Cordless Phone - DONE!

I think we can cross this item off the to-do list!

We're charging up our five AT&T SL82558 DECT 6.0 phones. Even the packaging was well-designed. I have a good feeling about these. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Search for cordless phone **UPDATE**

**UPDATE** Now we're comparing two models available from Sam's Club, both energy star compliant:

Panasonic KX-TG6323 PK ($69.73/3 handsets, expands to 6)

• PROs: Uses rechargeable AAA batteries instead of expensive batteries. Shows time/date on display.
• CONs: Only 5 hour talk time, but you can keep handset on charger all the time without harming batteries. Have to scroll through menu to change ringer volume or to turn it off and need to refer to manual. Less than excellent sound quality.
• Ratings:
  4.1/5 (9 reviews Sam's Club)
  3/5 (1 review Amazon reviews)
  69-73 Consumer Reports for other KX-TG models. Consumer reports reviewed other models which can be compared to this one at the panasonic site.
  3/5 (13-15 reviews, Consumer report users reviews for both of those other KX-TG models.

AT&T SL82558 - ($99.74 /5 handsets, expands to 12)

• PROs: Intuitive to use and change settings without manual according to users. Had best sound and range of consumer reports models reviewed.
• CONs: No time/date display reported by users. Only con reported by consumer reports was that it has no auto talk but that's a good thing for our house.
• Ratings:
  4.5/5 (14 reviews Sam's Club)
  4/5 (9 reviews Amazon reviews)
  78/100 Consumer report reviews (highest rating in it's category!)
  4/5 ( 20 Consumer report users reviews)
  4.5/5 (33 Reviews Best Buy Reviews)

We brought the Panasonic model home since Sam's club was closing...but it looks like we'll be taking it back tomorrow.

The AT&T model really looks like the better phone for us. Yay! Another step toward a functional house :)

Searching for a cordless phone

Next step in creating order out of chaos....finding a new cordless phone set.

We only have two functioning telephone lines in the house and neither are in convenient locations.

So we need one of those cordless phone sets that allows you to plug into the one phone line and have cordless sets scattered about the house.

We always had horrible luck finding a good cordless phone, but mom and dad got us a super set one year for Christmas. It was a V-tech and lasted forever and had great voice quality. I bought some additional handsets from Overstock and it was a great set-up.

But alas, the phones are on their last leg. I know mom and dad have been through 2 or 3 phones themselves during this time and haven't found any they like.

So I'm on a quest for the perfect phone! Here's my criteria:

• Expandable up to 6 handsets
• Doesn’t interfere with wireless network (dect 6.0 is supposed to be good)
• Shared phonebook across handsets
• Shows when you have voice mail message
• Quality (range, reception, volume, etc.)
• Speakerphone
• Mute and/or hold
• Base has no ringer or ringer can be turned off
• No answering machine or can be turned off
• Can block other extensions if you don’t want them to listen in on your call (e.g. Uniden DECT 2060-2)
• Can press redial on a caller-id without having to manually add “1” if out of area code
• Caller ID with name and number appearing at same time
• Caller ID backlight appears without having to take handset off cradle
• Can "name" each handset and assign to a particular location in the house
• Can search for handsets lost in the house
• Energy Star compliant

So as always, I got to Consumer Reports first.

I'm intrigued by the Panasonic Dect 6.0 KX-TX models. Consumer reports recommends it and Amazon customers give it 4 out of 5. Overstock has a 6 handset model of this one for $150 so that seems like a good deal.

I am also looking at the GE Cell Fusion Cell Manager DECT 6.0 Phone System. This is a phone that integrates your landline and cell phone. I thought it could be a money saver in that maybe we could keep local landline (for emergency use) and use cell phone for all long distance through a regular phone that might be safer than cell phone. But I'm not sure it's ready for prime time yet.

The hunt continues....