- DECT 6.0 Plus Technology
- 5 Cordless Handsets
- Single line,Intercom: Yes
- All-Digital Answering System Included
- Bluetooth capability
The phone accepts Bluetooth connection from most cell phones. Panasonic details the compatible phones (most all) in a table at their site titled (search Panasonic web for...) "Cellular Connection List for Panasonic Products". Once registered via Bluetooth, all of the Panasonic handsets call-out and receive calls wirelessly through the base unit, as though it was a landline phone. It is however a SINGLE line phone i.e. in or out from any one of its three ports: a) cellphone #1 or, b) cellphone #2 or, c) landline, but ONE call at a time. The phone's 1.9GHz frequency will not interfere with the 2.4GHz frequency typical of routers, home security systems, and other computer wireless devices.
As for performance very impressive! The handsets are a bit larger than our replaced 12-year old Panasonic phone system, but better designed with a very readable black on bright-white display and larger buttons to reduce dialing mistakes. The newer technology NiMH (nickel-metal hydride) batteries no longer have the old-style proprietary shape, instead they are conventional AAA size, and so could be easily replaced if they ever wear out. The sound quality is excellent, virtually noise free incoming calls via the cellphones are perfectly clear. The Intercom feature while nothing new is still a great help in a multi-story house or office and also delivers excellent sound. The handsets can be "named" (up to 10 characters) allowing room names to appear on the intercom menus. Each handset has a volume amplification control a useful feature in a noisy room. To review the features and capabilities of this phone, use the following search string to download the Panasonic user manual in .pdf: "KX-TG7745S Owner's Manual (Multi Language)"
-----7 mo update-----
13 November 2012: No complaints, rock-solid performance and excellent audio quality over dozens of incoming and outgoing calls on two cell phones (LG and Motorola). The intercom has been a handy feature in a multi-level home. The Panasonic has allowed me to jettison a $41/mo landline bill. Highly recommended and still worth 5-stars!
Buy Panasonic KX-TG7745S DECT 6.0 Link-to-Cell via Bluetooth Cordless Phone Now
After four years with my Bluetooth enabled cell phone linking Vtech LS5145 base station and additional LS5105 handsets, the Panasonic KX-TG7745S appeared to be the answer to resolving my battery pack replacement blues while also leveraging newer "advanced" technologies to hopefully improve my phone configuration while simultaneously retaining a comparable feature set. Going into the exchange, I had high hopes that the Panasonic, with four years of technology advancement, would exceed my expectations in most, if not all, areas of performance compared to my old Vtech LS5145/LS5105 phone set; however, the experience has fallen just a bit shy of what I was hoping for. For what it's worth to others who may be at a similar cross-roads, here are my observations/impression following the "upgrade:"Pros (with notes comparing to my old Vtech LS5145 + LS5105 handsets):
DECT 6.0 Digital Enhanced Communications between handsets and base station ( IIRC, my old Vtech model was unencrypted spread spectrum )
Talking Caller ID ( Pretty cool as my old Vtech phones did not talk... )
Standard AAA NiMH Rechargeable Batteries instead of custom battery pack ( For comparison, my old Vtech uses custom battery pack BT5872 )
Link 2 Cell Phones via Bluetooth (Supports one linked cell call and one landline call simultaneously, same as my old Vtech)
30 Number Call blocking (No call blocking on VTech, IIRC)
18 Minutes record capability (I believe the Vtech did something on the order of 15 min instead)
13 Hour Talk Time (Advertised at least... and the old VTechs are nowhere close at an advertised 4.5 hours talk time, IIRC)
Backlit keypads (Old VTech keypad was backlit as well, though I'm not sure one is better than the other, but back-lighting is good!)
No annoyingly bright power/charge/locator light (Old VTech lit room up at night with bright blue light...)
Cellular Only mode if you've gotten rid of your land-line (Must admit I don't know how/if the Vtech handled this scenario as I've always had a land line)
Base and Handsets have speaker phone capability (Seemingly comparable to my old Vtech model)
Intercom Capability between handsets (Had hoped functionality would be equivalent to the Vtech, but have yet to figure out how to do a "global" intercom to all other handsets)
Total feature set somewhat comparable (except, apparently, the Vtech global intercom function, and the Vtech battery backup on base station)
Big plus: 5 handset set readily available for not much more that what it would cost me to replace the failing battery packs in my 5 Vtech handsets and base station.
