Panasonic KX-TG6511B DECT 6.0 PLUS Expandable Digital Cordless Phone, 1 Handset, Black

I have owned a lot of telephones in my home. All of them have disappointed me in some way. This one, however, seems as close to "perfect" in its design as you are likely to find.It operates in the DECT 6.0 range, with the latest signal-boosting technology. It uses less power if you are close to the base unit. It offers many ring and melody-ring tone options.It is very flexible, in accommodating special needs, like the ability to turn-off the ringer... or to set times of day when the ringer is to ring, and times of day (or night) when theringer not to ring, but to remain silent. The ringer volume is also very adjustable. It's is very well-thought-out design.It also has a rarely-seen headset jack, so you can plug-in almost any headset if you wish to have an extended conversation in hands-free mode (headset not included, but it'sheadset-compatible, and that's what is important... you can get a headset for $10 anywhere).One fabulous feature is the ability to do your customization-programing directly, not just by using "menus" as all other phones use. By that I mean... yes you can open upthe "function" menu and select "ring volume" and under that sub-menu select "low volume" and then select "save".... etc. But this phone also offers you a super-fast short-cutto programing this phone with every customization you want... and you can skip all the menus and sub-menus... if you wish. You can, using the long list of three-digitcommand codes in the owners' manual, just type in the three-digit code for whatever type of command or customization you wish to establish, and it instantly jumpsto that - and does it. For example: changing the ring volume... without going through tedious menus, can be accessed by just looking up "Change Ring Volume" inthe owners manual, and it tells you the shortcut code: "161"... enter that code and you are instantly at the point of telling the phone where you want you ringer volume(or any of 100 other customizations or commands you can "jump-to" with the right three-digit code). Brilliant! Simple! Easy!This phone also has a nice, big LCD display, and good-sized buttons with a nice feel to them. It is available with or without an answering machine built-in,and it is expandable up to several additional handsets on the same system. In short... this phone will not disappoint, in performance or ease-of-use.Sure if Apple had designed it instead of Panasonic, it would be made out of a single piece of sleek aluminum rather than black plastic, and the LCD display would befull-color rather than monochromatic, and you could probably operate its every function by voice command... but then again, such a phone costs several hundred dollars.For the unbelievably low price of about $33... (which is what you would pay in just sales tax on the above-mentioned Apple-designed phone)... this is a bargain.I don't think a better general-use, land-line, home phone is available today. This is as good as it gets.

Another 5-star review? Yes, I do like the Panasonic KX-TG6511B that much. It really is excellent, though it isn't quite perfect.The handset weighs nicely in your hand, not too light but not too heavy either. Buttons have good action and respond well...the sound quality is excellent and the range appears to be as well - in fact I can walk all the way across my apartment from the base station and still be in "eco" mode, suggesting that the signal is still strong enough at that distance for the phone not to have to bump up the power.It supports all the essential stuff like caller ID, time and alarm clock, phone book and call log, voicemail access (I love the fact you're not buying a built-in answering machine you don't need), a very well readable backlit display, etc...but for those who want even more details, I respectfully defer to the many, many other reviews already written.A couple things that I think could be improved upon:1. Much of the text and numbers on the display is quite big.That makes for excellent readability, but sometimes I wish it was just a bit smaller so as to see more of it at once without having to scroll. This is really a minor issue in itself, but it is compounded by the extensive menu system which has a good number of sub-menus...you can only see one menu item at a time instead of a list of, say, four or five entries at once. So navigating the menus becomes a bit of a memory exercise in that you're trying to remember where you are now and where you just came from/are going back to once you're done.A plus: Many options can be directly accessed with a 3-digit code - Panasonic includes a list of these codes in the manual for quick reference. That does help a lot.2. The included rechargeable batteries could be of better quality.Panasonic includes 2 of its own AAA Ni-Mh batteries which have a stated minimum capacity of 550mAh. That's not very much, and worse yet, these aren't LSD (low self-discharge) batteries like the Sanyo Eneloops, for example.They work just fine for now, in fact the battery indicator on my phone is still "full" after 3 or 4 days off the base station.But some reviewers have been stating that their sets stop working after a few months and just die/have problems recognizing the base station/unexpectedly drop calls/etc. I actually suspect that at least in some cases, it's because of the batteries - and that better ones will fix or completely avoid these issues. I can only guess of course, but I do expect my phone to work for a long time. Should I ever run into the same problems, I'll go grab a nice pair of Sanyo Eneloop AAAs first thing and go from there (I'll update this review then).Aside from these two caveats...I'm totally happy with this set, it's exactly what I was hoping for. I give it 4.9 stars. :-)