|
| magicJack: PC to Phone Jack | 
 enlarge | Brand: magicJack
Category: CE
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $31.95
You Save: $18.04 (36%)
New (25) from $31.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  78 reviews
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5 x 2
MPN: magicjack
Model: magicJack
UPC: 895034001013
EAN: 0895034001013
ASIN: B0011UXSHK
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Features:
| • | Local/long distance/international calling | | • | magicJack is free for first year | | • | Each magicJack includes a free phone number to receive call from anyone in the world | | • | Free outbound local and long distance calls |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Add magicJack Telephone Adapter to your PC and you can make telephone calls within the USA and Canada for FREE! Skype uses a peer-to-peer network, whereas magicJack uses a dedicated telephone network
Other VoIP carriers do not have dedicated telephone networks, and lease this service from other companies. That means higher costs and poorer reliability. magicJack uses its own dedicated telephone network. You can use magicJack with either a regular telephone handset, or with a headset. You can also use both, and switch between the two. You can move magicJack between Internet providers. You can use magicJack from anywhere in the world (where broadband web access is available). It requires - PC - Windows XP or Vista operating system; (Mac/Apple expected soon); Broadband, high-speed internet, cable internet, DSL - WiFi - WiMax
magicJack comes with an easy-to-use device to allow you to use a regular telephone handset. Service is free for 1st year. $20 per year thereafter.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 73 more reviews...
 excelente December 4, 2008
me encanta. lo uso para comunicarme con mis familiares desde colombia y funciona perfectamente. la calidad de la comunicacion es excelente y ahorra muchisimo dinero. lo recomiendo
Software cannot be uninstalled November 24, 2008
Pros:
- cheap
- easy to setup.
Cons:
- no way provided to uninstall software. (does not even show up in "add/remove" )
- Voice quality varies.
My new favorite thing! November 22, 2008
Obviously this product seems to be hit or miss with people but it worked perfectly for me. I can only guess it depends on your computer, who your Internet provider is and the speed of the connection. So maybe we should start tracking it. (I live in AZ, have a PC with Windows XP and use Cox cable Internet.)
There is a slight delay in the audio transmission but no more than a cell phone call and unless the person is in the same room you won't be able to tell. Otherwise I did not notice any discernible difference in audio quality whatsoever.
The setup was cake - it pretty much did everything for me and we were able to use it to make calls in less than five minutes.
One minor annoyance I noticed is that as soon as you lift the receiver (or push talk on a portable) to open the line, the software pops up on your screen. This is fine, except if you are trying to type something in the computer at the same time that someone is physically dialing a number, your typing will default to the MagicJack software (i.e., the computer thinks you are typing in the phone number to dial from your computer.) But as soon as the number is connected this ceases to be a problem. It's just during the open line/dialing process.
I don't believe it works with faxes, although I havne't tried this yet.
I've not had to contact customer service yet, but if the FAQs on the website are any indication, I'm pretty sure their service is equally terrible. But as I said, it's worked perfectly so far and thus this hasn't been an issue.
Another drawback is that, similar to Vonage and other Internet-based phones, it uses the E911 system, which is basically voluntary 911. Unlike Vonage, your computer has to be on and your Internet connected in order for your MagicJack line to work. This means in the event of a power or cable outage or if your computer is off or crashes, you cannot make any calls, including to 911. For this reason, I would hesitate to make this my only line. (We have cell phones, so it's not as much of a worry for our family.)
Here are some of the cool things, though.
Local and local distance calling is free 24x7 and you can pick a number anywhere in the US. So if you have relatives or business associates in another state, you can get a number that would be local for them and they can call you for free. You can also use it to establish a presence in a different city, which is great for a specialized job or a business that wants to expand, etc.
If you have relatives in another country, they can also get MagicJack and get a US number. You could then talk to each other for free. This is, however, provided they have high speed Internet. And with all of the love it/hate it reviews here, I don't know if it would really work.
When you set up the account, you must provide an e-mail address. Each time I get a voicemail, I get an e-mail that tells me who called and a .wav file of the message. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty sweet. :)
You can also forward the calls to your cell phone, etc. if you don't want your voicemail to pick it up and that's really easy to change (although you have to log on to the website to do so.) As it is, it seems that the caller is calling your number directly and I do wish there were some indication that it was being forwarded so you could set up a special ringtone or something.
On a side note, if you go to their website, it always says there is a free trial, which magically seems to expire the very same day you are visiting. Don't be fooled by this as it updates every single day. We rushed to purchase it because of that but it wasn't necessary as that seems to be just a sales ploy. (If you feel the need to think about it, think about it.) We did the free trial and would have had to pay for shipping if we didn't want to keep it, which would have been $6.99 each way. At this point, however, we have no plans to return it.
I gave it five stars because the service worked so well and was so cheap that the advantages far outweighed the minor disadvantages.
I love it and I think it would work fine for most people but you might want to get a consensus for others in your area.
In summary, if it works for you, it's totally worth it. If it doesn't, you've wasted $15-40.
Best wishes,
Kristen
 Its ok for a 2nd line, But..... November 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
OK this divice does work. However ther are some caviats. First I have found that some numbers I attempt to call will not complete. They go into a black hole. You must have a fast internet connection for this to work. I have used it on both my Fios and Sprint Data Card.
They say $19 to renew but I have yet to be able to do this. The browser complains about the link.
Now for something they dont tell you. First of all you have no privacy with the Magic Jack. Read the Fine print. When a call comes in or you make a call the software pops up and displays banners and adds. In the fine print they reserve the right to monitor you call and talor a message to you. Personaly I think this should be disclosed on the outside of the package as many people would not go for this at any cost.
I gave this and a small cordless phone to my son so he could have his own line.
Oh one thing is when someone leaves you a voice mail you get an email message telling you so. This could be a good thing or a bad thing as I have not found a way of turning it off.
I will keep a couple of these in the house as they come in handy if the phones are in use. Once activated it is a simple task to just plug it into any computer.
As far as the install goes its easy for XP but problematic on Vista. I had to activate on XP and once that was done I could use it on any XP or Vista machine.
Amazing Product - works with PC's and Apple Mac's November 8, 2008
The voice quality is fantastic !!
Just plug it in and it works. PC or Mac compatible.
Just plug in any regular phone and call.
Highly recommended !!!!
|
|
|
| |
