Most Panasonics are NOT 2.4, they are mixtures of 900 and 2.4, so why bother paying extra for a fraudulant 2.4? VTech has a few 900's that are cheap and good. Take the 9060i with a great answering machine. I really like it, but then I like my Siemens 2415. It's supposed to be able to have up to 4 handsets. After reading the above comments, I'll be really careful as I add more handsets, and if the quality goes down, I'll send back the extra and just be satisfied with a great phone and answering maching that has tons of great features and sound for the $70 it cost after the rebates for a phone tha sells for $169.
funkpuppy, did you try turning up the volume? You need to read the manual to do it, it's a bit complicated because of all the features. When I got mine, I couldn't hear very well either, but I just turned it up. Did you drop the Panasonic to see if it breaks? If not, then the fact that the Siemens breaks like most things when they are dropped is irrelevent. Just don't drop it.