Intro- If you're a regular reader of my reviews, you might recall that I reviewed another Panasonic cordless not long ago. That unit was the KX-TG2215B. I initially liked that particular phone (Which I selected based upon my very limited needs in a cordless unit). However, Within a month or so, I began to notice that the battery seemed to be dying much faster than it should have. Before long, I'd have to charge it 12 hours just to get a few minutes worth of talk time. In spite of the fact that the phone was fine for my need otherwise, it ended up getting only a two star rating from me in the end. A phone with a dead battery is utterly useless.  
 
I eventually got rid of that one and just went back to using my old corded phone. Being someone who really hates a lot of wires, I tired of the old corded phone rather quickly. I knew it wasn't going to be long before I purchased another cordless but I decided that I wasn't going to get burned twice in less than a year so I just kept my eyes open for good deals. I really very rarely ever talk to anyone over the phone so I can't justify spending any more than I have to in order to get a good, reliable cordless with the features I need. My goal was to find a unit for less than $50.  
 
My criteria- For a cordless phone to be useful to me, I had a pretty good idea of the features I wanted. Other than the battery issue, I was very happy with the features and performance of the other Panasonic. My must-have features were as follows:  
 
*/SYM Powered by a high capacity Ni-MH battery pack  
 
*/SYM 2.4GHz  
 
*/SYM Backlit Caller ID  
 
*/SYM Digital security (I'm not really sure how "secure" the digital security touted on some of today's cordless units is, but it's comforting to at least feel like you're protected from eavesdropping and other people placing calls through your line)  
 
*/SYM Decent sound quality  
 
*/SYM I used to have a phone with a backlit keypad and found it to be a very handy feature. I always keep my phone by my bed and I like to know that I don't have to turn on the lights to place a call.  
 
Battery concerns- Once I noticed the battery problem in the old phone, I did some checking around on Epinions and elsewhere and found that most Panasonic cordless units that used the old Ni-cad battery packs had the same problem. Therefore, I decided that if I was going to go with another Panasonic, I was going to make sure the unit was powered by a NI-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery pack. Ni-cad batteries were always plagued by what is known as the "memory" effect. Basically, what this boils down to is the batteries needed to be almost fully drained before recharging. Continuously topping off Ni-cad batteries can sometimes cause their capacity to gradually decrease more and more until they're totally useless. At any rate, this problem has been discussed enough on the Internet and in complaints to Panasonic that I figured any new Panasonic with a Ni-MH pack would probably be free of this particular problem. As you'll see, it seems I guessed correctly.  
 
The newer Ni-MH batteries also aren't totally immune to this issue but they are much less likely to suffer from this memory effect. At any rate, I'm still amazed that with so many more advanced battery technologies around, cordless phone manufacturers continue to use Ni-cads. The newer batteries are starting to appear in more and more phones recently though.  
 
Shopping- When it comes to me and wires, there's only so much I can take before I finally get tired of fighting with them. Going back to a corded phone wasn't as easy a transition as I thought it'd be. Finally, about a week ago, I set out to buy a new cordless. I looked at a lot of models in almost every store I could think of that sells them. I couldn't seem to find all of the features I wanted for the price I was willing to pay. It seemed if the phone had a decent battery pack and caller ID, it was either not a 2.4 GHz phone or it was well overy the $50 mark. Yes, I saw plenty of cheap cordless units without caller ID. However, I've gotten so used to it that I don't know how I ever lived without it.  
 
I finally (somehow) ended up at Wal-Mart. I really very rarely shop there but it was a last ditch effort before giving up and going home. It was there that I finally selected my new phone- The Panasonic KX-TG2214W. Yes, the "W" in the model number stands for white. In general, I like all of my electronics to be black. It never seems to go out of fashion and it always blends in nicely with all of my other black gadgets. I was a little disheartened to find that this model was only being sold in white but this particular model has a couple of features that really set it apart from the rest of the sub $50 phones. For starters, it has a high capacity (1500 mAh)Ni-MH battery pack. The feature that sent it over the top was the lighted keypad. It's almost unheard of for a phone with these features to be less than $50!  
 
