.8GHz 8865 which is a couple of generations newer and has a very user-friendly configuration.

One warning--even with an incredible line of sight range, ALL cordless phones get completely screwed up in stone houses. Walking around our house, if there are any two stone walls in between and there is no signal at all.

[Dingo Joe]

2 words.


B & O...

[LeeH]

My wife volunteered me (?) to shop for my inlaws next cordless phone. The v-techs just haven't been working out for them. Looks like the Panasonics were highly recommended two years ago. Any recent experience?