Cons (At least as compared to the old VTech phones)
DECT 6.0 is supposed to provide better sound quality, but I'm not convinced as the new phones seem to have a constant "static hiss/noise" that I'd never really noted in the Vtechs.
VTech was able to intercom call to all handsets simultaneously as well as 1 to 1... only been able to do 1 to 1 on Panasonic (so far, at least...)
Monotone handset display as compared to VTech color handset display
Maximum of 6 possible handsets total compared to, I believe, 12 for the VTech
Charger Bases and phones feel lighter/cheaper than old VTech, in my opinion at least
Not as sleek and designer-esque as the old VTech Phones, again, in my opinion at least
Apparently, No Backup power on the base station... which is odd because the previous Panasonic model (KX-TG7645) apparently had it (VTech has battery backup in base unit)
Durability compared to old VTech TBD...
So it's really something of a "mixed bag." The Panasonics appear to be, more or less, feature-comparable phones with new batteries and, supposedly, more secure wireless communications than before ( I was previously banking on the spread spectrum stuff making the VTech phones pretty hard to listen in to, but now DECT 6.0 supposedly provides digital encryption, the strength of which might be somewhat questionable, on top of what I can only hope is some form of spread spectrum with frequency hopping communications... though I can't seem to confirm any of this on Panasonic's website, so depending on how mandatory the security features are on any given DECT 6.0 Plus implementation the Panasonics "may" be more secure). I'm just a bit concerned that I can't seem to find any Panasonic literature addressing the security aspects/features of this phone. On the positive side, the cost was not much more than the battery replacement cost would have been for the VTech phones. Biggest disappointment so far is the background static noise that will probably irritate me more the more I continue to think about it. Just might be enough of a reason not to recommend these phones... but the talking caller ID is really cool! The Panasonic model (KX-TG7645) from last year got really good reviews and this year's model (KX-TG7745) simply appears to be a refresh with better iPhone integration, so I figured this year's model would be as good, if not better than, last year's. Perhaps that's where I went wrong? Anyone compared a KX-TG7645 against the KX-TG7745 as regards static/background/hiss noise present on the handsets? Anyway, perhaps I'm being a bit over-critical of the "hiss" as souund quality seems fairly acceptable overall when you're not listening to the hiss during silent moments. It just stands out to me since I don't recall having such an issue with the old Vtech model, though it may simply be a case of better noise reduction circuitry on the old Vtech as compared to the Panasonics. Will see if I can acclimate to the hiss over time or not...
UPDATE/EDIT 09 JUNE 2012: Updated original review to indicate that the KX-TG7745S does indeed support both a landline call and a cell call simultaneously. For example, a linked cell call can be placed from one handset while a landline call is already in progress on another handset. In such a case, both calls proceed simultaneously. There seems to be a lot of confusion online regarding this capability with some reviewers stating that the KX-TG7745S cannot do this; however, I have successfully performed this very exercise with my KX-TG7745S. Having said that, what does appear to be a limitation is that, according to the manual, only one linked Bluetooth device may be "connected" at a time. Unfortunately, the manual author's use of the word "connected" is confusing and somewhat absurd sounding. "What? I can only have one Bluetooth device "connected" at a time???" If true, this would make it almost pointless for the unit to support linking of two phones as the second phone would not be able to "connect" once the first one did. Or, for that matter, neither cell phone would be able to connect if a Bluetooth headset was connected to the phone system first! Anyway, I believe what the author meant to say is that, while both cell phones can be linked/connected simultaneously, only one linked/connected Bluetooth device may be in active use at a time. This means that if a linked cell call is in progress on one handset and you pick up another handset to try making a call from the other linked cell phone, the handset will indicate that the phone is "busy" and you will not be able to access the second cell phone. Furthermore, if the maual is correct in what it states, the use of a Bluetooth headset during a landline call would seem to exclude the use of either cell phone during that time, thus making it impossible to make/receive a linked cell phone call while the Bluetooth headset is in use. If true, that sorta stinks. Will have to hunt down my Bluetooth