[Wino]

Originally Posted by Stmped Cmp Bildr

i have a magic jack and its great! $20 per year, and you don't have to buy a special headset like vonage. The only drawback is yes, a power outage, and the software reinstalls itself every time your reboot the computer. Also, if you they don't have your area code number, then people in your area have to call you long distance.

Special headset?? I have Vonage and use my standard phones. Also, transferred my old SWB/SBC/ATT phone number I've had for 20+ years. Also have all on a UPS so power outages no problem (cable modem, Vonage router, network router, fax & phone) with computer on or off. If cable goes off line, then I'm screwed for calling out.

[JohnWill]

Gee, I use ViaTalk, $10/mo for two lines, and I use all the standard wired and wireless phones here at the house. What's this "special" headset?

[Wino]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

Gee, I use ViaTalk, $10/mo for two lines, and I use all the standard wired and wireless phones here at the house. What's this "special" headset?

Didn't think of it earlier, but I think he may be referring to the USB V-phone from Vonage. I use it sometimes when on the road and it takes a single small (2.5?) plug for voice/audio. I have a headset I use with my office phone hand set for handsfree operation.

[deuce]

Buckle your seatbelt; some comments...

Originally Posted by Rivera42

For over half an hour I talked with Customer Care over my Skype connection, completely for free, and the clarity was unbelievable. No drops, no lags, no gaps.

Is the quality of Skype calls better than the Skype to Skype video conferencing? I have been using Skype for quite awhile and the video conferencing tends to be laggy and drop calls, but isn't really an issue. I have a 10 Mbps connection and a 3.6 Ghz Xeon Dual Core, 4 GBs ram, so it's not my hardware. (Could just be everyone I call)

Originally Posted by Rivera42

Their software and service have been around for awhile and, unlike the iffy MajicJack, are established and mature.

I still fail to see where the Majicjack outweighs the Skype service.

Skype is a very respectable company I had an issue when then changed their installer awhile ago and only allowed installation on the C:/ drive. (Which, obviously, dual boot users don't have all OSs installed on the C: drive. A little peeved, I emailed tech support, and someone with a name replied within the hour and told me the business download is still the msi installer without that issue.

Later, I had a windows issue that required reinstalling skype and couldn't uninstall it without the the exact older version that I was trying to uninstall--I emailed that guy again now that I had his address, and he was quite and helpful again.

Originally Posted by LaytonE

(I have had delays up to 20 seconds on a bad internet connection.)

Do you mean you have a lag of up to 20 seconds? Sounds incredibly annoying, even if it is only 15% of the time.

Originally Posted by DoubleHelix

I'd be cautious of a device that's hawked for hours a night on Infomercials.

Long-winded post later, this is what I really wanted to comment on.

My first observation when I went to that site (aside from the annoying auto-video that you have to open your volume mixer to shut off if you're already listening to actual music) was the "FREE TRIAL" sketchy-ness. I read: "only available until Thursday July 24!" and I thought well that's a very random day to end a promotion, and I then thought--hey, that is today. I then googled majicjack and took a look at google's chached page from July 22, and low and behold, it says: "only available until July 22!".

I guarentee you that the page checks your system date, and displays that.

CLASSIC SCAMMER trick #1. Not only skecty, but virtually all scammer electronics websites selling non-existent electronics at unreasonably low prices do the same thing, except the message says free shipping or something. Free shipping on a large LCD screen TV that weighs 40 lbs or so--SCAM.

I attached a .pdf of both the cache page and the current page.


Secondly, that "free trial" ticker seems bogus to me. Even if it is only a dynamically updating visitor counter, (which still seems too like it is increasing at an unreasonably fast rate) it's deceptive. They make it seem like that many people actually took them up on their free trial and will in a few short days will be using their service. SCAM.


Thirdly, any website that flashes credentials like a 5 year old screams SCAM to me.

CNBC video, banner of "great reviews" "Product of the year!", etc.

Although they may very well be legitamate, it seams suspicious.


Also, I provided fake info to get to their ordering system. (The address to Wrigley Field, and a silly full name with an email address of me@you.com) This does not seem like a secure ordering system. Although the URL appears to be secure (https://) where is the padlock? Where is their digital certificate? I don't see it on my page...


What is their privacy statement? What is their terms of service statement? Not easy to find and not legitamate.


Where's their phone number for customer service? I saw they have a "live chat" link, but no where does it seem you can reach a real person voice to voice. I mean they are selling a phone service, they should give one of their magicjack's to a customer service rep and let them go nuts.


What kind of info is available on this company? If they need to hook up to the phone network, they have to have some sort of infrastructure and capital. If you can't easily find verifiable information on the company, like an address for their headquarters, company executives, etc it should be a sign to dig further.




