<div> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My wife and I both use Skype. She has a Phillips VOIP321 phone that plugs into a USB port on her WinXP computer and uses it for her daytime phone. She is not technical and it took her some time to get used to the new phone but, once she got used to it she loves it. (and now we don't burn up all our cell phone minutes) The only complaint she and her friends have is the lack of "calling number delivery". Every time she calls someone, the number that shows up on their caller ID is gibberish.<br>
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I use an analog headset that plugs into the Mic/Spkr jacks on my Vista laptop and use it for my home office phone. I work from home more or less full time so I use it at least 4-5 time per day for conference calls plus other calls. I tried using a bluetooth earpiece and a bluetooth dongle but, had too much poor call quality problems so I switched back to the old reliable headset. The only complaint I have is the calls will start out with echo. (but it quickly adjusts) I think this might be Skype adjusting my microphone settings.<br>
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We got my wife's phone number about 6 months ago when the cost was $60 for 1 year. Then I got my phone number about 2 months ago when the price was $48 per year. Not sure what the cost is now. The only thing I don't like about their pricing methods is how they separate outgoing calling (skype-out) from incoming calling. On their web site they advertise "Unlimited US & Canada for $2.95 per month". What they don't say up front is, that's just for outgoing calls and you really have to buy either 6 months or 1 year in advance. To get a phone number and incoming calling you have to not only pay extra, you have to buy it as a completely separate order. But, inspite of the nuisences, it's still cheap and reliable and the best way to get home phone service. (it's a lot cheaper than Vonage)<br>
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-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Scott Castaline <hscast@charter.net><br>
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale@ale.org><br>
Sent: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:31 am<br>
Subject: [ale] OT: Skype<br>
<br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>Any skype users out there? I have some questions to ask if you want to <br>
contact me off list, in addition to the 3 below.<br>
<br>
1. Is it really only $2.95/month?<br>
2. Quality any good?<br>
3. Any gotchas?<br>
<br>
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