headset and test this out at some point to see if it is true. Now for one last note: While your cell phone is linked/connected to the base station, it is pretty much worthless for making/receiving cell calls directly through the cell phone itself as, at least with my phones, the speaker and probably the microphone are apparently disabled while linked. I assume this is for privacy and energy reduction while in use through the handset phone system; however, it means you will need to disconnect/de-link your cell phone before you can reasonably use it directly. Would be nice if the cell phones were smart enough to de-link/disconnect automatically when accessed directly so that you could simply pick up your cell phone and use it as normal at any time. The cell phone could then automatically reconnect after you've completed your call and put the cell phone back down. Or, pherhaps the cell phones could simply provide an easily accessible quick-disconnect button to allow you to decide whether you want to disconnect quickly or simply stay connected while you access other non-call related features of your cell phone. Better yet, just have the cell phone automatically disconnect when I go to dial a number or receive a call directly from the cell phone... and then reconnect when I'm done. Sounds pretty straight-forward to me. Perhaps some cell phones are this intelligent; however, mine don't appear to be. Take a "hint" cell phone manufacturers! Here's something you can improve!!!
Also, in investigating possible explanations for the low level background hiss/noise I've previously reported with my KX-TG7745S and in light of the glowingly good reviews everyone seems to have given the older KX-TG7645M, I've been scrutinizing the differences between them to see if there can be any explanation. This evening, while holding boxes for each of the two models, a possible explanation jumped out at me: The KX-TG7645M box touts the units superior sound quality performance due to employing "Range Boost antenna technology;" however, there is no mention of Range Boost antenna technology on the KX-TG7745S packaging!!! The KX-TG7645M box even goes on to note something to the effect that the Range Boost antenna technology can provide up to something like a 20% improvement in talking quality as compared to Panasonic products employing standard DECT 6.0 Plus technology without the RangeBoost antenna! Can anyone confirm for certain that the improved Range Boost antenna technology has truly been left off of this new KX-TG7745S model? If so, I'm becoming even more convinced that the KX-TG7745S is even more of a manufacturing cost reduction stripped down KX-TG7645M imposter than I previously thought. FYI, here's a recap of the features in which the KX-TG7745S currently appears deficient with respect to the KX-TG7645M:
KX-TG7645M advertises Range Boost antenna technology while the KX-TG7745S is apparently absent such technology (If true, could forecast lower quality sound on the 7745 vs. the 7645)
KX-TG7645M provides power backup capability for operating base station during a power outage while the KX-TG7745S lacks this feature and will cease to operate during a power outage.
KX-TG7645M appears to have a voice memo function while the KX-TG7745S appears to be absent this function.
Only new feature I've identified for the KX-TG7745S (other than the obvious aesthetic changes) is the addition of a side mounted volume control rocker switch... which, for me, actually seems harder to use than the front panel rocker volume switch anyway!
I can't say for sure whether the KX-TG7645M is better than this model or not, but the specs are starting to stack up in its favor and I think I'm going to be looking into it. If my suspicions turn out to be true I'll likely be sending the KX-TG7745S back home to mama... stay tuned for the next update!
UPDATE 16 JUNE 2012: Ok, my new KX-TG7645M is now here for comparison against my previously purchased KX-TG7745S and the sound quality of the 7645 does seem somewhat better than that of the 7745, at least in my particular application anyway. There is still some low level white-noise hiss notable in the 7645 during silent moments; however, the more static-like noise present in the 7745 seems to be gone in the 7645. Surprisingly, I'd have to give the ease of use approval to the 7745 over the 7645; however, the 7645 wins the aesthetics competition hands down! I won't bore you with all the details here, but if you really want to know the nitty gritty details of my observations, see the 7745 vs. 7645 discussion thread available below.
Oh, and I don't believe the 7733 has the Range Boost or reversible handset features either, contrary to the comparison chart as it currently stands on the product page. And, despite the charts insinuations, I would encourage you to compare and contrast different model features to arrive at your own determination as to which model is best for you...
