Recently I have been hearing mixed reviews on Skype, but
mostly third party anecdotal. I see that many of the posters here use Skype and was
hoping they could report some first-hand pros and cons.

Thanks

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Cannot report pros and cons really, as I have not used other VOIP systems to compare against.

I use the basic, with just adequate broadband.

Voice to voice, whether on a one-to-one or conferencing, is as good as a land line. I believe colleagues use web cams to see who they speak with, and these can be conferenced.

I have used the VOIP and the message board, between speakers, OK. I have not used any of the shared white boarding, or other facilities.

To me the system is fine, and free between those with Skype. I would recommend it!

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Modern dang fangled gadgets. Why can't people just talk to each other down the local pub like they did in the good old days?

BTW, has anyone got one of those new digital photo frames? They're cool!

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flaming balloons

Modern dang fangled gadgets. Why can't people just talk to each other down the local pub like they did in the good old days?

BTW, has anyone got one of those new digital photo frames? They're cool!

My Mom got one for Christmas, She LOVES it.

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Recently I have been hearing mixed reviews on Skype, but
mostly third party anecdotal. I see that many of the posters here use Skype and was
hoping they could report some first-hand pros and cons.
Thanks

It was better last year when calling a land line was free, this year they make you pay for that. But Skype itself is a good thing, it is just computer to computer that is free. ANY computer to ANY other computer is free. Of course at my work we had to block it, too many people wasting bandwidth! But I love it at home, I have personally used it about a dozen or so times and it has always been user error on my part that has caused any problems. The problems were: I couldn't hear the other person, my headphones were plugged in the wrong jacks! Volume was too low on my end, speaker was turned off! End result I LOVE it, it is cheaper than Vonnage, go Sunrocket instead of them anyway, and works great.

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Recently I have been hearing mixed reviews on Skype, but
mostly third party anecdotal. I see that many of the posters here use Skype and was
hoping they could report some first-hand pros and cons.
Thanks

It was better last year when calling a land line was free, this year they make you pay for that. But Skype itself is a good thing, it is just computer to computer that is free. ANY computer to ANY other computer is free. Of course at my work we had to block it, too many people wasting bandwidth! But I love it at home, I have personally used it about a dozen or so times and it has always been user error on my part that has caused any problems. The problems were: I couldn't hear the other person, my headphones were plugged in the wrong jacks! Volume was too low on my end, speaker was turned off! End result I LOVE it, it is cheaper than Vonnage, go Sunrocket instead of them anyway, and works great.

I have been using Via:Talk for about a year and have had no problem whatever. Their best package costs US $199 for two years (you have to pay up front) and you get the interface gratis. After adding in the $29.95 activation fee and $9.95 shipping and handling fee it works out to about US $10/month. If you can swing it, it is the best value around and there is no long distance in the US and Canada. The part about Via:Talk I like the best is that they have 24/7 customer support.

I've been using Skype since its' inception and use it extensively, especially when I call overseas, and when I've been overseas myself, I just log onto my account and I can call anywhere without using my hosts telephone and incuring charges on their line. It is great for conference calling as well, with multipul parties on the same line, including mixed calling, i.e. some to Skype users and also to land lines. All Skype functions are 265 bit encrypted including voice, chat, and file sharing. Calling between any two Skype users is totally free, there is a fee of $29.95 for US/Canadian users to call anywhere in the US/Canada for one year to landlines, and most foreign destination landlines costs 2.1 cents a minute through prepay. Skype also has free video conferencing for up to 5 lines, and more lines if you use the Festoon plug-in. What really great is that you can allow or disallow any callers that you choose. My Skype addy is dog_bytes.

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Account frozen...

I use it to stay in contact with my parents while i'm away at uni, and if my mum can use it anyone can.

Downsides, can't think of any offhand.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

So computer to computer and Skype to Skype are totally free?
I don't need to prepay any type of account unless I want to call a land line or cell phone? This is where I am unclear.

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So computer to computer and Skype to Skype are totally free?
I don't need to prepay any type of account unless I want to call a land line or cell phone? This is where I am unclear.

That is correct.

They also have a plan where you can have an incoming number and voicemail so people can call you from a landline.

Looks like I should get a headset!
I would want high quality stereo.
Any thoughts on wired vs. wireless?

