aNewDomain.net — OK. You’ve given up your landline and now rely solely on your mobile phone. You’re saving money, but often you wind up running through the house to answer your cell phone. Or you have a landline, but still find yourself rushing to find your cell phone. Panasonic KX-TG7745 Link2Cell Wireless Phone System is the answer to both of these situations.
The KX-TG7745 Link2Cell is a cordless phone system from Panasonic with a base unit and five handsets. Plug the base into your landline or VoIP calling device and set the phones around your house. Each phone needs an electric outlet, but only the base unit needs to be attached to a workable phone line. I tested it with various VoIP systems like the magicJack and it worked well with all of them.
The Link2Cell system includes rechargeable Ni-NH batteries and charging bases for each phone. The bases hold the phones upright. Also included are one belt clip and one wall mounting unit. Be sure to keep the small manual handy. Although the instructions are clear, they can be somewhat cryptic like Menu#618 – easy to press, not easy to remember.
The coolest thing about this phone system is the Link2Cell feature that allows you to connect two mobile phones to the phone system with a Bluetooth connection. When the easy setup is complete, you just leave your cell phone near the base station and when a call comes in, it will ring on your cell phone as well as all the other phones. You can also place a call from your cell phone or any of the handsets.
This model holds up to 3,050 entries in its phonebook. It will automatically transfer these from your cell phone. One caveat is that it is a shared phone book; everything goes into one phone book.
Only one cell phone at a time can access the phone book or be talking on the phone. My husband and I didn’t really have a problem with that. It is very easy to pick up one of the cell phones and turn off the Bluetooth if the other person is on a lengthy call.
If your cell phone supports Bluetooth in-band ringtones, the Panasonic phones will ring with the ring tone of the cell phone that is receiving the call. When a call comes in, if that number is in your phone book, the system announces the name of the caller.
In my testing, it all worked seamlessly except that there is about a 10-second delay in the connection. So if you pick up a handset to answer a call from your cell phone and you say “Hello” immediately, the other party will not hear you. You have to wait a few seconds before you say “Hello”. It’s a little hard to remember this at first, but it is certain not a deal breaker.
Panasonic has several different Link2Cell models with varying numbers of handsets and different capabilities. Be sure to do a little research to make sure you get the one that fits your needs.
Based in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Sandy Berger is a veteran tech journalist and senior editor at aNewDomain.net covering tech tips and tricks, apps and gadgets in general. Email her at Sandy@aNewDomain.net. Follow her on Twitter @sandyberger, +SandyBerger on Google+, and www.facebook.com/sandyberger on Facebook.
Interestingly enough, I have been using a Panasonic KX-TG7644 in my home office for about a week now but for different reasons. As a remote employee I spend many hours on conference calls and wanted a system that had speakerphone as well as Bluetooth to connect to a wireless headset. So far the Panasonic has been a solid performer in both aspects.
(This answer asumses you are located in the US)No one needs to buy an HDTV!. It’s true that almost all TV broadcasts will be sent as digital signals after 2/17/09; but the whole change over is designed to be backwards compatible. You could hook up a 50 year old TV to a converter box and watch any of the new digital signals.If you want an HDTV, the best brands are also the most expensive. Sony Sharp for example.LCD and Plasma are the technologies used to make flat panel TVs. Smaller flat panels will all be LCD. In larger flat panel TVs you can also buy plasma. Compared to LCD, plasma TVs are: Cheaper, heavier, use more power, and have a wider viewing angle.