Panasonic KX-TG6533B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Digital Cordless Phone (Black)

This phone system replaced an old Panasonic 5.8 GHz system we had had for a long time. Since we generally like Panasonic's brand reliability, we decided to get another Panasonic.Here are my pros and cons when it comes to the KX-TG6533B:PROS:- Handsets are lightweight and feel well balanced and ergonomically well designed.- Display is very bright and readable with large letters and excellent contrast, so no squinting or getting out the glasses necessary.- Handsets can be given individual names such as "Office", "Living Room" etc. No more confusing which handset belongs where when several are out of their holders at the same time.- When new phone numbers are entered, these register immediately on the other handsets - no separate transfer of entries to other handsets is required.- Sound is very clear. We recently switched to a VoiP provider and calls made with the old phones had sound issues a lot of times. Now people comment how much clearer we sound. Big Plus.- We utilize the voice mail system our phone service provider offers, i.e. not the answering machine on the Panasonic base unit. One of the most useful features of this phone system is that after an initial set-up (entering the voice mail retrieval phone no., password, etc.) the phone periodically and automatically connects to that mailbox and informs us on the handset display that new voice mails have arrived. No need to separately dial into the mailbox anymore to find out whether or not we have new voice mails.- Every now and then we get calls in the middle of the night from people who had the wrong number or mis-dialed - annoying, to say the least. Enter this phone system's Silent Mode: It enables individual handsets to not ring during a specified period of time, e.g. at night. Very useful.- There is an option to activate Talking Caller-Id. When someone calls, the name of the caller is announced between rings. Another winner in my book, just as:- The Call Block feature to permanently store unwanted callers in a list on the phone. These callers then only receive a busy signal when they attempt to call.CONS:- Phone holders are generally lightweight and tend to move around a bit when handsets are taken out, or are being put back in. Not a major problem at all though, just wanted to mention it.- The system stores only 50 phone numbers. I don't think that is nearly enough in today's world where many people have home, work, and cell phones, i.e. 3 different numbers for one person would then need to be stored. I entered but a handful of my family and friends' numbers and in no time got dangerously close to capacity due to having several numbers for one person.- The ring tones/melodies are not very good or appealing. I was really unpleasantly surprised. The most annoying are way-too-fast, synthesizer-like renditions of classical pieces. Oh my, Panasonic - this could have been done so much better. These tones/melodies sound like they come from the beginning of this technology, about 20 years ago. Ugh.SUMMARY:There are many features I really appreciate about this phone, nonetheless I am not totally blown away. After switching from 13-yr. old technology to this system I must say that I expected a bit more. It seems to me that Panasonic added a number of cool features but didn't improve on some of the older functions, such as phone book capacity and ring tones. But all in all still a good system.UPDATE 8/17/2011:I thought I'd add a quick update since it has been over a year that we have had this phone system:I am still rather happy with this phone and have not encountered any of the bad issues the 1-star reviewers have seen. As a matter of fact, there is nothing that I would modify in my initial review - I still like/dislike the same features, but my favorite two features are definitely the Call Block feature (it is just great - the phone rings once and that's it. The call is then blocked immediately. Finally no pesky calls from ominous 800 numbers anymore), and the Silent Mode feature which we have set to being in effect after 11 pm so we won't get any (ringing) calls during the night.One point I would like to add is that I found the batteries to hold up great. I have had calls that went on for hours at a time, and none of the handsets ever died on me. I think the longest call was around 5 hours (I know, I know...) and while the indicator bars went down to one, it was still working when I hung up. I was and am very impressed with that.

Bought these new phones since ours were on their way out; also Panasonic. I did a tremendous amount of research before selecting this particular telephone and decided to purchase at Amazon as the price was the best. I have to say that these new Panasonic telephones are the best we've ever had. The clarity is outstanding. The instructions are very clear and understandable making it easy to set the phone up the way you want. The only thing so far that I wasn't sure I would like is the voice announcement of who's calling. It was a little annoying at first but we got used to it. Depending on who's calling the voice-activated system doesn't always pronounce the name correctly, which can sometimes lead to a good laugh so if anything, the phone provides some comic relief. I also appreciate that you can block any calls that say "Out of Area", "Private Caller", or anything that does not have a telephone number attached to it. We live in Arizona and sometimes get slammed with unsolicited calls and the blocking feature takes care of all of that. The phone is easy to hold and contains belt clips for carrying around. We appreciate the larger, easy to see display window. Bottom line, we really like these phones. The price was excellent and I would recommend them to anyone. Panasonic really does make a great product!

I purchase this Panasonic phone after my Uniden cordless that I had for many years finally bit the dust. I read the reviews here and elsewhere, and liked the features the phone had. When I got the phone I found set up to be easy and I was impressed by the looks of the phones and I especially liked the large, white, viewing window. There's was no problem seeing anything on that screen, even from a distance.I have Vonage (VOIP), and I had it for years with my old Uniden phones. Never had a complaint from others about the quality of my calls. With the Panasonic I had people telling me there was static on their end, and I had a very hard time hearing my on my end. The sound was very "tinny" and at times my caller and I would be "stepping" on each others words. This I couldn't handle. I need to be able to hear my caller. Until my Uniden phones started going out, all calls were sharp & clear, for both parties.The other thing that I didn't care for was the "feel" of the Panasonic handsets...very "cheap". No "heft" to them. Again, my Uniden was a solid handset which had fallen many, many times without any damage. I was worried that the Panasonic would not be as durable. (But as a side note, I went out and looked at a number of different cordless phones and it seems they are all made rather lightweight and very "plastic", even some of the newest Unidens.)If Panasonic could beef up this phone a little...and add better speakers in the handsets for hearing your caller, this would be a very good phone. Unfortunately, I had to send this one back...Maybe mine was defective.