Calvin’s Hub

For a self-proclaimed techie guy, I’m embarrassed to say that I only started using Skype a couple of days ago. I didn’t find the need for it as Yahoo! Messenger handles my IM requirements for me.

My wife (who I sorely miss) left for the US on a business trip and it’s our first time to chat with a cam and a mic. Problem with Yahoo! is that it keeps dropping the broadcast so we tried Skype. It worked really well! I was surprised with the video quality which was fast and smooth and audio was loud and clear!

Going back to my question for long-time users of Skype, do you use or have a VOIP phone to pair with your cam? Or would a headset with mic be sufficient for your needs? Maybe for a desktop user that will do but for those with laptops, carrying a complete headset maybe too much already.

So how about a mouse+VOIP phone combination?

If you have a laptop then you probably have a mouse stored in the bag. So a mouse that also acts as a VOIP phone sounds like a good deal right?

Like this cheap Genius Navigator 380. It will serve as your regular optical mouse but when you need to call someone, flip it open like a clamshell phone and voila! VOIP phone!

It supports Skype, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, QQ and AIM and has some phone functions as well. The problem I can see here is that it’s wired so you can’t move around so much.

This works well with laptops because even if you use this as a phone, you still have your touchpad to handle navigation unlike if you’re on a desktop PC.

I don’t know if the price of Php850 is cheap for this VOIP phone/mouse, you tell me.

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Filed under: Gadgets n' Games