How do I select a plain vanilla Panasonic cordless phone with one extra hand set?

I have only had a Nokia 6100. Yes, it’s an older flip phone, but it has all the features I have ever needed. It lets me access my Yahoo email account and gives me the weather forecast and makes calls really quick and oh yes, did I mention it has bounced around in my police car many times and still works?

It may not be the best, it may not contain all the do-dads on my wifes Samsung Galaxy II cellphone, but it still makes great cellphone calls and after all, isn’t that the core reason to have a cellphone in the first place?

My cellphone is an oldie, like me. We are both dependable.

Now, to answer your question. You need a home phone.

If you have a Goodwill Store near you, I would first visit it. Since so many people are giving their home phones away, in lieu of cellphones, the selection at Goodwill is now great.

The cost is so low for them, that if you are not pleased with one, then buy another. The best sounding portable home phones I have ever owned was made by General Electric.

I always recommend Costco or Amazon. You might get one with a few handsets for about $40.

@john65pennington: I think she meant a “house phone” not a “cell phone” or “smart phone.”

I usually have the same criteria when shopping for a phone. As @jca suggested, I go to one of the bigger shops like Future Shop or Best Buy, then look for the cheapest phone. If there’s a specific feature that I want, I travel upwards on the price curve until I find what I want.

Sometimes, that means getting a feature or two that I don’t want, but as long as it’s not an irritation, that’s fine by me.

I would recommend Best Buy. I used to work there, and I noticed that they had several “bare minimum” but good quality phones with a second handset that were fairly cheap, in a range of about $30—$50. And there are pretty much always coupons and sales for that kind of stuff that will get you a better deal. If you find it cheaper at another store, online or otherwise, before you buy it, just tell the cashier and they’ll match the price.

Thanks, everyone.

@john65pennington: I was asking about cordless phones and not cell or smart phones.

We have Panasonic KX-TGA101S, at least that’s what it says on the bottom of the one on my desk. The base station has an answering machine in it, but it’s small and you can disable the answering if you want to. The satellite phones come with a little charging dock.

We went through a dozen or so other cordless phones then got this one. It came with one satellite and we added the other. That was maybe five years ago and they are going strong still.

@dabbler: Do the LCDs on the display windows still work?

There are some inexpensive cordless phones at Target also. I got a Vtech brand phone a few years back and it still works great. Came with an extra handset, and you can expand (up to 4 handsets, I believe) by separately buying more handsets. It is a basic set, with LCDs on both the base unit and the extra handset. It also has a built-in answering machine. Don’t know if you are looking for this feature also.

@2davidc8: Iget voice mail from my primary carrier and usually disable the answering machine. Occasionally during severe thunderstorms it has magically turned itself back on.

@dabbler: The Panasonic KX-TGA101S is the satellite. Can you conveniently look at the serial number on the bottom of the base unit? It is probably different?

I have Panasonic KX TGA 101B, came with four handsets and two docks. What I like about having four is that I really only need two, one charging 24/7 and one in use, and then when that one dies, it goes to the charger and I take the other one off. The other two handsets have never been used, yet, and what I’m hoping is that if these two break, I can take the other two and they’ll be brand new, untouched. I’ve had these phones almost 5 years and the displays still work. I got them at Costco, I think they were about $89 at the time.

Ah yes, that was the model of all the handsets. The base unit has this model number on it:
KX-TG1032S.
All the displays work fine.