Panasonic KX-TG5240M GigaRange Supreme 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System

Manufacturer:	Panasonic
List price:	~~$149.90~~
Our price:	that is 100% off!

Panasonic KX-TG5240M GigaRange Supreme 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System

Average rating: Stars

Has some great features, but could be improved

This review covers the KX-TG5240ALM, which is the 220v model sold in Australia.

I've been using Panasonic phones for years, and have always found them to be of good quality.

The reason I purchased this particular model was because of the talking Caller ID, and the ability to plug in a headset for hands-free use. It comes with a belt clip that snaps on easily, so I can attach it to the pocket of my jeans, plug in the headset and go about my business while still carrying on a conversation.

Voice clarity is excellent. I can hear the other party very well, and they can hear me.

The Speakerphone facility is excellent. It must be, if when I'm using it, people don't even realise that I'm on Speaker! It doesn't have the "tin can" sound that the older speakerphones had.

It's funny trying to program the talking Caller ID, because it pronounces words phonetically. No matter how I spelt it, I could not get the phone to say the word "Mobile" in any recognisable fashion (that's the way we Aussies refer to cell phones (pronounced MO-bile). A few names in my caller list are spelt rather funny so that they sound right, but that's no big deal.

I purchased a second handset to go with it, and it was easy to transfer the phonebook across. I didn't have to re-program all the numbers from my directory into it. It was accomplished by pushing a few buttons.

What can be annoying is that sometimes the phone registers "missed calls", even if I answered them (this was true even before purchasing the second handset). I have returned calls that my husband has actually answered, and that was annoying. I think it does it if you don't pick it up within a few rings.

If I answer most calls on the main handset, the second one will rack up a huge list of "Missed Calls" (and vice-versa), which is rather annoying.

The answering machine has 3 mailboxes. When I purchased the phone, I thought that the feature would work with a phone company's "distinctive ring" feature (where two diffent numbers use the same line, but have different ring tones). My fax machine makes the distinction, but this answering machine does not. People have to key in #1, #2, or #3 to leave a message for an individual mailbox. We often end up with a lot of #2 tones in Mailbox number one, even though it'll record the actual message in mailbox 2.

Overall, I still like this phone. The things I don't like about it are very minor, and I look forward to seeing what Panasonic brings out next year.

Panasonic KX-TG5240M GigaRange Supreme 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System - Panasonic

A good phone, not a great one

I bought the 5240 for my business and was happy with it right away. Since it's important for me to have my hands free while talking, I use a Panasonic headset (a cheapie). The voice quality is fine, and when I use the Voice Enhancement feature it's even better. I also have a wireless network (running at 2.8 GHz) and have run into no problems with the two frequencies running so close together. I'm able to walk well away from the base with no cut out problems, either. Talking Caller ID is cool, but not too useful. The handset by itself isn't too comfortable, but it's fine.

The main problem I've had is with the display on the handset. Suddenly, they became so dim I couldn't read them - but only on some of the menus. This became a little worse over the next week or so, so I exchanged. After looking at what was available, I exchanged it for another 5240 since I liked the first one so well. I ran into another display problem almost immediately with this one, but it wasn't bad enough to exchange. Six months later, I still have it and am living with the problem. When compared to sound quality, ease of use, and range, this is a minor problem.

Panasonic - Panasonic KX-TG5240M GigaRange Supreme 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone with Answering System

Maybe they fixed it?

I read the other reviews for this and many of them complained that the person at the other end would hear your voice garbled or distorted if you got too close to the base unit. We just bought a KX-TG5243M (same as the 5240 but it comes packaged with 3 handsets) on May 27, 2005, and it does not have that problem. I have even held the handset with the antenna literally touching the base unit antenna, and the person I was talking to could hear me clearly. So I guess either the problem did not exist on every unit, or Panasonic has fixed it.
Other than that, the phone has everything we want, including some features that were sorely missing on our old Uniden TRU-5885: On it you could not have a conference call with both handsets - only with a handset and the speakerphone in the base unit. And every time the power went out I had to get the manual out to find out how to set the clock again, despite the fact that every time a call came in the Caller ID showed the CORRECT time. Panasonic has managed to make their phone smart enough to use the caller ID info to update its clock automatically.

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