23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Best 2-line Dect 6.0 Out there
This product was a breeze to set up and the flexibility of the 2-lines in combination with the clarity of the DECT 6.0 standard makes this the best product in its class. The clarity is excellent. Battery Life is also very strong. The handset is tremendously light (almost cheap-feeling) is the only real downside. Just a minor gripe though. Overall a great phone. I will be...
52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
Good sound quality & range, but 2 fatal flaws
Bought this phone from a local "big box" office supply store after considerable research, etc. to replace a dying Uniden 2.8GHz model. Features, range, sound quality, and so forth are OK. Even the curiously slow dial tone sequencing is tolerable; HOWEVER, cordless "talk time" is ridiculously short (<90 mins cumulative, when kept off the charger base) AND the cordless...
This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
Bought this phone from a local "big box" office supply store after considerable research, etc. to replace a dying Uniden 2.8GHz model. Features, range, sound quality, and so forth are OK. Even the curiously slow dial tone sequencing is tolerable; HOWEVER, cordless "talk time" is ridiculously short (<90 mins cumulative, when kept off the charger base) AND the cordless handset goes dead (i.e. drops the call & the display blanks-out) whenever a GSM mobile phone is nearby and actively sending or receiving. That makes it unacceptable for any serious business/SOHO use. Swapped it for a 2nd new unit within 10 days; it had the same fatal performance flaws. Panasonic's "customer service" lines (for all consumer products, apparently) are routed to a call center in the Philippines. That would be OK if the reps were knowledgeable and empowered to do anything but give polite lip service. They finally offered an "advance replacement" with a refurbished set, but without acknowledging the problems or any assurance the 3rd system would be any different. Declined. Panasonic was once a solid, responsive company; sadly, they aren't anymore.
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
This phone is a decent choice for a 2-line cordless phone. The corded base station is a nice plus and sound quality is excellent. Range is pretty good too.
However, for me, the negatives of this phone were a deal-beaker. The phonebook has no speed dial numbers and it takes multiple keystrokes to get into the menu to look up numbers to dial. Likewise, accessing the caller ID log takes multiple keystrokes to see the log. Both should be single key access from the idle mode.
The voicemail indicator is via text on the screen, not the light on the top of the phone so I often missed seeing waiting messages. It also seemed the VM detect was flakey as I often had messages and the phone did not display them.
The ringer sounds and volumes are poor. I use this in a office environment and the softest ringer is quite loud and there is only one normal electronic ring sound (bad design for a 2-line phone!)
Finally the biggest problem of all - the cordless handsets will randomly go "dead". After speaking about this with Panasonic they told me there may be a problem with iPhones or other GSM cellphones interfering with the handsets and making them go dead. They said there were other reports on the internet of this being a problem but had not concluded their study. Since I'm an iPhone user, I guess I won't be a Panasonic phone user.
Here's a video clip so you can see for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZU2Q516VFY
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I purchased the KX-TG9391 base unit, which comes with 1 handheld. In addition 5 more satellites KT-TGA939 were purchased, 6 satellites total. These were installed in a 6,000 square foot, 3 story building. The base unit was in the main office on the lowest floors and the satellites were placed in various rooms throughout the building on all three floors.
Prior to this purchase, my partner and I were using a Radio Shack similar system, but with the 5.8 GHz format. The Radio Shack system had all the features we needed, but there was about 20% of the building where the Radio Shack system had neither the range nor ability to cancel noise, so my partner and I were constantly walking to a better reception area so we could understand one another.
We heard the 6.0 GHz systems had at least twice the range of the 5.9 GHz, so we thought we would give it a try.
WHAT THIS PANASONIC SYSTEM DID RIGHT:
1. The superior range and noise canceling ability on this system allows for clear conversation all over the building. We no longer have to walk into better reception areas
2. The caller ID works well
3. On the base unit the phonebook holds 100 names and is easy to use. There is one button you push to go to phone book. You don't even have to lift the receiver. Just touch the letter key of the first letter of the person's name you want to talk to; say "G" for Gary. Scroll down the Gs to Gary. When you lift the handset, the system dials Gary.
4. You can program different ring tones for different people.
5. Customer Service is available and helpful. I felt sorry for them because there were so many issues with this phone system that they had to say over and over, "Sorry, what you are saying makes sense, but the system can't do that. We'll report it, and maybe the next model will be better."
