Well Designed, Good Value
Written: Jan 05 '01 (Updated Apr 17 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good Sound Quality, Actually Useful Features
Cons: 900MHz frequency is crowded with everyone using a cordless phone.
The Bottom Line: Wonderful usability, excellent voice quality, and exceeds my expectations by far.
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| shanewho's Full Review: Panasonic KX TC1450 900 MHz 1-Line Cordless Phone |
I have been using this phone for over a year now, and have bought 4 of them on various occasions as gifts to people since.
Like many things I buy, I went through several phones before I am satisfied, and this is the one that has served me well.
When I was search for a new phone after my old V-Tech died over a year ago, I wanted a cordless phone that met the following requirements:
1) Good reception
2) Long battery life
3) No Echo! A lot of cordless phones have echoes; you can hear yourself through the ear piece slightly delayed from the time you said something.
4) Comfortable to hold
5) Has a headset jack so if I want, I can wear a headset connecting to the phone instead of holding the phone with my shoulder or my hand.
Let me go through them one by one.
Reception
The reception on this Panasonic KX-TC1450B is indeed very good. I live in a high rise and a crowded city, and occasionally, I do get interference, since it is only natural that a lot of people also have cordless phones in the vicinity. However, I have always been able to easily change the channel and everything becomes very clear again. I have had to do this about five times over a year, and I don’t think the phone is to blame. However, be aware that with any cordless phone, you may have to do this if you live in a crowded city too.
Battery life
The battery life is pretty good, although there was twice that I did not charge the phone and talked on it for so long that the low-battery warning went off. With the phone fully charge, I have talked for seven or eight hours on it just fine without the phone complaining about low battery.
What’s amazing about this phone is that it is fully charged in four hours. That is much faster than most other phones that require you to charge it for twelve hours.
No Echo!
I don’t know if many people notice, but many cordless phones have problems with echo. I have noticed that this is particularly prominent with cordless phones by Uniden. I went through two Uniden phones myself and had to return them both because they had such bad echoes I felt I was talking in a tunnel. I even tried the top-of-the-line Uniden Digital Spread Spectrum phone and had the same problem. I guess for people who are used to it, some don’t notice this echo, but I am sure this common cordless phone problem bothers some people. (Just search the newsgroup listings, and you will see a lot of people complaining about it.)
Anyway, this Panasonic KX-TC1450B has absolutely no echo whatsoever. The sound quality is really great. It also does not have the slight hiss that some cordless phones have. Two thumbs way up on this one.
Comfortable to Hold
The phone might be on the skinny side, but it is large enough with good contour to be comfortably held. I don’t hold in with my shoulder or my hand in a long conversation but it is very comfortable to hold when I do hold it.
Headset Jack
A headset for a typical cordless phone is only about $15, which is well worth the money. The handset of this Panasonic KX-TC1450B has a jack that works with standard phone headset. It is great to have both hands free while talking on the phone and still has the freedom of a cordless phone.
Extras
The base unit of this phone is a fully functional speakerphone, complete with dial-pad, volume control, and other often used buttons. Something I don’t need, but comes in handy on occasions.
It is also very easy to control the base from the handset. Other than the volume on the speakerphone, you can pretty much control the base from the handset. It’s a little bit difficult to describe, but it actually works very simply and intuitively. I often use this feature when dial to places where I will be on hold or need to press a lot of buttons before I get to talk to a real person. It saves me from having to hold the phone to my hear and then have to push the buttons as instructed by the computer on the other end of the phone.
If you are looking for a cordless phone, this is the one to get. There cheaper phones, but you will have a hard time finding one that has no echo, good battery life, and plus actually useful extra features like this Panasonic KX-TC1450B.
By the way, I think I paid $50.00 for it. The estimated price might be on the high side (as of 01/05/2001).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
shanewho
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Member: Shane
Location: Illinois
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
A computer/gadget enthusiast, Shane is a frequent traveler who has lived in three different countries.
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