I bought this for my Mom..She didn't have a phone-line in the basement or in the garage and whenever the phone would ring she would rush up the stairs or into the house to answer it, a lot of times missing the call while trying to catch her breathe..I did not like her doing that with her getting up in age..Now she has a phone in the living room where the base unit is, a phone in the bedroom, a phone in the basement and a phone in the garage..They all have good reception which is what I was concerned about..I think she likes the Talking Caller ID..That way she doesn't have to have the phone with her to know who is calling..The display on the handsets are nice and big too and display the current time which she likes..The call block is a nice feature too..She had a persistent telemarketer that would call all the time and now with the call block the phone just rings once and blocks the call..She doesn't use the answering machine so I cant comment on that..
Overall I am happy with the purchase and I think my Mom is too.