Read Best Reviews of Panasonic KX-TG7745S DECT 6.0 Link-to-Cell via Bluetooth Cordless Phone Here
There are many positive reviews here of this product already, so I'll instead just address a major, deal-breaking concern. This device does NOT work reliably with the iPhone 4S. It DOES work as advertised with the iPhone 4 and earlier. But there is a known issue on the Apple Support forums that addresses the simple fact that this phone won't work reliably with the 4S.I've successfully used this device with a Bluetooth Plantronic Voyager headset, an iPhone 4, a Samsung Galaxy Fascinate, a Samsung Galaxy S3 and even an older LG flip phone. All work flawlessly, just as advertised. If you have an iPhone 4 it will "push" your native ringtones (even custom ones like songs) out to all the handsets in the home and play it through them. Very deep, tight integration and Panasonic is to be applauded for including this.
But the iPhone 4S is a different story altogether. In at least 90% of all the use cases I tried, conversations that originate from the phone handset through the 4S are completely unintelligible to the listener. You will have extreme digital "garbling" that makes it sound like you are talking underwater. Every once in awhile, with no discernible reason as to what caused the difference, the call will work just fine. As a result, if you have a 4S, you may as well not bother to even pair it with this phone. If you do, you'll still be required to answer the phone using the iPhone itself or risk having your callers just hang up in disgust. Its that bad.
I give it 3 out of 5 stars since it does work as advertised with some phones. But the 4S was released several months prior to the intorduction of this product by Panasonic, and it is listed on Panasonic's website as being compatible. Clearly they didn't test this or they'd know this is not the case. I have tested it with 3 different iPhone 4S's now and all exhibit the same faulty behavior.
I hope this helps informed buyers avoid this product if you have a 4S. Otherwise, it works as advertised.
**Revised review notes**
I thought in the interest of fairness I'd post an update.
I've tried almost every possible configuration of the iPhone 4S with this phone to get rid of the garbling that makes the phone useless. I've found that I _CAN_ improve the performance to the point where it will work maybe 2/3 of the time for both incoming and outgoing calls with minimal to no garbling/digital static. Your mileage may vary but hope this helps.
1) Turn off your WiFi when home. Yes, I realize that this makes the iPhone 4S eat up more cellular data so this may not work for you. But apparently when WiFi is enabled and you have WEP security enabled on your router and the iPhone, the signal from the WiFi circuitry on the 4S interferes with the Bluetooth radio. I've found just turning off WiFi improves performance and clarity by almost 80% and makes the phone useable with this Panasonic rig.
2) Once a day, delete the Bluetooth pairing for this Panasonic handset rig, then do a hard reset of your 4S. Re-pair Bluetooth once the phone reboots. Another pain in the butt thing but doing this, along with disabling WiFi, gets you close to full reliability of the 4S for making/receiving calls.
I'm still leaving this at 3 out of 5 stars, but have noted that Panasonic has now remove the 4S from their listing of compatible phones on their website so at least they have acknowledged the problem. And, to their credit, the problem appears to lie more with the 4S than it does with Panasonic since most other phones (including the iPhone 4) work just fine with this setup.
Want Panasonic KX-TG7745S DECT 6.0 Link-to-Cell via Bluetooth Cordless Phone Discount?
Pros: Easy to set up because most of the defaults were appropriate. I have the five handsets scattered around the house with room names in their memory. They will always end up back in the original room and not collect on a coffee table.The voice caller ID will be very handy. With the old cordless phones (about 5 years old) we had to get up and look at a hand set to see who was calling. Might as well answer. Many features to tailor ring to source. I like the call blocking. We get repeated calls for donations. I can shut this down now.
The Panasonic connected to our LG Ally (verizon LG VS740) and did the automatic transfer of phone book. One Ally is set about 30 ft from the base unit with 3 walls in between and we still get a blue tooth connection. The Panasonic compatibility list () did not list this model, but seems to work flawlessly. This will be a real convenience because we had to run to our cell in whatever room we had left it. Now putting it on the charger with Bluetooth on and it rings on all the Panasonic hand sets.
