Comments on: Today Only! Magic Jack USB Phone For Just $29.99 With Free Shipping From Radio Shack!

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:04:35 +0000

It is pretty good but I wouldn’t use to rely on for afirst line.The computer must always be on.It is great when you have to be on for a long time(tech support)

By: josh

josh — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:09:48 +0000

wat if they go out of business??

By: Mordy

Mordy — Fri, 22 May 2009 06:41:45 +0000

Haha- Dan, I DO use skype to video with bubbe, but sometimes she’s not in front of the computer, or sometimes she calls us to talk to kids.
That’s a good shtick with the 800 numbers on skype… never occurred to me to use it that way- I’ll have to try that next time I’m running out of minutes on my cell plan (Skype + WinMo + unlimited data = WIN), but it seems like kind of a hassle. I’m all for being cheap, but sometimes being THAT cheap is more work than its worth- what if you are expecting a long incoming call, or your wife isn’t around to call your phone (or… maybe you BOTH misplaced your phones! Sounds crazy, but its happened to us when we were in a hurry. The house phone is always on its cradle.)

I agree that you can totally live a normal life without the need for a landline. I was considering doing that myself until I found the magicjack. For $20 a year, I won’t bother with skype and actually use my house’s RJ11 jacks throughout the house.

By: tachlis

tachlis — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:33:18 +0000

dan wats u cell plan???

how do use skype — with headset?

I feel so bad giving up my home fone has sentimental value lol

By: Dan/Ctownbochur

Dan/Ctownbochur — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:49:14 +0000

@Mordy:
But that’s all free already!
Tech support=Free 1-800 Skype calls
DMV=Have Goog411 connect me via Skype.
Talking to Bubbe=Free video Skype.
Misplaced cell phone=Use wife’s cell phone to find mine!

By: Mordy

Mordy — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:11:38 +0000

I’m with you, Dan… but there are times its great to have a landline. For example, calling tech support or the DMV where you KNOW you’ll be on hold for 1+ hours.
Or when the kids want to talk at the same time to Bubbe.

Honestly, I use my landline mostly to call my cellphone when I’ve misplaced it.

For casual use like that, the $20 annual MagicFee service is a steal.

By: Dan/Ctownbochur

Dan/Ctownbochur — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:05:48 +0000

@tachlis:
I have no home phone…my cell phone does everything I need it to do.

By: tachlis

tachlis — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:43:06 +0000

so nuu Dan..will you be switching over ??

By: yoely

yoely — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:03:01 +0000

i tried it to use for a fax but its not working it gets some kind of error i wasn’t able too fax even 1 sheet

By: Mordy

Mordy — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:50:35 +0000

I actually just did a review on one of these for infonotmercial.com, but it won’t be posted until later today or tomorrow.

Basically, MagicJack is a solid product, I canceled my regular home phone line and use this exclusively now.
Its not always as reliable as a regular landline or Voip, but I just need a house phone for the occasional calling- anything emergency related gets called on my cell which is always on me.

If you rely on your house phone for most of your calls, you might want to wait until they improve the service. Otherwise, for the occasional call @ home, its fantastic!

Also, Shmuel, there’s a blocking software add on for that written by a buddy of mine from the PPC world named “Stroths” (well, his online persona at least). You can find it over at MagicJacksupport.com, which is a user-based unofficial help forum. Basically, the software keeps the magicjack control panel minimized unless you click it.

Personally, I just run it on an old P3 laptop with the lid closed. I don’t leave my computer on all the time anymore, the laptop consumes an average of 20Watts of electricity so I don’t mind leaving it on, and the screen is off so the pop up controls don’t bother me either.

Another really interesting option is a ThinClient (a small terminal based coputer about the size of a Wii that runs WinXP embedded edition). Those can be setup to run a magic jack on 9 Watts, and automatically restart if the power is lost. You can pick one of those up for $100 on ebay.
I prefer to keep things like magicjack software OFF my main workstation computer, although I do recommend their service.

By: bestwatchman

bestwatchman — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:50:22 +0000

@shmuel
make a new account on your computer and load it there, switch user and your good. i have one and it works great, amazing if you travel and want to use you own number anywhere
@josh
i dont think so

By: ww

ww — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:15:25 +0000

got it but don’t work with my mac because it’s not intel based system.
but it works with other macs.

By: Adamchik

Adamchik — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:00:44 +0000

Fantastic but occasionally buggy gadget. It works better on computers that attach directly to the Internet via network cable (i.e. not wireless), but works well in the US under most circumstances. I paid something like $50 for 5 years of phone service, after buying the gadget itself – not bad. They say that local number porting is coming up in 2009, for a nominal fee. They let you choose your area code, and you can change your number once for free (there is a charge each time after that).

You are pretty much on your own for technical service. If you have trouble or want to know more, check out the unofficial support forum:

http://www.magicjacksupport.com/

The official one is here:

http://www.magicjack.com/4/faq/

By: josh

josh — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:53:32 +0000

is there anyway to port over your current number??

By: Reuven

Reuven — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:26:57 +0000

Works well but don’t use it often

By: happy customer in E"Y

happy customer in E"Y — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:09:03 +0000

works real good and saves me loads of money

By: shmuel

shmuel — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:05:09 +0000

i currently live in australia and use it constantly it works very well sound quality is very good however the annoying part is that the program pops up on the computer everytime i make a phone call

By: s

Wed, 20 May 2009 20:17:56 +0000

not good

By: magic jack

magic jack — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:09:19 +0000

i have one and its gr8 i dont use a regular phone just my magic jack its gr8 saves alot of money and no dealing with monthly bills
had it for over a yr already

By: tachlis

tachlis — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:32:17 +0000

is this like Oooma?? how does it compare to Oooma?? i really wanna drop my home fone

By: Marv

Marv — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:16:30 +0000

I live in E”y. Have one. Barely use it being that my dsl works MUCH better. Bought it for traveling (it’s a telephone over the internet). Skype is more practical and works better – experience has shown a 40% cut off rate with MagicJack.