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My relatives could always tell if I was using a Skype phone before, as opposed to a conventional phone, and now they cant tell the difference. However, I read a few others had success using this phone with Vista 64x, so I ended up buying it.I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works. I highly recommend it. I recently bought a desktop computer with Vista 64 bit. I spent a few hours researching VIOP phones for Skype, and found that currently most are non-compatible with Vista 64 bit. I use it with Skypemate, it works like charm, and never drops a call.When I got the phone and installed the software, it was necessary for me to manually adjust Skype's audio options so it uses the phone and not the speaker, very easy to do.The only one downside I have found to it, is that I cant dial out completely with the phone's keypad, and have to dial out through the Skype application.Overall, considering most VIOP phones don't come with the right software for Vista 64x, this is a excellent phone with out-standing call quality.It provides me with a reliable daily phone service, that never drops calls or stops working.
if you only plan to use it with skype you might be satisfied. the sound quality is 3 stars out of 5. vol+ and vol-. so even though the device gets a brownie point for functioning as a sound card with those pc's that dont have one, you can hear system sounds/audio only through the handset. (spoiler: the polycom is MUCH better).
go figure.in summary, its only $40 bucks, but it does not really work as good as it should. no effect. the only thing that works kind of ok is when the skytone is used with skype. just tried the skytone and he polycom communicator side by side. even then most buttons on the phone don't work right (and the manual does not even explain what most are actually for, like SEND).
what bothered me the most is that the big green speakerphone button does not switch the speakerphone on in any other application other than skype.
The LCD screen is small and not very well lit up, which meant that it was very hard to read.In terms of the look and feel, it's not so bad, and it has the familiar shape of a regular phone.In terms of usability and quality of the speakerphone, I heard some muffled voices when testing with someone in another room, and static.Another con: there was no recording option. This doesn't have it, and it comes pretty handy. There are much, much better speakerphones for Skype.This phone was very light, and the inconvenient part of it was, it kept moving around the desk. If you're going to speak with it for customer service calls, business calls, or just for any important call, I'd say, get one, for the same price, that has a recording function.
When it doesn't work well, your PC routes the audio wrong. You have to kill it and restart it. Whenever I call, I pull the whole phone. -you can call using a handset or speakerphone on a phone-like USB-Soundcard device-The numbers pad works fine-The ringer works fine-Some buttons doesn't work as expected-The software that comes with the CD (because you need a software) is outdated and doesn't work. You need to download it: look for SkyTone in google.-The software is a resident program in windows that displays an icon in your taskbar-The software does not always start properly (on my machine). It can be to your speakers, the handset, the speakerphone or handset+speakerphone at the same time -___--It also has a SHORT handset cable.
This seemed like a good deal, good price, so away my One-Click went.The speakerphone is terrible. Result. The vaunted Skype integration via software is a pain: non-intuitive, and requires working the phone and the PC at the same time. We needed a good speakerphone for conference calls. I'm heading to return this one. Had to switch to a USB speakerphone.
Finally, if you want to use a headset AND this phone, forget it: while you can reconfigure the software to stop sending calls to the phone, it still insists on ringing the phone and lagging hangups. I recently switched everyone in my office to Skype for phone lines. In the past I have used Polycom Skype speakerphones, with good luck, but my new laptop seems to have a dead microphone port. Good volume, but the callers cannot hear you unless you move directly over the phone.
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