Another great feature is that our old system had to have the phone book copied to each hand set. And I didn't always do it, so each hand set had a different list of names. The Panasonic has one phone book (three groups) accessed by any handset.
Old set was not very good sound quality. This is better. We will try it with conference call to one of our children on Sunday.
Cons: I am in the process of setting up the "Home" phone book. I downloaded our Cell phone book, but it is of limited use. Contacts with multiple phones are shown on the cell with identifying destinations ("Call Mobile", "Call Work"). Each of those downloads to the Panasonic as the same name 2 or 3 times, but with different phone numbers. Caller ID would work fine, but outgoing, I have to remember which phone number is which location. In addition, the cell doesn't need the "1" before the area code. So I can't use these numbers to call out on the land line. I am in the process of editing each entry and saving it in the "Home" group. Better than entering the whole entry, but a bother.
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There has been a wealth of input from end users of the two Panasonic cordless phone models, KX-TG7745 and 7645. I elected to buy the newer 7745 model, even in spite of three very significant features that are missing compared to the 7645: (1) the 7645 has a built-in Range Boost antenna on the base unit which allows it to operate at up to 20% further distances from the base without experiencing excessive static and background noise; (2) the 7645 has a battery back-up feature on the base unit which allows it to continue to function during power outages; and (3) the 7645 base unit has a two-line LCD display (which is kind of redundant to the handset display). The newer 7745 model has none of these three features.At the time when I bought the newer 7745 system, it was about $20 cheaper than the lowest price I could find on the 7645, plus I felt a little better about buying this year's model instead of last year's model. (At the time of my writing this, I noticed that the price of the 7745 has slightly gone up and the 7645 has slightly come down; so, now the 7645 is about $10-$15 cheaper than the 7745.) Also, I had not fully understood nor discovered the 3 major differences listed above which were kind of hard to get Panasonic tech support to confirm prior to my purchase. In hindsight knowing what I know now, I probably would have ordered the 7645 model since in addition to those three features, it has all the capabilities of the 7745. But I do have to say that I am quite satisfied with the 7745 after receiving it, installing it, and playing with it for the last couple of days. The remainder of this article summarizes my experience with the Panasonic KX-TG7745S (which is the newer 2012 model):
In addition to ordering the KX-TG7745S (5-phone set), I also ordered an additional handset model KX-TGA470S for a total of six handsets, a range extender (repeater) model KX-TGA405B, a UPS backup power supply, and a set of 12 Maha PowerEx 1000 mAh AAA low self-discharge pre-charged batteries, and a battery charger/conditioner/analyzer.
A little about my usage environment. I live out in a country home with a rural setting at the top of a hill on about 30 acres of land. My closest neighbor is about a half a mile away. I have a metal shop/barn out-building which is about 50 to 60 yards from my house, also at the top of the hill. My mailbox is about 150 yards away down at the bottom of the hill at street level. I frequently ride my ATV up to about 300 yards from the house. I have wireless internet that runs on both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz bands. We have fluorescent lighting in the basement offices, some fluorescent lights up on the main level, and fluorescent lights in my shop. My home is a single level home, but has a finished out basement where we have our two work offices and our den/recreation area. The bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and dining room are on the ground level, and there is a sunroom attached to the back of the house. We wanted to put a handset in each of these areas, and I was kind of hoping a cordless phone would work throughout all of these locations. From what I was reading, it seemed like a DECT 6.0 phone might be just the ticket for this. I have a Motorola Droid 2 Android smartphone, and my wife has an LG EnV Touch VX11000 feature phone, both of which have bluetooth. We intended on using the Link-to-Cell feature on the Panasonic 7745 phones, but were going to use it with a normal landline as well.
The first thing I did was condition/break-in charge the PowerEx batteries. They are rated at 1000 mAh and are low self-discharge, which means that they hold their charge for a longer period of time when not being used, but many people have also found that when used they also get longer life between charges with these LSD batteries as they are sometimes called. The batteries that came with the phones are rated at only 550 mAh and they probably would have worked fine, but I wanted to be assured a longer lasting charge when I am out working in my shop and steal the sunroom phone off its charging cradle to take with me.
