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A 5.8 GHz DSS cordless phone from Panasonic, the KX-TG5100M provides both excellent quality and a number of useful features, including an integrated digital answering system and caller ID with call waiting compatibility. By utilizing the less congested 5.8 GHz frequency and digital spread spectrum technology, the KX-TG5100M offers clear, intelligible reception even at a distance. Multiuser expandable, the KX-TG5100M supports up to seven optional handsets (plus one included, for a total of eight) and features handset-to-handset call transfer, as well as two-way intercom between the base and any of the handsets. A call privacy feature lets you determine if other handsets can join in on the conversation, while the page feature makes locating a lost handset into a snap. The KX-TG5100M features 50 caller ID memory locations and a built-in speakerphone for hands-free operation.
Wall-mountable, freeing up valuable desktop space, the KX-TG5100M is also headset compatible (a belt-clip is provided) saving your neck from the strain of cradling the phone. The integrated three-mailbox digital answering system has a record time of up to 15 minutes, while remote message check lets you stay in touch even while you are away. The NiCad battery provides about 4.5 hours of talk time and 11 days of standby, while a low battery indicator lets you know when the phone needs recharging. A time/date stamp lets you know when each message was received, and a 50 number phone directory lets you easily find and dial the most frequently used phone numbers. The KX-TG5100M also comes backed with a one-year limited warranty.
What's in the Box
Main base station, handset, AC power supply, battery, telephone line cord, belt clip, instructions, warranty
So here is my initial impression after playing it:
1. Reception and sound clarity at the handset is near perfect, not affected by the wi-fi signal, even when the handset is less than 1' to the wireless router. The base is about 15m from the wireless router.
2. The wi-fi network is, however, affected by the 5.8G. The interference cuts off my computer's connection intermittently every 5 minutes, when my computer is kept about 15m from the router and 5m from the phone base (all indoor). In addition, the computer is much slower detecting the wireless network. This is frustrating. But you may be able to adjust the computer setting to reduce the first problem, which I did and was successful. This may not be the fault of telephone.
3. The phone is solid, no plastic feeling. Everything seems to work within expectation.
I read the reviews below have some observations:
1) I have never had a problem with the LCD display.
2) If a call comes up on Caller ID with a "1" before it, you can easily delete the "1" and still retain the remaining 10 digits.
3) The battery life is not that great (the only drawback) and I did have to replace the battery a few months later (NOTE: using the handset speakerphone drains the battery faster).
The sound quality is great and the handset is not too large to be bulky or too small to be uncomfortable. I strongly recommend this unit.
First of all, if the answering machine has picked up, it does not know that another extension (in my case, a corded phone) has picked up, and doesn't shut off. Real annoying, especially since it picks up on 3.5 rings (or 1.5 if there are messages). A real pain since these phones are at opposite ends of the house. If I had known this before buying the phone, I would have opted for a seperate phone and answering machine.
Secondly, it always adds a "1" and the area code to caller id numbers, even when it is a local call. As an added "bonus" if you just hit "redial" on one of these calls, it will go thru, and you will be charged for a "local toll call".
Third, deleting the "missed calls" list on the base doesn't erase them from the handsets, and vice versa. Deleting the "missed calls" from the handset is not intuitive.
If you can wait the 2 weeks plus for your phone - you may receive a refurbished phone or your phone back with refurbished parts - even though you originally paid for a new phone.
Once they sell you the phone they do not care what hardship you incur due to the product being defective.
Customer Service is something Panasonic does not concern themselves with and why should they - once you have the product it is yours - if it works - Great! If it doesn't work - no money out of their pocket.
So I contacted Panasonic's support to get it replaced. What a hassle!! I have to pay to ship the phone back for them to repair it! Just terrible. When my phone is finally returned, the LCD goes out again within the week. Needless to say I am very dissapointed at this point.
So I call their support and complain. This time they send me a shipping label so I don't have to pay for it again. Well, after waiting two weeks, I had to call them again to remind them to send me the label - which they did that time.
Well, now my phone has been gone for over a month with no word from Panasonic. I am waiting on the phone (about 45 minutes now) as I type this to speak with someone about the status of my phone.
Panasonic generally makes good products. But if you run into a problem, you are basicaly screwed.
