Magic Jack Phone ?

[nosh]

I just Googled

I hav3e the magicjack and it is great. I kept my local number though.

21 hits. - Game Over.

Edit:
All hits to this thread. Nosh as a detective = FAIL.

[mouser]

One reason people might be posting to this thread when you otherwise might think they wouldn't notice it is because it was featured in the newsletter -- which always revives threads like this.

[Josh]

I think mouser is one of the spammers!

[mouser]

for the record i dont use magic jack, don't want to use it, don't like phones, dont work for magic jack, don't want to work for magic jack, etc.

[Josh]

Wait a minute, weren't you talking about drinking your "Magic Jack" last night and it making you feel funny?

[Carol Haynes]

Jack Daniels - magic

[AzWiz]

At the risk of being labeled a spammer, I'd like to offer my experience with MJ.  I thought the late night TV  infomercials made this a dubious product, but figured for $40 it was worth satisfying my curiosity.  I found the product as advertised, and surprisingly well thought out.  All software is self contained and when plugging it in, appears as a cd drive which then autoloads.  I tried it on my laptop connected with a wireless g connection to my router.  Even using the built in speakers and mic on the lappy it worked satisfactorily.

When received and activated I was given a choice of 4 area codes where I live (Phoenix, Az).  At the very least, it's worth $20/year for a local phone number with voice mail and and voicemail to email forwarding even if you never used it to call out, which is what I do.

My 2cents.  Now I'll see if they stay in business for more than a year or two.

[wandas]

I am in Thailand. I have used MagicJack for two months in the US and three months in Thailand, and I'm thrilled with it. Having a US phone on my desk in Thailand is a great time and money-saver, especially with three kids in the USA, as well as my spouse quite frequently. I got lucky and got a local number, as well.

There is no advertising on the regular service - none. The quality is fine. I have had a couple of lost calls, but I just hit redial - it's not like it costs money. I get this on all VoIP calls, including ones I was paying 25 cents a minute for.

I use it for one to three hours a day, which even at today's card-phone prices means I've saved a couple of pocketsful of money. Did I mention it's nice to have a US phone on my desk in Thailand?

Here's what I hate about it: Every call, in or out, the ugly interface pops up. So I got a free program that blocks it from popping up - Download.com has it. I have heard it's difficult to uninstall the MJ software, but I don't *know* that since I have had no reason to uninstall it.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind being a MagicJack shill. It works exactly as advertised, it is totally trouble-free for the near-half year I have had it, and I don't mind saying so. I'd say the same if MagicJack slipped me a few dollars under the table.

Here are the facts. It works as described. There are no hidden costs including no advertising. The quality is fully VoIP, i.e. quite good. You use a regular, ordinary telephone, no dorky headset, and you call any phone anywhere, not just computer-phones. It's isn't *quite* free but $20 a year for hundreds or thousands of international minutes to/from Asia is darned close to it.

ws

EDIT:
Good grief, there are a lot of cynics around here. A review has to be negative to validate it? Lighten UP, people. Some of you sound like you haven't been out dancing for months!

I wrote a review of MagicJack for my weekly column in the technology section of the Bangkok Post newspaper. It's here:

http://www.bangkokpo...0Sep2008_data013.php

[wandas]

My 2cents.  Now I'll see if they stay in business for more than a year or two.

-AzWiz (October 21, 2008, 11:06 PM)

Yes, well, we all worry about that, I think.

[Carol Haynes]

EDIT:
Good grief, there are a lot of cynics around here. A review has to be negative to validate it? Lighten UP, people. Some of you sound like you haven't been out dancing for months!

-wandas (November 02, 2008, 07:14 PM)

It isn't cynicism it is a fact of life these days. We are recently getting a lot of people who sign up and post one single comment promoting a product and are never heard of again. If you then stick the message text (in quotes) in google you find identical messages all over the place. This is just regular spamming and it is very annoying. The trouble is that companies who use this method to promote their products don't build up trust for potential customers. We don't mind people promoting products provided it is done openly and with a clear statement - in fact if you look around the boards here you will find lots of developers that have built up a trusting relationship with potential customers.

[olamoree]

Hey Guys, Glad to see this thread still going in spite of the genuine negative and fake positives... well I thought I would just drop in on this thread after having MJ here in Costa Rica for over a year and a half now and yes, it has some warts, but even tho you didn't ask, I can say that I am still very pleased with my MJ and especially with what it costs me.  I bought the dongle and the first year for $39.95 and then a few months later bought the additional 5 years for $59.95, so for under $100 I have SIX years of international phone service including the dongle.  I have spent about $20 on international calls to folks that don't have MJ so all in all, I am way ahead.  As this is "newer" technology, I expect some warts but considering the investment and the service it provides, it is hard to beat.  The call quality is fine and the long distance is provided by AT&T so I have had no problems there.  Hey Mouser, I know you have a very critical and orderly mind and I hope that one day you will discover the relief of no more long distance bills... No, MJ didn't hire me or even bribe me and I don't even like their tech support, but you gotta admit it works fine.  There is an UnOfficial MagicJack Forum that has lots to say about MJ and even how to make it work without the dongle sticking out of your laptop USB port... Maybe more later if I change my mind.

[vegas]

Hey everyone, I don't work for magic jack, really.  I'm not even a client, serious.  But gosh darn I really felt the need to talk about the magic jack.  I must say that I am rather disappointed with the lack of comments about magic jack the last 7 months.  We were going so good for a while there then POOF! nobody had anything good to say about the magic jack any more.  It was like someone ran out of things to say, or creative ways to say them rather, or as though the clipboard majackilly stopped working.  Personally, I got very LIMP when thinking about the magic jack,  I'm looking for some new oil to fix this problem.  I had a great review of magic jack on my blog, it was a great review, I didn't say the magic jack was great, but the review was.  It went on and on about how everyone was always so happy with with their magic jack and refused to stop talking about it.  It was really quite unbelievable.  So much so, that I decided to stop writing about it because I finally met someone who had a magic jack. But I think we all know how THAT went!  What can I say, when ya need to make a call, or pitch a......call someone who cares!

[mouser]

Shall we close this thread now?