On Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:57:25 -0500, Tony Matt wrote:

These/some Panasonic
cordless handsets display a "Charge for 7 hours" message (and a single
bar on the battery gauge) whenever batteries are installed, regardless
of the state-of-charge.

Thanks for confirming.

It took me a while (mostly at Jeff's insistance) to test the batteries,
which, turned out (surprisingly) to be fine, even though the phone
said they needed charging, right after the phone said they were fine.

Go figure.
SO far, it has worked out ok, so, I think the re-registration process
was what fixed it (I think).

On Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:04:18 -0700, Tony Hwang wrote:

Maybe I am dumb or simple minded. Manual says charge 7 hours B4 using. I
just left it over night out of box. Ever since they all have been
reliably working. At home and at the store.

My experiments pretty much proved that the following would happen:
a) Leave batteries in overnight - handset display says they're full.
b) Pull batteries out momentarily & put them back in
c) Now handset display says (the same batteries) need 7 hours of charging

So, I'm going with the recommendation to ignore whatever the handset
display says if you've just put in batteries.

Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Tue, 14 Jan 2014 23:57:25 -0500, Tony Matt wrote:

These/some Panasonic
cordless handsets display a "Charge for 7 hours" message (and a single
bar on the battery gauge) whenever batteries are installed, regardless
of the state-of-charge.

Thanks for confirming.

It took me a while (mostly at Jeff's insistance) to test the batteries,
which, turned out (surprisingly) to be fine, even though the phone
said they needed charging, right after the phone said they were fine.

Go figure.
SO far, it has worked out ok, so, I think the re-registration process
was what fixed it (I think).

Hmmm,
Panasonic implemented mandatory 7 hour initial charge to ensure long
battery life. On any rechargeable batteries proper initial charge is
very important. It is not whether battery is charged or not. It is just
so. You are obliged to make sure at least 7 hour charging time. Usually
owners manual does not explain things in full. Panasonic CL phones in
my house is almost 10 years old. None yet needs new battery.