Skype Phones\Headsets

Static M.e.

Hey all,

Anyone here use Skype?

What do you think of it?

and what the best headset \ phone to use with it

Regards,

naitkris

i bought the Skype CyberPhone K as a Christmas present for a relative and it's probably the best present i have bought in a good while - works better than i expected!

quality is brilliant and it feels like using a normal telephone. the person who now uses it is saving a fortune on international calls!

Static M.e.

Yeah Ive been doing alot more reading into it since I last posted and it seems really good, seemingly the Plantronics line is very good as headsets because you also get free time on Skype Ill have to look into it more though, Is their any major drawbacks to using this kind of thing do you know

cgarvey

I have a plantronics dsp 500, and it works fine, as does skype .. the only niggly thing is to do with windows more than anything else, and that's that there's no easy way to use both headset and speakers (as in i'd like the headset to be used for skype only, and normal speakers to be used for everything else). Apart from that all works fine for me.

.cg

Static M.e.

hhmm that would be a bit annoying all right, is their no way to set up the headset just for Speech and keep speakers for music, seems a bit odd if you cant

fatherdougalmag

You should be able to set the default audio devices (for recording and playback) in Control Panel (Audio tab in Sound and Audio devices). Windows will then use your selected device by default. Then, in Skype go to File/Options.../Hand-Headsets select your phone device so that Skype explicitly uses it rather than using Windows' default setting (which you will have set to your desktop mic/speakers).

Just thinking out loud. I don't have any of this set up.

cgarvey

You're right, ta.. but that's very awkward to be doing each time you restart your PC, or suspend/wake, or plug in/out your headset, or want to have all sound routed to headset (for nightime use), etc.... possible but damn awkward.

.cg

tck

logitech have some nice headsets

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/productlistns/IE/EN,crid=101&categoryid=72

they are skype ready etc..

fatherdougalmag

cgarvey wrote:

but that's very awkward to be doing each time you restart your PC, or suspend/wake, or plug in/out your headset, or want to have all sound routed to headset (for nightime use), etc.... possible but damn awkward.

Ah sure you're a programmer. That's no bother

Maybe you can get everything set up as you like and then export the associated registry settings to a .REG file. Use RegMon to see what changes are made. Then craft a little system tray tool to let you flick between the various profiles (regular, Skype or nighttime).

Again, just speculation.

Jaden

Plantronics headsets are definitely the best bet for Skype users. We have about 6 of the single earphone, and 2 or 3 of the dual headphone ones in here.

For wireless freedom, and the ability to move around while using Skype, we use the JABRA BT250 Bluetooth headsets, with TDK bluetooth USB adapters. Of all the combinations we tried, this was far and above the rest in terms of ease of setup and quality of connection. You can get these on Expansys's website.

We are currently testing rapidBox from www.rapidvoip.com
This allows you to use a normal analogue phone with Skype. The unit is about $70 USD delivered. If acts like a normal phone, in that you can make and take calls to your standard POTS number. However, it is also linked to Skype, and will ring your normal phone when Skype gets a call. These boxes can be used with wireless handsets. I'll let you know how the testing goes.

Zascar

I've just started using Skype. When given a demo from a friend I was blown away by the quality - PC to PC - better than telephone quality. However, I just bought a very cheap headet to get me started, and I've used Skypeout a good few times, but I have not been too impressed with the quality. The poeple on the other end say they can hear them fine, but its low quality from my end, even if I plug in my Sennheiser headphones. Will have to play around it, anyone got any advise?

I'd like to hear peoples opinions on what headsets to get as I want to but a decent set soon. This seems to be the most popuar one on Amazon. This is wireless, not sure if it is Skype compatible though...

TinCool

I've been reading up on bluetooth headsets + skype. Do a search on the hardware forum on the skype homepage. I've opted for the EPOX headset which you can get for 40 EURO's on Komplett: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301004&cks=SER

I've been using Skype out to call the UK quite a lot with a bog standard wired headset and the sound quality is just great. I also ring another skype user in the UK (skype to skype) and the sound quality is fantastic, you'd pretty much think you were on a normal land line phone, in some cases the quality is better.

I have yet to receive my bluetooth headset but I have bluetooth up and running on my WinXP SP2 PC and can pair with my SE mobile without any probs with belkin BT USB dongle. I hope the blue tooth headset option works just as well (and can use as a handsfree with my SE mobile in the car too). Not to be having to be sitting in front of my workstation while on the phone will be a great bonus.

I'll let you know how I get on once I'm up and running.

TC