Rather than repeating details already covered in the reviews below, I'll address a couple of topics from the reviews ithat caused me to think twice about purchasing the phone when I first read them.
The handset volume issue: I currently own an older Panasonic cordless phone which really had low volume, almost unusable with ambient noise, so the reviews stating this was still a problem really concerned me. However now that I've got the phone, I don't see what the problem is. It's plenty loud on the medium setting, and the handset speakerphone is even louder. The base unit speakerphone and microphone are of such good quality, that I suspect I'll rarely be using the handset if I'm near the base unit. So my advice is: if you have a hearing disability, sure preview the phone before purchasing, but otherwise don't worry about it.
The calling card problem: In the review on Amazon of the standalone handset, someone pointed out that the largest phone number that's supported is 32 digits. This means you can't program most calling card sequences because they typically are 1 + 30 digits + 4 digit PIN. This, alas, is true. But the phone is so good otherwise I'm not too upset about this.
Handset/base unit usability: Panasonic has made a decent, but incomplete, effort to make the same buttons do the same things on the hand set and base unit. There are some things done slightly differently on each, when as far as I could tell they could have been made to work the same way, but the oveall usability of this phone is so good one can overlook this.
That's about all I think is worth writing about - this is one darn good phone, easily the best I've owned.
P.S. to Canadian readers: Amazon's price is very, very good, in fact it's approximately 50% of the Canadian street price (Panasonic Canada seems to have very high mark-ups, you can check out the list prices at panasonic.ca)so it's worth it to find a friend in the US who Amazon can ship this phone to on your behalf.
I appreciated all of the reviews written here. Many reviews are especially thorough and some even mentioned it would be helpful if the handsets could be turned even louder in volume. It was good to know that at least my father wasn't alone. (Keeping in mind he already does have hearing aides.) :)
An odd, but interesting, thing my father did to address the inability of the handset volume to be turned up any more than it can be: He turns on the speakerphone on the handset, though still holds it in his hand. He OFTEN also turns the phone (with speakerphone on) around in his hand so the speaker (on the back of the handset) is directly by his ear. He can hear/understand the caller PERFECTLY, and the handset mic is good and picks up his voice well for the caller to hear him too.
NOW - He is COMPLETELY satisfied with the phone. It may look odd, but it works for him. For me, that's what matters most. I realize this won't work for everyone - you may not want all your caller's words to be blasted out through the speaker phone. But, I wanted to share it in hopes it may help someone else in a similar situation.
But there is one glaring problem which caused me to return it for a refund: The volume on the handsets is just way too low for any environment with any ambient noise. Even with the TV on low volume it is not that easy to hear. Panasonic tech support was prompt and polite, but the problem was not solved.
I do not expect such a simple flaw with such an expensive telephone system. It is not acceptable.
Other than the dying, and poor customer service, the phone is great - excellent features and great reception. Maybe I just got a lemon.
Works great with my 802.11a and b network, and one thing I did not see in the reviews was mention of the speakerphone on the handset! That is one of the coolest features I've had on a phone. So useful when dialing those customer service numbers "press 1, press 8, blah blah blah", and very useful when talking on the phone and our baby wants to be held.
I've only had it for a month, but so far I'm impressed.
Unfortunately I just had to write Panasonic customer service as within the last couple of weeks one of the handsets has started to exhibit an LCD that is barely readable (sometimes fair, sometimes not at all). The unit is fully charged and I have adjusted contrast, with only marginal effect. The other handset is still performing normally. The units are covered by a 1-year warranty so I'm not expecting any issues with customer service.
Aside from this as I mentioned, the phone is great! My highlights...
Pros:
-Great sound quality throughout the house and around our suburban 1/3 acre lot
-No interference with wireless network or other household
Cons:
-LCD issue as mentioned above
-Lack of Caller ID to programmed number matching on incomming calls
-My base unit speakerphone performance does not appear to measure up to that of other reviewers, I would rate the speakerphone as average to slightly below average, would be great if Panasonic would offer a configuration with a corded handset in the base as well
-Ability to copy phone numbers from base-handset, handset-base or handset-handset is great except that in my experience it is a copy only with no over-write capability. This is an issue in the case where I maintain the phonebook at the base unit and want to publish out to the handsets. If you delete a number from the base and then copy to a handset, the deleted number still exists on the handset. Short of pulling the battery and starting over (re-register, etc...) with the handset, I can't find a way of erasing all of the phonebook entries in a handset.