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Looks like I should get a headset!
I would want high quality stereo.
Any thoughts on wired vs. wireless?

Head set with Mic attached....Wired or wireless is fine...

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Looks like I should get a headset!
I would want high quality stereo.
Any thoughts on wired vs. wireless?

Head set with Mic attached....Wired or wireless is fine...

if you get a wired one, make sure its a usb connection, better sound quality.

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Join Calm Chaos

Here's the deal from a new user's perspective. I have been using SKYPE video for only a week now. Video conferencing was my specialty while still working (Now retired) so I am a little spoiled as to what is available in the commercial world.

Packet voice will get stepped on since the internet does not guarantee delivery of packets in time nor in sequence. What this means is that the voice --which is compressed heavily-- is good enough to understand the other party most of the time; but will sound like gibberish (heterodyning) in bursts and somewhat frequently during a conversation. The video is atrocious-- looks like 3 -5 frames per second even at a small window size. There is frequent tesselation especially under subject movement as the packets are dropped and the codec struggles to re-paint a changing picture. The speaker's face will often disintigrate into squares. It might be better to have a picture of the other party and just have a moving lip.

The data rate for video is too low. Appears to be 32Kbps. I don't know why it isn't higher --excellant video is available at 128 KBPS and certainly at 384KBPS. The problem is maintaining this bandwidth when it is thrown into a shared (Socialist model) medium such as the internet.

So --its good and cheap( or free) for what I consider to be low quality communication. Not as good as switched circuit video and voice (Capitalist model).

You will need a headset or at least headphones to stop the echo which will drive you nuts. I don't know why there is not built-in echo cancellation via software. Todays computers have as much horsepower as many video conferencing systems. We should be able to get higher frame rates and better audio. Delay end-to-end was really quite good --not too hard to interrupt the speaker. you will find it hard to interrupt --a lot of overtalking will occur. Perhaps a longer delay would improve the audio but then it would be like talking over a satellite phone.

I haven't used any other home-PC Video to compare with. I am going to try I-CHAT (Apple Mac) video to see if it is better will let you know in a few weeks if the observations would be any better with the I-CHAT.

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Looks like I should get a headset!
I would want high quality stereo.
Any thoughts on wired vs. wireless?

High quality and free do not go hand in hand very often. This is one of those cases. Download it, http://www.skype.com and try it. It will owrk over your current laptop no problems, most have built in microphones and speakers. I have a cheap headset with a boom microphone built-in that I use. Works fine for me. No duplexing on the talking though! That means no two people talking at the same time. You will get used to it and LOVE the cost. I have a friend whose kid is in Hong Kong, you just need to schedule when you will both be on-line.

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This is great info folks! I feel like a babe in the woods.
Keep it coming. If you feel you can add something don't be shy.
No such thing as too much info.

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> i use D-Link w/ a Regular Cordless Telephone connected to the D-Link which Connects to the Computer via USB . . .

ps - got it for $50 @ COMPUSA

D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter - Model DPH-50U

D-Link Site

Recently I have been hearing mixed reviews on Skype, but
mostly third party anecdotal. I see that many of the posters here use Skype and was
hoping they could report some first-hand pros and cons.

Thanks

I have been a long time user of Skype which can be found at skype.com. Skype enables a person to instant message similar to aim and msn however the windows are tabbed to one window so if you are having multiple chats with different people it is better. Also, i really enjoy the calling ability. For someone without a cell phone or whoever is abroad, this gives the person an extremely cheap method to communicate home. (2 cents a min). I personally haven't found many negatives except the fact of adding new people. Sometimes its a little difficult to know what you are doing but i enjoy the phone feature a lot. For using it on a bad wireless internet, calling to my family is always nice. If you want to pay the extra for it you can get your own number and voicemail and people then can call you as well. Microphone and headphones needed. Therefore, if you don;t have an internal microphone, you should buy a handset or headset. I give this good reviews because its free to call skype to skype and you can all do video chats. Any more small questions, let me know and reply.

Chao

I'm Walkin'!





HAHahahahaa! Thought it an appropriate clip! Still haven't got around to this yet. Thanks for reminding me Stacey!

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Modern dang fangled gadgets. Why can't people just talk to each other down the local pub like they did in the good old days?

BTW, has anyone got one of those new digital photo frames? They're cool!

Can't smoke there anymore!!!

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