In my first arrangement, I put the base unit in my office down in the basement and the range extender/repeater out in the sunroom, but the repeater was having a hard time staying linked up to the base unit. So, I moved the base unit up to the master bedroom so that it would be at ground level along with the repeater. This actually makes a whole lot more sense anyway because there is a much better line-of-sight from the bedroom down to the street level than there is from the basement. This will allow the handsets to work better down at the street level, plus with this arrangement the repeater linked up great with the base unit in the master bedroom.
I was worried that I was going to have to program all six handsets individually to get them all registered to the base unit and set up, but the majority of features transferred over to all the handsets when you program the first one. Things that would logically need to be different for each handset such as ringer type, ringer volume, and the auto ringer silencer had to be set individually. But I liked the fact that you could name each handset so that it shows up on the display. This allows you to keep track of the phones a little better. When it came time to set up the Bluetooth link to our cell phones, this took only five minutes for both cell phones and was fairly simple. If you have ever used Bluetooth devices before, it will be straightforward. If not, you might need to read the user manual for your cell phone and also the 7745 user manual a couple of times so that you can get the cell phones linked up properly. Also, the Panasonic tech support will walk you through it step by step (800) 211-7262.
Next, we tried transferring our cell phonebooks to the base unit, which is done by keying in a 3-digit code from one of the handsets and then approving the request on the cell phone. We had about 300 numbers between both cell phones to transfer over, but it only took about five minutes to finish both. Some people have complained about this not working properly or not being able to handle contacts that have several phone numbers associated with one name. In the Panasonic user's manual, it clearly states that it will assign the same name to multiple phone numbers if you have multiple numbers for the same contact in your cell phonebook (home, office, work, cell1, cell2, etc). The manual also states that if you have pictures attached to your phonebook entries, the phonebook may not transfer at all. Luckily, we did not have any problems since we do not have pictures for our cell phonebook entries.
There are some other issues with a cell phonebook that has been transferred to the 7745: As you know, cell phone dialing is not the same as landline dialing. For example, with cell phones you never need to 1+ dial your calls even if the area code is different from your cell phone. Also with cell phones, the area code can be dialed along with the number even if the number you are dialing has the same area code as your cell phone. However with landlines, the same is not true and will result in a, "Please try your number again" message if you call a long distance number without a 1+ at the beginning. The same error will happen if you include the area code when you call a local number from your landline. The only thing you can do is edit each entry one by one and add a 1 to all long distance numbers, and remove the area code completely for all local numbers. It's a pain to do, but there really is no other way for Panasonic to solve this issue because it's not really their problem; it's a problem with the cell phone industry which is uniquely different from landline calling (and probably with good reasons that I am not aware of). Here is what I intend on doing: Instead of manually editing all 300 entries, I will edit the phonebook entries over time as I call those numbers or as those contacts call me. No sense editing someone's number that I will not likely talk to any time soon. The editing process is a snap, and if it's in a different area code than my landline, I can edit all contacts in that same area code simultaneously by using the caller ID edit feature (see the user's manual on page 44). However, you do not want to use that procedure for contacts in your same area code because for some you still need the 1+area code to dial them even though they are in your same area code; whereas for others in your area code, you can skip the 1+area code completely. So for contacts in your area code, you will have to edit your phonebook manually; just do it over time.
Now, on to the audio quality that I have experienced with the phones thus far: First off, the range is phenomenal; especially with the range extender that I purchased separately for around $30, shipped. I can ride my ATV as far as I dare (300+ yards away) and the audio quality is very acceptable. I can go down to the street level at the bottom of the hill, and I can go inside my metal shop building and talk with exceptional audio quality. I have been asking the other parties how I sound and everyone says our new phones sound great on their end. When someone calls one of our cell phones and I answer it on the 7745 via Bluetooth, it sounds pretty good as well. One of my first experiences with that was with my daughter who often calls me on her drive to work. When she called, I asked her if I sounded OK and she said, "Yeah, you sound great!" I said, "Well on my end, you sound kind of static-y..." She said it was because she had me on speakerphone and there was a loud 18-wheeler nearby her vehicle. So, her cell phone was talking to my cell phone with hers on speakerphone and mine linked up over Bluetooth to the 7745! Moreover, I was in my backyard about 30 yards away from the repeater unit inside the sunroom. With all that, I wasn't expecting to hear a pin drop in the background but it was descent considering all the junk between she and I.