My (mostly minor) gripes aside, this is still a great telephone system. I feel that it still merits 4-stars.
SETUP
=>Although you can connect 8 handsets total, only four can be used as once. (page 24)
=>The privacy button, when pressed, prevents others from joining the conversation on any of the extensions to this telephone. (page 45)
=>You can copy all the items in the phone book to another unit. (page 38-39)
MESSAGES
=>If someone calls and wants to leave a message after you have answered, you can transfer them to a mailbox. (page 57)
=>You can check messages from the handset. (page 54)
=>You can erase all messages or just one. (page 56)
=>The light only blinks for new messages, not for all new calls. If you received calls, it says "received calls" on the LCD screen. The blinking light issue for all new calls was the only thing that we hated about our last Panasonic phone. I couldn't find where it talked about this in the manual, but I tested it several times.
=>There's only one thing about the telephone that didn't make sense. There's a button right next to the blinking light that lets you know that you have a new message. That made me think that was the button to push to play back messages. Wrong! That button turns the answering machine on and off, that's all. To play back a message press the number of the mailbox, 1, 2 or 3. (page 53)
=>You can set the playback speed to slow playback... nice for writing down telephone numbers. (page 55)
=>Stored messages are not affected by power failures. Messages are saved until erased. We lost our power for five days due to weather. When the power came back on, our messages were still there. (page 22)
CALLER ID
=>It's very easy to erase all the items in the Caller ID list or just one. (page 33)
=>If you subscribe to Caller ID, the date and time are set automatically through the Caller ID information service after the first telephone ring. I unplugged the phone, this worked. The manual does warn that the time might be wrong after a power outage, but we have not had problems with that. (page 17)
MAILBOXES
=>We don't use the multiple mailboxes and had some concern about that. As it turns out, that doesn't matter, the calls automatically go into mailbox one and we just don't use the others. (page 50)
=>You can password mailboxes 2 and 3 to prevent anyone else from accessing the messages. (page 51)
GENERAL COMMENTS:
There are several other features that we don't use, like the monitor function. I tested it, though, and it seems to work ok. When you call the other phone to monitor, it doesn't ring, but the monitored handset does say "room monitor" on the LCD screen.
The handset is longer than my old handset. So if I hold the telephone with the mouthpiece lined up like I'm used to, then the sound is faint. But if I line up the earpiece with my ear, then I can hear fine. Until I did that, I thought the volume was too faint. It felt a little awkward until I got used to it.
The manual is straightforward, complete, and easy to follow. There is a good list of troubleshooting errors that refers you to a page. Great index. The one thing that I don't like is that some of the methods to complete functions are slightly different on the base than on the handset. I basically only use the handset, so that has not been a big deal.
I bought this telephone because I have a wireless headphone that uses the 2.4 ghz frequency. I wanted to be able to use the headset while others were talking on the telephone. For that, it works great. We owned another Panasonic telephone. This one is much easier to use. I like this telephone quite well and highly recommend it.
As for interference with other devices, most devices operate on the following frequencies:
900 MHz: Baby monitors and 900 MHz phones.
2.4 GHz: 2.4 GHz phones, 802.11B and 802.11G broadband wireless routers.
5.8 GHz: 5.8 GHz phones and 802.11A broadband wireless routers.
Unless you have an 802.11A broadband wireless router, this phone should NOT knock out your signal, especially since it runs on the 5.8 GHz band in both directions. I have a wireless G router and have had no problems with it whatsoever.
Some last quick notes: the handset speakerphone is exceptional, and the phones look great (although I'm hoping that they hold up better than the 2.4 GHz Panasonic phone that I had whose earpiece began to show a ton of wear from my wife's earrings). And as this phone has gotten much cheaper than when it was initially released, it is a great buy.
On the other hand, everything else about this phone is great, and I agree with all the other reviews, so I guess we just have to live with the caller ID flaw. Plus, the only other 5.8 phone that I was really considering -- the Motorola MD671 -- apparently has the same problem, so there's no need to switch. The Panasonic is still the best 5.8 phone on the market, as long as you recognize that it's not perfect.
