Philips VOIP 080 Skype VOIP Travel Phone
by Philips Accessories
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Our Price: $59.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $59.94 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Philips VOIP 080 Skype VOIP Travel Phone
Customer Review: not perfect, but works reliably
Summary: 4 Stars
I've have been a Skype user for several years. Prior to purchasing the Philips VOIP 080 USB handset, I've tried a few generic USB VOIP handsets from eBay. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, none of the eBay models I've purchased worked. This Philips handset was going to be my last try before biting the bullet and invest into a more expensive WiFi handset model. Much to my surprise, the Philips 080 worked! Here are my impressions/opinions on this product:
Pro
- Even though the handset is NOT plug-and-play directly out of the box, but after the one-time setup process that involves the installation of a "VOIP080" program, the handset works reliably there after.
- When the VOIP080 is executed, it will kick start Skype, load the driver for 080, and configure the audio in/out for Skepe on the handset. This is normally a single-click operation.
- The voice quality is VERY good. Provided your internet connection is reliable, the voice quality on this handset is definitely comparable to normal landline phones. There is no echo, no distortion, or any other audible artifacts.
- You can dial numbers directly on the handset. However, when you punch the numbers in, they actually appear in the Skepe window that's running on your COMPUTER, as the handset itself does not have any display.
- Incoming calls will ring the handset, with several ringer choices.
Cons
- The fact that this thing is not plug-and-play is rather inconvenient. You can only use it on the computer that already has the VOIP080 program installed. If you're traveling and using a shared computer somewhere, you're out of luck.
- Sometimes, not always, the normal audio on the computer is being routed to the handset. Per design, only the Skepe audio should be routed to the handset. For whatever reason, this doesn't always work, which is annoying.
- The handset is rather cheaply constructed. The USB cable, in particular, is problematic. Because you need to wrap the cable around the grove on the sides of the handset every time you "travel", the ultra thin USB cable will simply snap in time. I'm already on my second one. The base shown in the picture is a useless piece of light plastic.
- Because the VOIP080 program actually hooks into the Skepe application itself, I suspect there will be potential compatibility when Skype rolls out new versions in the future.
Conclusions
It gets the job done, as long as your expectations for it are not too high.
Customer Review: Very poorly designed skype phone
Summary: 1 Stars
After reading all of the positive reviews I decided to try out this phone. My experiences were quite different with it.
First of all the phone was not plug and play by any means. It did not come with Vista software, and I had to mess around with drivers online for nearly an hour before I could get it to work. I also had to change skype settings before getting it to work.
Secondly the phone is just cheaply made, and you can tell just by picking it up that it feels like a toy.
The phone's plastic base is really a joke. It easily moves around on your desk and the phone does not sit properly in it with the cord unwound. This was very frustrating. The USB cord also feels like it would easily break under stress.
As for the calling experience there is a delay between the time the button is pressed and when it shows up in skype, so if you are used to dialing quickly you will be fumbling over numbers with this phone.
One of the only things I can recommend about this phone is that the sound quality while making calls was fairly good, but not great. Sounded to me like a cheap land-line house phone.
Another frustrating problem that I ran into was that when skype was running, all of the sounds coming from my pc (for example: when playing an mp3 in iTunes) were being routed through the phone. I had to change the settings in skype every time I wanted to listen to music, play games etc.
If you want something that feels and looks like a regular house phone but makes skype calls you may be dissapointed like I was. I'd recommend taking a hard look at the competition before considering this one. In my opinion I feel it was not worth the money.
Customer Review: Best Purchase Ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first USB phone purchase. After recently becoming a Skype user I decided to look into headset alternatives. Living overseas makes communication expensive and troublesome. I honestly did not know what to expect.
The Philips VOIP 080 is simple to use. Installation is user friendly and basic. The instructions in the box are very precise and easy to understand. The phone is simple and easy to use. It feels solid in your hand and the buttons are firm. You really feel like you are using a high quality phone.
The chord wraps neatly inside the handset and the USB connection tucks neatly into a space provided on the back. It is light weight and easy to carry anywhere. They nylon travel enclosure is high quality and fits nicely around the phone.
The reception is amazing. As always when talking across the internet there is some variability to the signal, however, I have not complaints. This is truly the best purchase I have made in a long time.
I recommend this product to anyone as one of the best starter phones around.
Customer Review: Why not, just in case?
Summary: 4 Stars
Some times it has almost indistinguishable from land-line sound quality, other times it sounds kinda spotty. This may be a function of Skype and network traffic.
Anyway, I haven't used it too much, but other than sound, it has pretty good build quality, and a nice case. It probably does all that you need! The Wifi ones seem great, but I almost never make LD calls, so paying $150 to $200 isn't reasonable for me.
Gee, $20 in the cell phone, landline, and long distance arena is really CHUMP change so you ought to give it a try and maybe find a use for it!
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It had been a long time since I had last used it and as I had both a cell phone and a landline and didn't travel much, I had not been keeping up with its use.
Apparently, the phone needs to have drivers for the keys to work in Skype and even using the most current drivers from the Philips website installs an old version of Skype over the current. I am trying to figure out a way that current versions of Skype can be used with it.
Customer Review: There are better products out there for the price
Summary: 3 Stars
You have to hand it to Philips - they know how to get good photographers.
When I received the phone, all I saw was a cheap piece of plastic I got overcharged for. Ditto from other reviewers: they went *really* cheap on the USB cable. I thought mine would snap on first try.
Major minus: the installation process. Ok so I'm on Skype, and I want to make a call. Who said I had 1 hour to install a phone before doing so??? After running into customer service issues (and their service is really bad...), I ended up returning it. And I got an IPEVO FRee1 phone. Much, much better voice quality, easier installation, mac compatible.
So yeah, if you're patient think you can waste a lot of time for a piece of plastic, you can go with it. But there are better products out there.
Other tip: do NOT get a wireless with Skype. Skype is really bad with wireless, and all phones will drop calls like no other (at least once every phone call!). So make sure that if you get a Skype phone, that it's wired.