Initial impressions- Ok, I've been through this before. This phone looks and feels a lot like the older Panasonic that I bought just a few short months ago. I was surprised to find that the white doesn't bother me as much as I thought it might. You'd probably expect any product made by such a reputable manufacturer as Panasonic would have a nice, solid look and feel and this unit is no exception. It has absolutely no sloppy gaps anywhere that I can find. The layout of the keypad and caller ID is pretty nicely done, although I miss the old navigator key. There's still a navigator key but it's not a four-way key like the one on the older units. Still, navigating through the menus and doing everything you need to do to set up the phone is all easy enough to learn once you read the manual (And maybe even if you don't).  
 
As it was with the older Panasonic, the Backlit caller ID has excellent contrast and is large enough to be read at a comfortable distance. The keypad lights up whenever you hit buttons and when the phone rings. Oddly, there's no way to turn this feature off in the menu if you want to conserve power. I guess it's not a huge deal anyway, since the battery pack is listed a being good for over five hours of talk time and 14 days in standby.  
 
Some of the features that are touted on this phone are:  
 
*Voice Enhancer Technology- I haven't got a clue how this works but it does. As long as you don't turn the handset volume up to max, it has an overall pleasing effect. Voices do sound more natural than on Panasonic's older 2.4 GHz units without this technology. Still, it's kind of gimmicky and you have to wonder why a company like Panasonic would need to "enhance" the clarity of the call when last year's models were supposed to be so great (According to their own packaging last year).  
 
Backlit 3-line LCD- Frankly, I liked the display on the old phone slightly better. When this phone rings, if you have name and number caller ID service, it displays only the name first. This might seem a convenience but it doesn't help much when your caller ID service lists all cellular calls as "Cellular call". Of course, it eventually alternates and shows you the actual number but it takes a few seconds, valuable time when you're trying to decide whether or not to answer a call. The old phone, if I remember correctly, displayed both the name and the number in the same frame. That's about the only gripe I have with the LCD. Otherwise, the text is clear and legible and as I mentioned, contrast is excellent (and also adjustable if you don't like the default setting).  
 
This phone also has a 30 number memory for the caller ID and the ability to store 50 names and numbers (Far more than I'll ever need).  
 
Ultra charge- It's nice to see that cordless manufacturers are finally taking notice of people's desperate pleas to shorten the length of time it takes to recharge the battery packs in their phones. On top of the incredible 14 day standby time for this battery pack, it will take a full charge in six hours. This is a vast improvement but I guess these manufacturers expect us to forget that we're living in a world where you can charge your cell battery pack in three hours and keep a spare charged up and ready to go. It's also the same world in which I can fully charge two AA Ni-MH cells for my digital camera in about an hour. I guess it all boils down to cost. Cordless phones already cost more than they should and I guess these companies are just happy that people buy them at all.  
 
How does this phone sound? Well, I don't require audiophile sound from my telephones. If I can hear and understand what the person on the other end is saying and they can hear and understand me, I'm satisfied. Naturally, I'm not a big fan of static. So far all of the calls I've made on this phone have been clear and relatively static free. It makes me wonder when I hear persistent complaints about static and "horrible audio quality" with very similar phones in Panasonic's lineup. Maybe I'm just not as picky as some folks, who knows? (Update: 12/04/03) As I've used the phone more in recent days, I have indeed noticed a slight "echo" in the sound. Basically, you can kind of hear your own voice in a delayed sort of way after you speak. It's not really bad though and doesn't really affect my overall impression or rating of the phone. The only time when I noticed a really procounced form of this echo was when someone else in my house was on the other line at the same time.  
 
The Speakerphone- Panasonic seems to be one of the few manufacturers that builds speakerphones into their handsets and sells them for a reasonable price. The speakerphone on this one does what it's supposed to. I haven't used it much but when I have, it's given me the ability to talk hands free. The sound comes out of the speaker on the rear of the handset loud and clear.  
 
Is the battery issue resolved? Yes, I believe so. I haven't encountered any of the problems that I had with the old phone in this unit. So far, both talk and standby times have been great!  
 
Do I recommend this phone? Yes, with a slight reservation. If you demand absolute perfection in a cordless unit, you're almost certainly going to be spending far more than the $49.95 that I paid for this. This unit isn't perfect and has some limitations. I haven't tested the range but it works great in my apartment. That's all the range I need. If you need more range, judging from some of the other reviews I've read about Panasonic's Gigarange line, you might want to look elsewhere. My needs are very basic and this unit has features that I may not ever use. I haven't listed them all, as this review is already running long.  
