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Positives:-Manufacturing quality is good (Philips quality is generally very good)-Voice quality is good (when drivers are updated and installed correctly)I have been told the sound quality going out is as good or better than a land line. However, I prefer the Belkin desktop model that requires no software setting adjustments and is always on (when modem is running). Sound quality coming into the handset has been more like a cell phone. Wrong settings and drivers will cause echos and lousy sound quality.-CordlessNegatives:-Does require tweaking the software and operating system settings-Works only when computer boots up This phone can handle Vista and you can dial directly on SkypeOut from the handset (dial 00 1 area code and number in the US).Remember to first go to the Philips site and download the latest drivers and then make sure to activate them (I use Windows XP).Overall a nice phone for the money considering the prices of some Skype phones. The Belkin does require a wired or wireless router and is corded.
I tried a hard reset and everything the manual said. At first this product worked well. So I quit using this and just went back to the old headset and computer. Purchased one for my father too. Then my handset would no longer connect (after about 6 months). My father's unit did the same thing after about a year or so. Coincidence.
At the same time it is not compatible with MAC OS, and it does say it. The phone works well but it has its limitations and there is missing data in the advertise information. For example it says you longer dont need a computer, but to make it work it have to be conected to the USB port and skype running in the computer, so it's not independent from the computer at all. If you want to have your computer on and work with windows its a good phone for the price. Ist simple, no luxury at all but can talk nice.
Very Easy to usegood sound qualityin fact it was much better than my land line phoneso good in fact I called and canceled my land lineeasy to use as most of the work is done thru the skype softwarevery happy with this phone.
However, when my computer finally crapped out and I bought a new machine with Vista, I found that this phone is not compatible. They chalk it up to Vista problems and tell you to buy a new phone. I used this phone for a while with my Windows XP machine and loved it. My guess is there was a chipset revision made at some point or something else changed from one production run of the phone to the next since some users got the phone to work with Vista while others, such as myself, get a "Code 10" error when Vista tries to load the drivers. Buy a standalone Skype phone that isn't computer dependent. sort of. Philips online help doesn't really help and their customer service really doesn't help much either.
So in the end, this phone is now worthless to me since I have Vista. For the money, it did everything it said it would and functioned great as my home phone and skype phone. That's really not a good solution. It's really a crapshoot whether this phone will work with Vista or not. I did everything possible to get this phone working (USB hub firmware upgrade, all Vista updates, latest software from Philips, etc)., but it just wouldn't work.Unfortunately, this is a pretty common problem and neither Microsoft or Philips seems to care. Don't get this phone if you have Vista. I've learned my lesson.
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