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Thanks to Nick Starr’s last minute reminder, I picked up Skype unlimited calling for $14.95. Its was too good of a price to pass up. I have no use for a SkypeIn number right now as I use my cell for everything but my problem is i have almost no cell service when I’m inside my house so the SkypeOut is handy if I need to make some calls.

Since I no longer had my BT headset for my cell, I went down to to CompUSA to pick up a USB headset. While looking at the headsets, I came across some of the phone handsets that work with Skype. Unfortunately they were all Windows only…except one. The Keyspan Wireless VOIP Phone had a nice sticker on it that says PC + Mac. The packaging looked a little shady and the $79 kinda turned me off but I picked it up anyways. If it worked good, it would be worth it but if not, I have the receipt and a USB headset from Logitech to fall back on. I went to work right after so I started reading some reviews on it. Everyone seemed to say it was a solid phone is good range and voice quality. I finally got home and hooked it up.

Thoughts:

The phone is small and seems a little cheap but once you start to use it, it feel more solid. The package comes with 3 AAA rechargeable batteries that can be recharged via an included USB cable. Setup was fairly easily as I already had Skype installed. Insert the CD, mount the DMG and install. It install just a Wireless driver that allows the phone to communicate with Skype directly. The driver it installs is not Universal yet but since it loads on boot up and you never have to actually run anything, you’d be hard pressed to tell. I’ve also read from various reviews that when you have an incoming call, the handset will not ring. Since I do not have SkypeIn, I have no way to test this. It has been said its a known issue and should be fixed in a software update.

The phone’s LCD display is tiny. Its readable and usable but tiny. Shows me signal, battery level and status which is good enough for me. My only problem is my SkypeOut contacts only show as numbers and not names like actually Skype Accounts do. So I have to either dial the number or initiate the call from Skype directly. From the phone you can startup Skype, set your status, see whos online and close the Skype window. Call quality is good, surprisingly good actually. On par with a 2.4Ghz phone. I can walk around my house, about 900 square feet, without losing any quality.

All in all, it was $79 well spent. There are a few small things that could be polished and a universal binary of the driver would be nice but it serves it purpose and it serves it well.

Just received an email from Skype stating that all call within the US are now free. This includes to all landline and cell phones. This is AWESOME considering they just released a Universal binary for OS X last week. Only downside to this is that its only good for the rest of the year. Its still a good solid 6 months. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching to Skype for my landline for a new months now and now this plus the universal binary for OS X has pretty much made my decision. Next I need to look at Skype compatible phones and make the switch.