WHERE THIS SYSTEM REALLY SCREWED UP:
1. There is an intercom where you can page any satellite from either the base unit or a satellite. BUT, while you can page all the satellites from the base unit by hitting "INTERCOM" and "0", you can NOT page all the satellites from a satellite; only one at a time. THIS IS SO ANNOYING! If you are on a satellite and don't know where the other person is, you have to try one satellite, then another, then another. Like the joke, "You will always reach your party on the last one you try." Usually it takes 3 to 4 tries. (The Radio Shack unit allowed you to page all at once; when your party picked up, it would tell you where they were.)
2. On the base unit you can put your phone book numbers in Groups where each Group has a different ring tone. So you program your 100 numbers into their appropriate Groups and the system lets you "Copy All" into the satellites; BUT when it copies them into the satellites, it copies ALL YOUR NAMES into the satellite's Group 1. Panasonic's customer service checked and said in order to have the phone book names in their respective groups on each satellite, I would have to copy each name into each satellite. Do the math, 100 names into 6 satellites, i.e., makes 600 entries you have to program!!!
3. We use 2 lines. Line 1 is incoming and the number we give for people to call us on. Line 2 is the toll free line where we make outbound calls. You can program the system to automatically select line 2 when you pick up the phone to call, BUT if you do, the system always selects Line 2 to answer. So when a call comes in on Line 1 and you pick up the phone, nothing happens. It just keeps ringing! Now that can be frustrating! If, on the other hand, you select "Auto Answer," it picks up whatever line is ringing, but it always defaults to calling out on Line 1, so we pay a toll. Again PANASONIC'S CS said they messed up because there is no way you can call out on Line 2 and have it answer from whichever line the incoming call is on.
4. One of their big selling features is that you can put your phone book names into 9 Groups and each group can have its own ring tone. Well, guess again, there are only 7 allowable ring tones!! You have to pick which 4 Groups to share 2 common ring tones.
5. Very NON-intuitive to program. I am an electrical engineer with phone experience, and it frustrated me.
SUMMARY:
They got the hard things right, like range and clarity, but they so screwed up those easy things that would make the system useful that I can only rate it a 2 star out of 5. BTW, the Radio Shack system, which cost only about half as much, was really well thought out and allowed you to easily do all the chores you need.
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
This product was a breeze to set up and the flexibility of the 2-lines in combination with the clarity of the DECT 6.0 standard makes this the best product in its class. The clarity is excellent. Battery Life is also very strong. The handset is tremendously light (almost cheap-feeling) is the only real downside. Just a minor gripe though. Overall a great phone. I will be getting 2 more receivers for the house.
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
It's a good phone now that we've resolved a couple of issues, but it was definatley a pain before we figured them out.
First, we were having a problem with the phones mysteriously turning off. Pressing the "off" button would power them back up, but that takes a couple of seconds and the phones won't ring, etc. We finally discovered that this was happening when setting down the phones next to one of our iPhones. Generally, within about 2 seconds, the phone will power down. In at least one case, it wasn't happening. I suspect it may have to do with the frequency of the base tower the iPhone is sync'd up to at the time. I would guess that this issue would happen with most GSM phones. As long as we keep the phones at least a foot from the iPhones, they have no problems.
Also, one of the charging docks, out of 3 of them, was initially only charging intermittently. It turns out that on that particular one, they forgot to solder a couple of the wires in place. A little bit of soldering and that was resolved.
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
Range, call quality, and general features are very good. I like the shared phone directory and the fact that the caller ID log is system wide. Other phone systems I've owned record calls on each handset and each call log has to be cleared separately. I also like that the system will sync date & time from inbound caller ID data. Answering machine outbound and inbound message quality is also good. All of the system components "play well" with each other.
Bonus points: The handsets use standard Ni-MH rechargeable AAA batteries, available anywhere, as opposed to a proprietary battery pack that costs $20 to replace.
Small nits:
You can't set a separate ring count for each line before going to voice mail. Some other systems let you set the number of rings before the answering machine picks up on each line so that, say, a business line gives you 6 rings while the personal line goes to voice mail after 3 or 4.
You must use the base station to record your outbound answering machine messages. I'd really like to be able to do this from the handsets.
You can't give the handsets a name, they're only referred to (and intercom-dialed) by number. My old AT&T phones gave me a list of names (Office, Den, etc.) when using the intercom feature.
The base station does not have a headset jack.
The base station does not have battery backup. I'd recommend a small UPS to plug the base station into, so that you don't lose phone service during a power outage.
Major goof: The base station and handsets allow phonebook entries to be categorized in groups. The system does not sync the group names along with the phonebook entries, so you have to program the group names on every handset. Even worse, if you do a "copy all" from the base station to the handsets (or vice versa), it puts everything in the first group, deleting all the previous groupings. Bad feature testing there, Panasonic.
