Anyone use a "MagicJack" phone device?

[Charade]

http://www.magicjack.com/9/index.asp

 

[Imzadi]

I was about to ask the same thing. I also want to know if DISers have used Skype too, or instead. And if you've used BOTH, which do you prefer?

There are threads on the Fatwallet.com board about both & the reviews were mixed.

There even is a whole forum for Magic Jack users:
http://www.magicjacksupport.com/

I'm kind of leaning toward getting Magic Jack as it is cheaper than Skype, at about $3/month, comes with a phone number & voice mail vs. Skype which charges about an extra $8-10/mo to include those features.

But, from what I've read so far, there are bugs with MJ, as there is no way to uninstall it off your computer, or go back to a previous version if the upgrade doesn't work, without manually going into your registry and bit by bit, taking out each component. Not something for people who don't know how to work computers should do, as it can screw up the computer.

BUT, people who have had very few problems, say it is great! You do need a PC with Win XP or better, AND high speed internet, or the complaints are many, as quality is bad. (This is with both MJ & Skype.) Everyone has said both services are NOT a replacement for a regular phone service, as quality & connection are not consistant or good. But, as a back up to a cellphone which eats minutes, or a replacement to landline long distance phone charges, it's okay.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I have not had luck with magicjack.... but skype is awesome!

But to tell you everything I know, I have TONS of DJ buddies using the magicjack and almost all of them seem to love it.

 

[Imzadi]

PD, what didn't work with MJ for you? Did you change anything on your PC (more RAM, faster processing, etc.,) before you loaded on Skype?

Did you get all the Skype features? Or do you have the pay per use plan?

 

[Papa Deuce]

PD, what didn't work with MJ for you? Did you change anything on your PC (more RAM, faster processing, etc.,) before you loaded on Skype?

Did you get all the Skype features? Or do you have the pay per use plan?

Phone ( sound ) quality was poor. But then one day it just stopped working. I didn't care enough to ask why...

As far as skype goes, I think I signed up for a $15 a year plan. Not sure what that all covers anymore, but I loved the fact that when my wife lost her cell phone on a trip to California, she called me on Skype and we talked for an hour. Plus we have built in webcams on our laptops.... so that is cool!

 

[GJM]

We also have been using Skype - my DH is deployed and that is how we talk and it works great. The quality is really good and have had no problems at all with it.

 

[HelenePA]

Oh I was wondering too, Radio Shack has the Magic Jack for 29.99 on Black Friday I was thinking of picking one up.

 

[ReallyGoofy]

Magic Jack just locks up my computer when it is plugged in and left there

 

[Imzadi]

Oh I was wondering too, Radio Shack has the Magic Jack for 29.99 on Black Friday I was thinking of picking one up.

Does that include the 1 year service? Or just the plug thingie?

Magic Jack just locks up my computer when it is plugged in and left there

On that forum I mentioned above, it says something like you have to make sure you have the latest upgrade to Vista, even if you have XP, and you have to click on the button in the taskbar to "remove the hardware" from the USB drive, (even if you do not physically remove it,) when you put your computer on Standby, or shut it down for the evening. Then restart MJ after you turn back on the computer. Again, one of those "bugs" the MJ company, itself hasn't figured out yet, but the forum members, on their own have creatively found fixes for.

It's like MJ put the item on the market as soon as they came up with the idea and how to make it. They didn't do their own Beta testing to see how users would actually USE the product.

I haven't been to any Skype forums yet to compare & read about their problems & fixes.

From what little I've read, most Skype users have been happy with it. So it comes down to: Am I so cheap, I'm willing to take a chance on MJ & hope I'm one of the lucky ones & have/get it working properly. Or go with Skype that is more per month, and also seems to work better?

I'm basically going to use it for calls to place take out orders, some long distance & to those 800 numbers for Customer Service that routinely take forever. I don't want to waste my precious Tracfone minutes for that.

Yet, I don't want to be shouting during the call, repeating myself, even if the call is nearly free. And I don't want to get Moo Shu pork after I ordered Moo Goo Gai Pan, because the call quality was so bad, all they could hear was "Moo *oo ____ " and took a stab at sending anything.

 

[colusapj]

We have had our Magic Jack for over 6 months..I leave it plugged into my laptop all the time and I don't have any problems with it...We live in NJ and we talk to my husband's brother in Colombia, South America for free...it is awesome.....

 

[HelenePA]

Does that include the 1 year service? Or just the plug thingie?

includes 1 year of service

 

[Imzadi]

Phone ( sound ) quality was poor. But then one day it just stopped working. I didn't care enough to ask why...

Someone just posted this over on the FatWallet forums:

"Been using MJ for nearly 2.5 years with virually no downside experience other than for occaisonal outages due to a needed software update. The MJ does not have an intuitive way of letting you know it needs to be updated so the first clue you get is when the device stops receiving or placing calls. Once you figure this out, that you just need to reboot the device, it's all downhill. As for call quality, if the machine hosting the device is slow/old then you will certainly want to limit the load on it to preserve call quality. "


"Agreed... again another one of those issues where if you unplug the device from the USB leave it for a sec, then reinstall it, it updates with whatever updates are needed and you're back in business again. A bit annoying? Yes, but overall still worth the hugely discounted LD service."
​