Pros:
5.8 GHz both directions, doesn't interfere with my wireless LAN at all;
Ability to enter a phone number into the memory on one handset and share it with all the other handsets and the base;
Room monitor - you can call any handset or the base unit and listen through its microphone. I use it to listen for the oven timer when I'm in the computer room - no more burned food!
Very versatile - two handsets can talk to each other in intercom mode even if another handset is on a phone call;
Audio quality is excellent, as good as a regular corded phone IMO.
Cons:
No headset jack on the base unit - speakerphone only, and people often have difficulty hearing me. Actually, a base unit with a regular corded handset would be a great idea.
BATTERY LIFE - all those neat features suck down the juice in a hurry. At least you get a warning beep before the handset goes dead, giving you a minute or two to get to another phone.
I did a lot of research before deciding on this system. Even given its minor faults, I don't believe there's a better system out there at present.
Uniden
The Uniden looks good, but only performs decently. The handset is a bit big and clunky, and fairly heavy too. The worse feature of the phone is the ear piece. It sounds very tinny and not really that impressive for a phone of this quality and price. It's like talking to someone with a tin can up to your ear... all treble and no bass... doesn't sound natural. Probably the worse sounding ear piece I've ever heard on a phone.
VTech
First of all, it doesn't truly utilize 5.8GHZ technology... it's 2.4 one way and 5.8 the other... so this still can cause problems with outside interference and computer networks. The phone performs fairly well, but there was nothing that special about it's performance or features. A 2.4GHZ phone for more than $50 less would perform the same.
Panasonic
WOW! BY FAR THE BEST PHONE ON THE MARKET. I honestly found no flaws with this phone. Great range (further than the other two), never experienced static once, great sound and clarity from the ear piece, really nice answering machine and caller id features, very clear displays,.. the lists goes on. Just an all around great phone. I'm glad I tested them all out to see what was the best bang for my buck... the Panasonic 5.8GHZ phone blows the other 5.8ghz phones out of the water... it's not even close. If I hadn't tried them all, I may have been satisified with the other 2, but having tried the Panasonic, I wouldn't even consider the Uniden or VTech phones... they are mediocre in comparison to the Pansonic... yet cost the same price.
Go with the Panasonic... I love it. Best phone I've ever owned.
I personally love that it's now possible (though not required) to enter and review a number before it's actually dialed, much like most cell phones work.
*Only* potential downside I've discovered is that the screen on the handset can pick up dirt, etc. from anyone's face, and needs to occasionally be wiped clean, though this is *very* minor.
Great, polished, *very* well-engineered phone, unlike almost all other cordless things I've encountered. I might simply suggest buying the version that comes with an additional handset (KX-TG5110, rather than 5100) that one can place elsewhere in the home if they'd have need.
i am extremely satisfied with this phone. it does not interfere with my 802.11b network which i have set to channel 6. the 2.4GHz phones kill the network.
this phone has almost every feature imaginable as has been described in the other reviews. there's only one major feature that is left out: you can't move or copy a message from one mailbox to another. this would be nice if a message got left in the main mailbox but i wanted to move it to my wife's mailbox and turn her "new message" indicator on.
the sound quality is excellent.
i highly recommend this phone. don't forget to buy additional handsets because the inter-handset features (like intercom) are very cool.
The Vtech 5.8ghz was the ONLY phone of this ilk that didn't knock my signal off when the base was next to my laptop. I mean seriously, what is the use of having the base if you have to put it in another room. This prevents me from screening the answering machine calls and using the convenient dial pad on the base.
Another negative was that the phone uses NiCd batteries! OMG! What is Panasonic thinking? These Product Manager should b flogged for putting cheap Nicd batteries in a $$ phone when the much superior NiMH modern batteries can be found in $ phones! NiCd, so you kow, develops short battery life over time due to the "memory" charge problems which is a well known problem with this battery technology. Check the Panny 2.4ghz reviews here on Amazon to see that the NiCd short battery life is proving to be an atrociously bad epidemic for the entire upper echelon Panny line.
Aside from all this, the phone performs well. It still doesn't have a time function on the LCD screen like the competing Vtech, ATT or Uniden models.
Speaker phone on base is the most unique among the competition as it's dual duplex. That means people on both sides of the line can talk at the SAME time, instead of back and forth like a walkie talkie. All other competitor phones did not have this nice feature. In reality though, really only one person can speak at a time, unless you want to interrupt someone talking on the other line who won't be able to hear you as he's currently speaking.
