Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic Dect 6.0 Series 4 Handset Cordless Phone System with Answering System (KX-TG1034S)

This is my second Panasonic phone ownership experience - the first was a 5.8mHz set with two non-expandable handsets. As we just went the cable company VOIP route, we wanted a multi-handset system that had enough expandability for our townhouse (5-6 handsets total), great voice quality and battery life (I work from home) and it can't interfere with our router (802.11g). This current unit does all that. Menu can be a little strange (different from previous Panny units) but you'll figure it out quickly enough. Two relatively minor gripes: ONE - you can page individual handsets only, not everyone in the house. You'll either try every number first or learn to keep a certain numbered handset in a certain place. TWO - and this is actually piss poor design and/or cost cutting on Panasonic's part - the keypad isn't lighted. The display is, but the buttons are just white numerals on black plastic. They're big buttons but I'm not part of the geriatric crowd yet and would rather be able to see what the heck I'm dialing when it's dark - I see just fine in the daylight.

Otherwise, it performs as advertised. We don't need the answering part (you can turn it off) so I have no clue how it works nor do I care. I was surprised to not see a non-answering machine unit readily available - with either landline packages including VM now standard or many people going the VoIP route, answering machines are basically archaic IMHO. The voice quality is wonderful, battery life excellent, speakerphone works very well, range is good. If you have a VoIP package from Verizon, Comcast, Vonage, etc. - I highly reccomend this as a telephony/intercom system which is what we use it for.

I purchased this phone from another outfit, but I was very excited to purchase the phone after reading the reviews on here and the ones I research from other sites. The phones are great compared to what I was dealing with before. The biggest irritation I have with them is that when I'm talking on the phone it works fine; but constantly throughout the call it seems as though I'm talking through a tunnel and I have to constantly ask "are you there" to the other party because I cannot hear anything. There is no sound in my ear so I have to check to see if the phone call is still connnected.

I purchased this phone to replace an older Panasonic phone system that was wearing out and I am very sorry to say it is not worth buying, in fact I am going to cut my losses, throw it away and try another product. The range is terrible, I have several of the handsets around my home and one is in direct open line of vision from the base and won't receive a signal. The only way any of the handsets will work is to pick up when the phone rings and get as close to the base as you can to get a signal. Forget about trying to go outside with it!

I was very excited to try this 6.0 phone. I have an old house with thick walls and wireless set up throughout so the fact that this phone ran on a different frequency was a plus. I was disappointed to find that the range was not as good as my 5.8 set and even worse was that in the middle of a phone call the hand set would start beeping and suddenly disconnect - despite a quick sprint to the kitchen where the base was located. Granted this never happened in the kitchen itself but did happen as close as the living room 20 feet away. Kinda of eliminates the versatility of having a cordless phone. I returned it after 29 days and am back to my 5.8.

Oh, yes, there are lot's of glowing reviews about this product. Just want you to know that the phone itself is OK, but beware of the answering machine function in the phone.

The phone system I recieved and three replacements all had a problem recognizing when someone hung up when we did not answer. When the calling party hungup, this Panasonic system tried to dial out. It then would go nowhere, end up at the telephone company, and proceed to record everything during that time. It was not unusual to have several messages that lasted five minutes each on our recorder, all resulting from people calling and hanging up without leaving a message. Sometimes it would work OK, but it usually did not. I received three replacements after the orginal. All had the same problem.

The service people at Panasonic were pleasant, but I don't think they ever tried to actually fix the phone system. They would routinely, like robots, send out a replacement, all with the same problem, even after I would explain the problem over the phone and in a letter each time I returned it. I eventually returned the system and got my money back. Do not buy this system if you want to use the answering machine.