1 Love this phone!
This is the third time I have bought a phone system with one base and multiple handsets, and this is the best one I have used so far. The reasons range from trivial (I like the sounds of the ring tones), to significant (you can use multiple handsets at once).
The two most important features for me before purchase were:
1) 5.8 Ghz spread spectrum. My old phone was a 2.4 Ghz, and it would occasionally interfere with my wireless computer network. It was very annoying. My moving to a phone that uses a different frequency range, the problem is completely avoided.
2) The ability to use multiple handsets at the same time. Another phone I previously had would not let two handsets talk in the same conversation at the same time. This was just miserable. This phone lets you do this without any problems.
After purchase, I found that it had some other amazing features:
1) Each phone has a unique ID, and you can conference between the handsets. With the range this phone has, my wife and I now carry them around outside (we have a 3 acre yard) and use them to talk to each other.
2) The phone has an AMAZING speakerphone capability on each handset! This was not on my radar at all, but it is really useful.
3) When playing back messages it has recorded, it shows you the caller ID entry for the message. Really nice touch.
4) While I don't know much about it yet, I can apparently keep the numbers in the phone's phonebook in sync with those stored in Outlook in my computer. I can also download new ringtones, but that's not so importent to me. More info on this is available at www.openlcr.com.
The ONLY annoying thing about this phone is that when you answer a call on one handset, the other two handsets register it as a 'missed call' in the caller ID list. I considered rating it 4 stars for this, but once you get used to it, the rest of the features more than make up for it.
2 Almost perfect
This phone has all the features anyone could possibly need. It's also relatively easy to figure out, since the interace is similar to your average cell phone's menu-style interface. One thing I was surprised by though, is if you pay to download a ringtone, you only get it on ONE of the handsets! You have to pay 3 times to put the same ring tone on all the handsets. I got burned by this, and it's why I'm giving it 4 stars.
3 Simply the BEST
Save your time, and your money...this is the phone you want. I have tried them all, and Panasonics last for years and never let us down. We use this system on our Voip, Packet 8 service and it works perfectly. It is so loaded with handy and useful features, that we are spoiled by it. We rush to answer the phone as this is such a pleasure to use. Panasonic really outdid themselves with the 5433, we just love it. You enter all your phone numbers in one handset and it will copy them over to the other two handsets for you...one at a time or all at once, truly a neat feature. You set the time on one set, any one you like, and the other two handsets pick it up automatically. Did I mention we are happy?