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Finding 2-line capability phones that are reasonably priced is getting harder and harder. This phone has a wired main-base unit, and expandable wireless units - a combination that is very difficult to find these days. One other thing, I will address the star ratings individually: (I'VE ADDED 2 OF THEM)
1. BATTERY LIFE*****: I have only had the system a couple of weeks, but they seem to hold their charges well. They are always placed back on their rechargable bases, so I don't foresee any issues. Based 5 stars on my 25 year of ownership of several different Panasonic phones. I guess that is why, I wind up purchasing Panasonic phones - they are dependable.
2. FEATURES****: I like most of the features available. It would help if the instruction book (I hope all the phone manufactures take note*) if there were small explainations to certain features. As a homeowner and small business owner, and as an example - I don't know what something like "VM Tone select" would be for and therefore couldn't use that feature. Therefore I only gave 4 stars instead of 5.
3. PORTABILITY*****: We live in suburban area north of New York City. Lots of trees block airwaves here but I get the best reception around the house with this new system than even the older phones. It doesn't matter whether I am upstairs or downstairs in the laundry room, or in outside of the house.
4. SOUND QUALITY*****: EXCELLENT AND CLEAR. WHAT MORE DOES A PHONE REALLY NEED?
5. RINGTONES AND RINGS***: The only problem I've found is that one or two of the satellite phones, ring insessantly when we get calls. Hence, I gave it 3 stars because of this. It can be annoying when they are still ringing and the phone has been answered in the next room. HOWEVER, given the sound quality which was much more important to me, I WOULD STILL RECOMMEND THE PHONE..... BUT PANASONIC COMPANY - PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS GLITCH! :)
6. **MOUNTABILITY AND AESTHETICS***: (SORT OF RELATED TO FEATURES): OK I ADMIT IT not everyone needs this feature, however, AS A HOMEOWNER/DECORATOR/MOM/ NOBODY MAKES PHONES (ESPECIALLY 2-LINE MODELS) LIKE THEY USED TO,.... SLENDER MODELS AND MOUNTABLITY ARE STILL NEEDED. BIG BLACK PHONES DO NOT MATCH MY KITCHEN! WHY DOESN'T THESE PHONES COME IN COLORS, YELLOWS, REDS, BLUES IN ADDITION TO BLACKS, WHITES, GREYS AND PUTTY UGLY BEIGES)? ALSO THEY DON'T MOUNT GRACEFULLY (OR AT ALL) ON SMALL WALLS IN NICHES. I REALIZE THAT PEOPLE DON'T CONSIDER THIS IMPORTANT, BUT I BET MOST HOMEOWNERS REALIZE THIS WHEN THEY ARE PURCHASING THEIR PHONES AND GET THEM HOME. WHEN I WAS SHOPPING AT THE DIFFERENT ELECTRONIC STORES, I CHATTED WITH OTHER CUSTOMERS WHO WERE LOOKING). WE ALL AGREED THAT THESE FEATURES WHICH ARE IMPORTANT TO HOMEOWNERS, GETS IGNORED BY ALL THE MANUFACTURERS.
7. BACKWARDS TECHNOLOGY CABABILITY*: I wish they would make the newer technologies available, so that extensions can be added to an older system. These systems are pricy (especially when you need to add extensions in 5 or 6 other rooms. I upgraded from a 2.4 gh to the dect 6.... would have been nice to be able to pair a newer phone with the older ones and really make them expandable phone systems.
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
This phone has been a disappointment due to it's limited coverage. The old panasonic phone it replaced had much better coverage. Now the calls break up in some areas of the house. Can't believe they are going backwards in quality. On the positive side there is no interference with other devices and the interface is simple and easy to use.
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
I bought this phone primarily because I needed a two-line answering machine and it's far cheaper to buy one with a phone. The answering machine is great -- good sound, easy to use, allows erasure of just one message at a time.
The sound on the handsets is not good -- it's as if someone has tried too hard to capture every sound and all that background sound competes with the voice, making it difficult to hear. I do not rely on this phone as my primary office or home phone -- and I am glad, for this reason!
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This review is from: Panasonic DECT 6.0 2-Line Black Corded Cordless Telephone (KX-TG9391T) (Electronics)
This phone is much better designed than my previous Panasonic TG200B with the exception of a huge gaffe the designers built into this one:
The base station hold function is only fully compatible with the cordless handsets that are sold with this unit.
If you use this with another corded phone (any brand, even the identical base station), you can place a person on hold, but once the other phone picks up, the hold light will not go off on the base. You have to manually disengage the hold by lifting the receiver!! Even if the other phone has ended the call, the hold function will still be engaged on the base station.
Unbelievable but true. I confirmed this with Panasonic tech support today.
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