I'm trying to heed a legitamate warning here, but if you do choose to try it out, do your research before handing over your credit card info. Find the state that this company is incorporated in and make sure it is a legitamate company. It doesn't have to be a U.S. company, but at least in the U.S. you know that there has to be an incorporation paper trail.


An alternative situation is that they are producing a very low quality device and selling it far above the manufacturing cost, and aiming to bank on sales of the device with no intention on focusing on service. How long has this company been around? I don't know. Good luck finding that info.


If you don't believe me, do a search for magicJack and scam, or "ripoff report" and see for your self. Seems people have a lot of trouble trying to return the device and not get charged.

[deuce]

Ok...so that got a little out of hand, but do some research before trying it. Just because you are paying for a service/product and actually get it doesn't mean it's a good thing.

Who knows what kind of spyware/malware is in their software, and who knows what will happen to your credit card info down the road? I'm just saying...all signs point to not go. Be careful.

Alright, I'm done.

[Flashback]

Originally Posted by catmom112

My brother in Ohio had Vonage and when he had an heart attack his 911 call went to California

Just be glad he didn't use a cell phone, because those 911 calls go to canada

We have MagicJack and it is great. The guy behind it is the same guy who has worked on many phone innovations and is the founder of YMAX Communications which is the largest competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) network in the U.S. He was CEO and founder of the publicly-held Tel-Save. J.D. Power and Associates awarded one of his companies top honors for customer satisfaction, so he is in no way a scammer as some here have tried to suggest, or maybe those who bash Magicjack just work for the phone company MagicJack is currently the fastest growing telecom company in the world! It has free directory assistance, free call waiting, free caller ID, free voicemail, etc. You also get free International calling to US/Canada numbers when traveling outside of the US. Gotta love technology

[JStergis]

Originally Posted by Squashman

It works on any High Speed Internet Connection. Doesn't matter if it is Cable, DSL or T1. I just needs 80 Kb of bandwidth.

I know it'll work, but it'd be of no benefit, because I need to pay for phone service anyway to get the DSL. No phone service=no line for the DSL to use.

Also, do you mean 80 kilobytes or kilobits? If it's kilobytes, that's an awful lot for my connection (too much if it needs that on upload), since my download speed is only 90 kilobytes/sec and my upload is only 17 kilobytes per second.

[JohnWill]

VoIP requires around 30 to 90 kbits/sec bandwidth in both directions. Vonage has an option to set the voice quality you desire, low quality uses 30kbits, and the highest quality requires 90kbits.

[Compaq__]

So it's about $20 a year and your PC has to be on ALL the time. Ever consider your electric bill increase for having your PC running 24/7? And it isn't as reliable as a landline so what's the point? Why not just get an inexpensive and reliable voip service that doesn't require a PC to be on all the time and is reliable?

[Flashback]

Originally Posted by Compaq__

So it's about $20 a year and your PC has to be on ALL the time.

No. When your computer is off all incoming calls go to voicemail so the person can still leave a message (like when a cell phone is off). We prefer this anyway as it is a great way to screen calls.

And it isn't as reliable as a landline so what's the point?

I don't know where you picked this up from but ours has been 100% reliable. Maybe if someone has an older computer there may be issues but on both of our computers (one 3 years old and one 5 years old) it has been 100% reliable

[bigedsm]

Great product, I've had one for several months and I love it. It's also great if you leave the good old USA, It's a local call from anywhere in the world back you the USA!

bigedsm

[bwayne64]

Just wondering, Is it an incoming call to you local or long distance. Wouldn't want Grandma to have to pay for call. When shes right down the road, LOL.










If your not a Democrat by the age of 20 you don't have a heart, If your not a Republican by the age of 30 you don't have a brain. Ben Franklin

The fool has said in his heart there is no God !

[wallyb1280]

I seen this and it is pretty nice, but like others have stated the downfall is: 1)computer must be running constant
2) example, I live in montana, the phone number you set up for like us is either denver or seattle for the closest
the upside is: 1) unlimited free long distance
2)no outragous phone bill for talking too long
3)and no minutes taken from your cell phone
personally id use it for calling and talking to family and friends outside my coverage area. keep a base phone for things like calling for a pizza and local calls disabling long distances. then use magic jack to call family long distances away. Either way you are still saving long distance charges for phone bills.

[Rivera42]

We've already established this is (most likely) a scam. They should be giving it away for free, if not pack up their little medicine show altogether.

There's nothing the so-called Magic Jack can do that you can't get from Vonage or Skype, legitimately, cheaper (if not free) and with better support.

And as far as the phone companies, they need to quit whining every time somebody comes along that can do the job better and much, much cheaper (if not for free). It's called competition.

Reviews of any and every VoIP Provider imaginable
The magicJack reviews are funny (in a sad sort of way) but the reviews of "Verizon" (a.k.a. Voicewing) are PRICELESS.

[JohnWill]

Why give it away for free when they can get people lining up to buy them?