Always had BT phones in the past - but they seem to have lost their way - some querky ways of working and couldn't find a model with all the features I wanted. But - the Panasonic is ideal for me. Had them (a quad system) for a month now. I love the ruggedised feel, and they are great around the garage and garden. The belt clip is a solid piece of kit which I value a lot.
Setup is very easy. Address books can be individual to each handset as well a single shared book but not all features are available to each type. The manual can be a bit confusing so I wrote down which feature is available to each address book and decided which numbers should go where. With shared numbers you can not only see who is calling but can record a message to be announced by the system as the phone rings, such as 'it's that adorable old lady your mother in law'. More useful than I thought it would be.
The hands free is excellent - no problem hearing or being heard - the caller is not even aware that I am not clasping it to my ear.
If the style suits you, then go for it - the features are excellent, easy to use and well thought out.

This phone looks good and is tough. We have already dropped the handset a few times with no problems. Great for people with small kids. One of the best features is the keyboard lock (just like a mobile) so that kids do not accidentally dial a number. I remember one of my friend's kids dialled 999 and the cops turned up and gave him an earful! Very simple to install / setup.

If you want performance and quality, then this phone has it all. No fancy colour screen, but superb range, features and sound.

Things that you may not know:
- Aerial glows a bit in the dark when on charger unit, which is a bit annoying, but a lot better than most (all?) other Panasonics, where the screen glares all night, no good for a bedroom phone
- Other Panasonic DECT phones connect well (I've paired up my two old ones with the base, quite easy too)
- The phones have "audible caller ID" which is a surprisingly useful feature
- Phones are a nice size, but not too heavy
- SMS via a landline also works well and is easy to set up

All round, great phone, for those who value quality and usefulness more than a colour screen.

Excellent - easy to set up - does everything it is supposed to do. Menus are easy to follow and the sound quality is great

Larger than average handsets, with substantial buttons make the Panasonic KXTCD 290 very easy to use. The ringer is much louder than my previous cordless phones. Very easy to set up additional Panasonic KX-TCA128E handsets with the base station: simply press one button on the base and place the handset on the charger ... and that's it!

Two separate phone books are not so convenient, but it is very easy to set up one phone's phone book and then copy these entries to the other phones. So maybe the shared phone book should be avoided.

Each handset comes with a detachable belt clip, which is ideal for keeping the phone handy when you're in the garden or where-ever.

Quite pricey but much better than the Philips Onis which I had before.