Panasonic DECT 6.0 3-Handset Expandable Digital Cordless Phone with Answering System and ChoiceMail (KX-TG7433B) (Black) by Panasonic
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Digital camera reviews of Panasonic DECT 6.0 3-Handset Expandable Digital Cordless Phone with Answering System and ChoiceMail (KX-TG7433B) (Black)
Digital camera Review: Beautiful Design, Tons of Features, and Great Sound Quality
Summary: 5 Stars
After my last Panasonic DECT 6.0 3-phone system inexplicably stopped working, I sought a similar replacement set. I've generally found Panasonic phones to be very reliable and figured my last purchase was simply a lemon (occasionally happens to the best). I ended up purchasing the KX-TG7433. The first thing I have to say is that the phone is gorgeous. The black shiny finish is much more sleek and attractive than the previous bland beige Panasonic I owned. The display is also much larger and vivid with a high-contrast black on gray LCD with large easily readable characters. The LCD and keypad are both well illuminated when any button is pushed. The time and date are prominently displayed on the LCD in standby mode. When you have a missed call or message waiting, it is also clearly displayed on the handset LCD, as well as a flashing amber LED on top of the handset. The set comes with three handsets, a base with built-in digital answering machine, and two charging bases for the extra handsets. In addition to the time and date, the LCD also displays icons for phone book, menu, and redial above their respective buttons. The center menu joystick is nice and intuitive, but it also brings about my only gripe. On my previous Panasonic phones, the most important buttons (caller ID, voice mail, redial, and phone book) were all one touch access. On this model, you have a few one touch items (mentioned above), but most features have to be accessed through the menu. Phone book items entered on one handset are automatically shared with the other handsets.
Voice quality is excellent as usual for Panasonic. Although I personally would prefer the volume to be a tad bit louder at the higher end, both the handset and speaker phone have adequate loudness and clarity for most people. There are no sudden drop outs or other sound issues like I occasionally experienced with the prior DECT 6.0 phone. The phone features talking caller ID, which is really cool. A female robotic voice will announce (or sometimes comically try her best to announce), the name of the caller (the voice cannot be changed, like on a GPS). The announcement is loud and clear and really comes in handy because you can decide whether or not to answer the phone if you are away from the handset, without disrupting whatever you're doing. The voice will also function as an alarm clock and even alert you when the battery is low. This model also has a new feature called "Choice Mail", which allows you to view caller ID info for pending messages and selectively choose and play them in any order. Sadly, this feature only works with the built in digital answer machine. If you subscribe to your telephone service provider's voice mail service, as I do, you're out of luck. Panasonic did not completely leave telecom voice mail service subscribers out of the equation. There are separate icons in the menu for the built-in answer device and subscription voice mail service. Like previous Panasonic models, the handset will automatically dial your voice mail service access number if you select the option. If you do plan to use the built-in answer service, it offers 18 minutes of record time and the choice mail feature, so that's a major plus. However, I can't comment on the built-in voice mail quality because I don't use the feature. The phone also features a privacy mode which allows you to choose periods when all, or select, phones will alert you with visual lights instead of an audible ring, and call block mode which allows you to block unwanted numbers from ringing. Battery life is better than average. Even with all the extra bells and whistles like talking caller ID and the larger LCD, I still get basically the same battery life, (approx 2 days between charges with several hrs accumulated talk time), as my previous phone which had a smaller dimmer LCD and non-illuminated keypad. I believe I can get even more battery life, because I have yet to hear the robotic battery alarm. However, I tend to recharge when the meter reaches one bar, just to be on the safe side. This model still uses the AAA size Ni-MH batteries.
I am really happy with this phone, especially at the current price. It's an unbeatable bargain. It has features galore, good sound quality, solid build, and a gorgeous design.
Digital camera Review: Best DECT 6.0 Panasonic Phone ON THE MARKET!
Summary: 5 Stars
Outstanding features. I love the talking caller id announcement, speaker quality is excellent and it does not interfere with wifi routers or baby monitors, I have first hand experience as once I started using this phone the interference in my baby monitor otally went away. Range is pretty good, I measured and was able to go out of the house to about an approx. distance of 700+ ft and the unit still worked and communicated with the base/received calls.
Money well spent, for the price Amazon is offering this for.
Digital camera Review: Best Phone
Summary: 5 Stars
The best wireless phone I've ever owned. The call block list is the best. Saves me time and spares me interruptions. The call announce is funky as the translation doesn't really work well. Too bad I ran out of memory to store more "call block" numbers!
Anyway, I would recommend the phone to anyone.
Digital camera Review: Best cordless phone I have ever owned
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best cordless phone I have ever owned. Great features! I really like the ability to check the (built in) answering machine from any handset. The range of use is very good reaching over 100 yards away from my house. Very little static, if any at all.Digital camera Review: Best of the Dect 6.0 Phones... And we tried out several!
Summary: 5 Stars
Panasonic offers a myriad of choices when it comes to Dect 6.0 phones. We have arrived at these through trial and error. Both the 9000 series and 1000 series failed us; both gave us "out of range" errors often, and the 9000 series would hang up every time we switched from speakerphone to handset. I work from home sometimes on conference calls, so that was completely infuriating and unacceptable. One aside - we got the 4 phone set but otherwise it is identical.
+'s of these (7400 series) phones:
* Good range - still clear walking around our yard
* reasonably clear (though the volume is a bit low)
* voicemail list and voicemail accessible from handset (choicemail - love it!)
* Good other features - offers a headset jack, belt clip, lighted keypad, speakerphone in each handset
* use regular rechargeable batteries, which you can replace very cheaply once they die (get the pre-charged Duracells or Sanyo Eneloops)
* great price
-'s of these (7400 series) phones:
* still not the best sound quality (my old 5.8 GHZ and 2.4 GHZ had better sound)
* terrible navigation menus (especially in this day and age of iphone style interfaces), though the 7400 series is more intuitive than the 9000 series or 1000 series. We like the little joystick navigator once you get used to it.
* Still can't make the volume on the handset loud enough... I ended buying a headset with adjustable volume that seems to compensate nicely.
* No simple speed dial feature (hold a number down), or if it has it, it is too complicated to program (see "terrible navigation menus" above)
* No speakerphone or dialpad in the main base charging unit - you cannot answer the phone if you do not have a handset around.
We chose these over the 6400 series because the 6400 does not have choicemail (ability to select which VM you want to listen to), has a smaller screen, and no joystick to navigate the menus. All in all, a good purchase and the best compromise out there in a Panasonic phone. Not perfect, but certainly better than the others we have tried.
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Feb 2010 Update - Phones are still going strong. Unlike the 9000 and 1000 series, no "out of range" errors yet. People never complain about not being able to hear me on these phones, either. It's refreshing. Did find a couple of additional weaknesses:
* The speakerphone in the handsets is not so great. People complain about the sound. If you use the speakerphone a lot, I'd suggest shopping around. I use a headset for hands free and it works great.
* The base doesn't give you much information - no message count, no speakerphone, etc. I think the choicemail and other features makes up for this and makes a message count less necessary, but still a weakness.