Excellent Value, Worth every dollar.

The AT&T 2462 is the best corded/cordless combo you can find in the market today. I was mostly impressed that a 2-line phone can be this good. The box was pretty small and was easy to carry. The package came with a phone jack, a cord for the corded phone (on the base), the cordless phone recharger, the cordless phone, and the base.

Design
The design is perhaps the best feature in the phone. The cordless phone is not too bulky (compared to some others). It also does not tip over very easily. The buttons on the cordless phone were confusing. The buttons below the LCD was hard to navigate with. The left button is for scrolling up, while the right was for scrolling down. I was frequently confused with the two. The cordless recharger has a nice, efficient design that does not take up too much room. The base was not too big, approximately the size of a piece of 8*11 paper. I had a problem with the corded phone in a way that it falls off easily. When you try to place it back into the slot, or hang up, the phone my slip off. The keypad on the base was efficient. It allows people who have bad vision or big fingers to press the numbers without pressing the wrong button.

Installation
Installing this phone was very simple. With the guide, setup is also very basic. There was a quick setup that came with the phone, and it helped a lot. There was a problem with the phone lines though. The jacks were on the bottom of the phone, so there are little slots on the sides for the lines to fit through. The problem was that if you use a high quality phone line (usually thicker than normal ones) it would not fit through. Other than that, you should have no trouble installing it.

Features
What impressed me the most about this phone were its features. The speakerphones on the base and handset was very convenient to have. For example, when doing something that requires both hands, you can turn on the speakerphone and still be able to talk to the person on the other side. There is also the caller-id and call-screening features that are nice. With caller-id, you can view the phone number of the person calling you. With the call-screening, you can hear the person on the other side right after the answering machine greeting is on. This feature is especially good if you want to see if the person on the other line is a telemarketer, or any person you don't want to talk to. The 2-line feature is very good for this phone. Since it is on a cordless set, you can switch between lines with a press of a button. The greatest feature to have in this phone was its ability to expand. This allows you to put a cordless phone in every room. Because the expansion phones connect to the base (wirelessly), you do not need another phone jack in the rooms you put it in.

Sound Quality
The phones sound quality was excellent. I especially loved the clarity of the cordless phone. The reception was crisp and clear, even from my backyard to the base (approx. 100 ft). The volume on the speakerphone (on highest) could be heard from approx. 50-80 ft. In terms of clarity, the speakerphone had a little background noise. The microphone reception was high, especially on the speakerphone mike. To test this, I used the intercom feature on the phone (able to talk to the expansion phones) and had a friend tap a pencil about 10 ft. away from the cordless speaker mike in a closed room. From the base, I was able to hear the pencil taps clearly.

Reception and Range
The reception was excellent at a close range (up to 100 ft. from base). There were little or no interference or static on the line. The range of this phone before the reception becomes "dirty" (or periods of static) is about 200 to 250 ft.

Flaws
One major flaw from this phone is its relatively short battery life. The cordless phone needed a recharge a week after being fully charged. Another flaw in the phone was the lack of AA batteries for the base. It does have a spare rechargable battery storage, but the battery only lasts about one to 1 1/2 hours fully charged. In the previous phone I had, an old AT&T, had a AA battery storage. This allowed several hours of use in case of a power outage.

Conclusion
Best phone I had ever bought. Its price tag of $179.99 beats out most competitors with the same quality. The sound quality of the phone was excellent. Reception was clear and range was excellent for a 2.4 GHz. I would definitely recommend this phone if you want a good 2-line, or just in need of a phone.

Design: A
Reception/Range: A
Installation: A-
Price: A-/B+
Sound A
Overall (not an average): A