Panasonic KX-TG8523EB DECT Trio Digital Cordless Phone Set with Answer Machine – Black

Mark Whitehead

at 2:25 pm

If phones were just phones then I’d give this 5 stars- the quality of the voice transactions is great and the phones are easy to use.

But as phones aren’t just phones these days other things need to be considered!

The much-voiced criticism of the ring tones for the previous model (TG8423 series) applies here. There are about 20 to choose from and most are pretty poor- but they do the job. The selection of pictures to use as a backdrop is also very limited, but there are some very pleasant pics The point being that surely in this day and age of memory sticks and the like it would be so easy to be able to port across your own ring tones and pictures? Also the colour schemes are basic and garish, albeit bright and easy to read.

The products I buy have to work hard to get 5/5 so those negatives mark it down for me! Hopefully on average it will balance out to 4.5 or something…

So on the positive side, the phones are really easy to use, and the comprehensive menu system lets you change all sorts of things. As we have a newborn baby in the house, being able to define night-time whereby a given handset (nearest her cot!) doesn’t ring is fantastic.

The answerphone er, records messages and lets you play them back! Seems to work fine, and I don’t think there’s anything lacking here.

The design of the phones is a little old-fashioned but still a load better than a lot of phones out there!

I won’t be using headsets with them (which is an option); and I haven’t tried sending or receiving texts from them but with a bit of setting up it’s allegedly possible.

But most importently, as I said at the start- as a phone these work very well indeed and I thoroughly recommend them to anyone. One thing to consider is that by the sounds of things these don’t offer much over the previous model so consider paying less and getting a set of them if you don’t have to have the bestest, newest thing on the block!
Rating: 4 / 5

Mr. Allan Stevenson

at 3:28 pm

Bought this set to replace ageing BT pair. These look really smart and do what they are supposed to do with ease. Good programs and simple copying of info from one unit to another. Answer machine is a bit fussy to use, but does the job. Like all modern handsets, these ones leave your arm tired after about twenty minutes of use – not heavy, just a bit awkward to hold for long periods. However, the rubber insert on the back does ease the strain a bit – perhaps the use of a mobile ‘phone earpiece with mic., built in might solve the problem – there is a suitable socket on the handsets.
Rating: 4 / 5