Philips VOIP841 PC-Free DECT 6.0 Wireless IP Phone
by Philips Accessories
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Our Price: $499.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $115.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Philips VOIP841 PC-Free DECT 6.0 Wireless IP Phone
Customer Review: Excellent Phone System
Summary: 5 Stars
This easy to install system worked as described right out of the box. It seems to be a very well designed unit. I've now added three handsets to this Philips DECT/VOIP unit so I have a total of four phones on the system. I've used it for about a month connected to Skype as well as a land line. It worked perfectly on both. Since my family has cell phones, my original intent was to eliminate the land line completely. For the past two weeks I've had the land line disconnected from the Philips Unit and all calls arriving on the land line have been forwarded to my Skype-In number so all calls come through Skype. All outgoing calls have been going through Skype-Out. I've eliminatged the land line for a saving of just over $800 per year. Philips has done a great job matching the phone and features with Skype. Since my wife has had some very long conversations using these phones, I would say the battery life for these units is very good and comparable to any DECT system.
I'm very happy with the system and for the $800 savings I'm willing to live with a couple of minor issues. First, caller ID gives me only the number and not a name. Second, no 911 emergency service but I have that on my cell phones so not a serious problem.
I also have a Linksys WIP320 which I use on a business account with Skype-In. The Linksys product is a stand-alone phone so the system cannot be expanded. Since it has a wireless connection to the router, the battery life is very short so it must be plugged into the power supply at all times. It occasionally drops the link to the router and needs to be reset. All in all, the Linksys is OK but no where near as reliable or as versatile as the Philips system.
I'm sure the next generation system will be better but this is an excellent home phone system.
Customer Review: Very good product
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very well made product. It only uses 2 AAA rechargeable batteries and is about the size of an O Henry candy bar. The audio quality is the same as an entry level USB digital headset that you may use with Skype already. You can listen to voicemail over the phone and find contacts quite quickly by punching in the first couple of letters of a contacts number. Also you can put in the dialing prefix for your local area so that to dial a local number all you have to do is punch in the regular 7 digit number for North America. The battery lasts as well as most cordless handsets and I'm able to go 2 or 3 days between dropping it back on the charger. The charger is seperate from the base station so you can locate the charger in a more convenient location than the base station. I tested the unit out in a house that was almost 4000 sq feet and even the call quality was perfect from anywhere in the house. There is even a room that has a 4 ft stone fireplace between me and the base station and there wasn't even a hint of static. Every now and again when I try to make a call using Skypeout I would get an error message saying I couldn't complete the call, but I would just dial again and off I'd go. A redial button is lacking on the phone and that would be a very handy feature.
The speakerphone also worked very well for me. I didn't get any audible rustle or background noise when I was in the same room as my computer computer with it's noisy cooling fan and CD-ROM. My wife was able to move anywhere in a 10 foot by 15 foot room with the phone resting on the desk and we were able to have a conversation no troubles.
All in all it's a good phone if you already use Skype. Now if Skype would only get local numbers in Canada and 911 service set up everything would be great.
Customer Review: Only one problem -- kept disconnecting when left alone -- not sure if it's just a faulty unit
Summary: 2 Stars
Hmm. Not a happy story I have to tell:
Well, the design of the product is good, and the interface and concept look fine. researched this pretty well and chose this phillips because I knew I wanted a skype phone.
I bought it, plugged it in, charged it, and connected to the ethernet ports on the back of our wireless router, like you're supposed to. It worked OK for a few days, but I would find that I'd try to call someone and it would rudely say "Network busy" and not connect. Huh? which network? my own connection is fast and flawless for every other application, and skype's network wasn't down or sketchy when I had made very constant use of it over prior months. So... what network is busy? I would unplug and re-plug in the phone and it would connect OK and make the call. Great, but the whole point is that the phone is supposed to be "always on," like a regular land line. What if a friend had wanted to call?
Then, this week, I looked over at the skype phone and said "wonder if it's getting more reliable." ... went to make a call on it. "Network busy," "cannot connect," -- even though my internet connection is perfect etc. However, this time resetting the phone didn't work. Showed skype as disconnected every time I'd reset. I also tried it so that the ethernet went straight from our cable modem, in case it was my router that was the problem. No sir... I haven't got the thing to connect correctly since! So, sadly, requested a return of a faulty unit to amazon, just shy of the 30 day limit. AND I even asked for a replacement unit, wanting to give it a try -- but amazon said nope, it has to be a refund, because they don't have the unit in stock. Wow -- this isn't some old product is it? Why is amazon not carrying it now? I believe the same situation for the Linksys model?
Customer Review: Long time comming.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fantastic product. Very well designed and thought out. Money well spent. Seems small and fragile but feels durable, solid and performs well. Sound is a hair (and I mean a hair) on the tinny side but calls are very clear and distinct. Screen and menus are clear, sharp and adjustable. Very user friendly menu. Keypad is back-lit. Multiple ring tones available and can be set for different functions like Skype, Skypein, landline and intercom calls.
Manufacture photos are a bit misleading for the handset and the base unit are allot smaller than they seem in the photos. Not bad news tho. The base unit is smaller than my Netgear router. And the buttons on the handset are actually a nice size and feel (better than most cell phones). The shape of the handset is one of my favorite features, it prevents the screen from being scratched and the buttons from being pushed when set face down on a surface.
Lots of features and settings. I have the base unit set on a high shelf in a closet and I get a strong signal everywhere in the house. Batteries are not in a shrinkwraped pack with a funny little plug adapter so they will be easy and cheap to replace.
With the use of an extra handset you can do 3way calling, transfer a call to a specific handset, make intercom calls to specific handsets and even use both landline and Skype at the same time!
NOTE - Extra handset registering to the base unit involves pressing "reg" on the handset AND a button on the base unit. The manual is a bit fuzzy on this. Just hitting "reg" on the handset wont do the trick. My phone did not involve entering a system PIN # so thats where the confusion is. Manual is available on Philips website in PDF format.
Customer Review: It is hard to make me happy
Summary: 5 Stars
It is hard to make me happy in a name of purchased gadget. I always find something I do not like about it. It looks like Philips VOIP8411B/37 is the exception. I do not think it is "the perfect." Lets write about it. It looks very good, but this would be the last think I would care about. The most important is it's functionality. This DECT based cordless sounds pretty clear and good. I connected in my regular land-line phone and the Philips VOIP8411B/37 rings differently for the regular line than for Skype or Skype In. It has call ID and all you want to get from cordless phone except answering machine. On the regular line I have the answering machine and while I purchase Skype In, I received free voice mail box, so no problem here. I "still" have another VOIP service for which I pay $25 a month. I'm going to cancel that service. I purchased Skype In for $38 (you get your own telephone number in the US, or anywhere in the world where it is available) a year plus Skype Out for $30 a year, that is together almost $70 a year for almost the same functionality of my present VOIP service. When I consider that for the original VOIP I pay about $300 a year, I will have savings about $230. WOW!!! The quality of Skype connection is not the greatest, but I always understand the conversation when occasionally the quality goes from the great down to less great. Conclusion? You could be happy as I'm with the Philips VOIP8411B/37 if you have good quality fast Internet connection. The Skype is not substitution for regular telephone line same way as any other VOIP service, but with Skype I call US and Canada for free for $68 a year, and to Europe I pay around 2 Cents per minute plus couple Cents for a connection fee. Highly recommend!