As of today, the Vtech is the best phone in terms of price, voice quality, feature, battery life. The Panny is nice as well, but it's more expensive, and use the dreaded NiCd battery which will most certainly cause the user headaches.
These 5.8ghz phones should be noted as be a marketing ploy to keep margins on these commoditized phone products from bottoming out (an article in my local newspaper quoted a Product Manager at one of these companies as admitting to this).
In many reviews that I have read, people have preferred the voice quality of the much cheaper 900mhz DSS Digital phones that also have a similar range as the best-in-class 5.8ghz phones. I'll stick with teh Vtech 5.8ghz, because I like the speakerphone feature on the handset. Otherwise I would have bought a 900mhz unit as I do indeed find them to be the best bargains out there and WON't INTERFERE with the wireless computer connections that are becoming all the rage these days.
Another
In no particular order, here are my pros and cons about this system:
PROS:
1) Excellent speakerphone on the base
2) Ability to pickup voicemail from any handset (don't have to walk to the base-station to see if you have voicemail). Handset visually tells you which buttons to push to skip or repeat the message. It also shows the message # while the message is being played back.
3) Handsets have Privacy features to prevent other family members from accidentally picking up the line while you're on it (handy if you run a business out of your home .. or you are a teenager and don't appreciate your parents listening in)
4) Speakerphone on each handset means mobility and hands free talking
5) Each handset shows if the line is in use before you reach for it
6) Ability to copy the phonebook from any handset to any other handset. This is a huge timesaver! I have all my phone number/contacts programmed on one handset. From there I can transfer the phonebook to each of the other 3 handsets in the house with a few key strokes. Amazing!
7) Bi-directional 5.8Ghz means that no interference with home networks, microwaves, etc. The base-station sits two feet away from the wifi router. No static anywhere in the house.
8) Easy to transfer calls from handset to handset (say you pick up the call and realize it's for your spouse. No need to walk around looking for him/her. Just page the other handsets from your handset and hand-off the call. All we need now is some hold music! (which, incidentally, is not supported)
9) Handset has a "booster" feature that can be turned on to get rid of static if you have walked more than 3 floors away from the base-station. Works nicely too. Too bad it can't be left on all the time.
10) Room monitor system allows you to listen in on what's going on in the room that the handset is in from a different handset. I suppose that parents with small children might find this a nice feature. Fortunately, it's turned off by default.
11) When playing back a voicemail, the handset shows the phone number of the person who left that voicemail (if you have caller id). You can then call that person back immediately, by pressing Dial. Very handy
12) If you transfer a call to another handset and nobody picks up that handset, the base-station will conveniently transfer the call back to you
CONS:
1) Handset distance from the base-station could be better. I picked up a little static when I was three floors away from the base-station. The static is easily removed by engaging the booster mode on the handset. Unfortunately, there is no way to leave this permanently set to on.
2) Handsets may be a bit larger than what home users may be used to
3) Handsets don't show current date or time (odd, since the base-station shows both)
4) Handset volume could be a bit louder. It has a nice volume range that you can change but the max volume is still a bit lower than what you need for noisy homes (either that or I'm losing my hearing)
5) The base-station can page all handsets simultaneously. This is useful if you need to page your spouse/kids and don't know which floor of the house they are on. Mysteriously, this feature is not available with the handsets. When using a handset, you have to page other handsets individually -- no way to page them all together. I have 4 handsets in the house ... this is getting old very fast. Fortunately, the base-station sits near my work area.
6) No way to give each handset a meaningful name ("bedroom phone"). Instead, each handset has a unique registration number (1 through 7). When I need to page my wife on the third floor, I have to remember that the handset on the third floor is registered with the base-station as handset #4. Not very intuitive.
Lastly, no phone with this many features would be useable without a good manual. This phone comes with a manual that is well indexed. You can download the manual in a PDF format from panasonic's website if you want to go over the features yourself.
The Panasonic 5100 has a nice array of features that should meet the needs of most customers and it's attractively designed. I will soon be ordering a couple of extra handsets for it. The manual is designed well enough to make the phone's advanced features accessible to any user who will take a little time to study it.
No use getting too involved in life -- you're only here for a limited time.
"Cheshire-Puss," she began, "would you tell me, please, which way I
ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't care much where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