Next, I hooked up the UPS to the base unit and then unplugged the UPS from the wall to simulate a power failure. Then I went to each of the six handsets and listened for a nice clean dial tone; all were excellent. So far, I don't have any significant complaints with these phones. One thing I would like to know however, is if the 7645 model that has the built in range boost antenna on the base unit will work as well as the 7745 base unit with the range extender/repeater that I purchased extra. If it does, this would have saved me about $10, had I bought the 7645 to begin with at the $20 higher price tag at that time; but, I am a little skeptical of the 7645 alone being able to perform as well as the 7745 + repeater combo which was $10 more than the 7645 alone. You see, I have my base unit positioned near a window at the front of my house, which provides excellent coverage down the hill to the street level. There are about three of four interior walls and an exterior brick wall between my base unit and my sunroom where I have the repeater unit mounted. The repeater unit faces toward the back of my property, so I get very good coverage in two opposing directions with my brick house between the two.
Bottom line: I am very happy with the 7745 phone system. Granted my experience is only 3 or 4 days old at this point. I will update this post a month from now and tell you if anything has changed my opinions. Thanks for everyone's input, especially Demanding.
UPDATE AFTER 2 WEEKS USE:
I am impressed with the audio quality on both ends of land line calls (people tell us we sound good too). We keep our Bluetooth turned on all the time on our two cell phones. The user's manual says optimal performance is achieved when the cell phone is between 2 and 10 feet from the base but we've actually used the link-to-cell feature when the cell phone was in a totally different room from the base unit. Quality is not as good though and although we hear the other party fairly well, they usually comment that we sound static-y. When we put the handset about 5 feet from the base unit, the cell calls are exceptional. One small thing to remember is that when you answer a cell call, don't say "hello" to quickly, wait about 2 to 3 seconds after you pick-up before saying "hello." This gives the link-to-cell time to patch through. We also love the fact that we have three different ring tones set up: two different ring tones for the two cell phones we have, plus a third ring tone for land line calls.
Also, I am glad that I purchased the high capacity AAA batteries because the manual says that you get about 11 days of standby time on a handset if it is within about 10-20 feet from the base unit (Eco Mode ON). When Eco mode is not on, the standby time is greatly reduced. I took two handsets off their charging cradle and left them for days out in my shop so that the Eco mode would clearly not be activated. One handset had the 550 mAh stock bats, while the other handset had the hi capacity 1000 mAh bats. After 7 days, I went out to the shop and the unit with stock bats had died, while the other unit with the hi-cap bats was still showing a full charge on the display. I left it out there another week and it still has quite a bit of charge left on it as of this update (phone indicator has a 5-step battery icon and phone was only down one step from the highest charge level).
I can also say that I do not have to refer to the manual as much as I thought I would. I originally thought I would constantly need to get the three digit codes out of the manual to operate the phone settings, but the codes are really just a quick way of jumping to a particular setting. You can also go through the phone's menu and navigate to the desired settings by using the navigator pad (up, down, left, right button), and the middle "select" soft key button under the screen. It's pretty intuitive to get where you want to go. We don't use the built-in answering machine on this phone system; instead, we use the voice mail service offered by our phone company. The advantage is that we get unlimited message length and number of messages. The indicator light also flashed on all handsets when we have a message on our voice mail. To access the voice mail, we have the phone number programmed in, plus a few pauses, and then the PIN number. Voice mail has a dedicated spot for it to be stored in the menu, and it works like a charm.
Our older 5.8 GHz UNIDEN phones had a 100 number caller I.D. memory; the Panasonic phones only have a 50 number memory. Not that much of a problem, but we could look back to calls over two months old with the UNIDENs where as only about a month on the PANASONICs. Your history will vary depending on how many calls you receive each day. We average 1 to 2 incoming calls per day on the land line, and quite a bit more on the cell phones.
