Comments on: RTX DualPhone 3088 – Skype without the PC

By: DIDIER

DIDIER — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:16:26 +0000

super telephone facile d’emploi
Vous hésitez encore?
Passer votre chemin alors

By: Marlon

Marlon — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:50:40 +0000

Bought this phone two weeks ago. Shipping was fast and the phone was delivered to Canada from Hong Kong (found that out thru the DHL tracking number) in 3 days. At that point, i was excited.

Bought it into the office and tried connecting it. I’m a techie kind of guy, so, trust me when I say it was all connected in accordance with the instructions sent.
The bottom line is, after numerous tries, the handset was unable to connect to the base station.

I tried resetting settings, rebooting the base station, and just for the heck of it, left it on for overnight after repalcing the batteries they sent with Duracell Rechargeables.

Nothing works. There was never a connection to the internet, and skype never worked.

The supplier was written with a description of the problem. Every 24 hours there is a reply and then another set of reset instructions were sent out for me to try, all of which I did already.

I have read other reviews on this phone and it seems like this “support” problem lingers on until you get fedup and just dump the phone into the garbage.

My advice, try another skype phone for this one is junk.

By: iPhone Users Won’t Care Much About Google Voice | Stuart Henshall

iPhone Users Won’t Care Much About Google Voice | Stuart Henshall — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:25:21 +0000

[...] etc. I use Google Voice with Gizmo to enable the “number” PSTN like in the home. (See this post and the linksys PAPT box). One downside, calling home from a designated device tends not to work very well (effectively [...]

By: Rahat Khan

Rahat Khan — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:22:08 +0000

I bought this for my parents in July and Installed it for them when I went back in August. It has been working great and so far it has Already paid for itself in calling costs that would have occurred to me otherwise (the phone is in Pakistan and is used for calls between Japan and Chile).
My parents are retired and are comfortable with the basic operation of a mobile phone, and happily the interface on the RTX 3088 is not much more more difficult. For now it is the best solution I could find and am very happy with the results.
By the way, the software on the handset will update if there is an update available and you can link upto 4 cordless handsets to one base station.

By: DaveI

DaveI — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:17:30 +0000

I disagree with the above statement. Really making use of Skype is enhanced by these non-PC solutions. I’ve been using the Belkin WiFi Skype phone for about three years now…While it is far from perfect it does allow me to have a SkypeIn “always on” solution. I work overseas and this means for me I have a U.S. dial-in number that I can give someone back in the U.S. to call back (Even though I’m in Africa). While other solutions like Vonage exist I have experience setting that up an in places like this where 128K DSL is $100 a month and 256K is more than $150 per month the Skype is clearly a better choice as it works fine on 128K. Vonage does not (Even when you have it turned down to the lowest quality setting). Do you really want to leave your PC always on just so you have Skype up and running. Think of the wear and tear on the computer. The cost of electricty, the increased threat to your computer because it is always on with the same IP. The Skype WiFi phone even though it definitely is not perfect filled a most needed niche. Not to mention its nice to simply lay on couch and talk with someone with the WiFi phone vs. having to sit in front of the computer or laptop. I’m sure that the RTX would also fit the bill but at $169.99 it does seem priced too high when you can buy the Belkin WiFi Phone (Or the Netgear) readily at $99.99. However it would be nice to have both the normal PSTN and the IP phone in one.

By: RTX Dualphone 3088: The Bloggers’ Have Their Say | Voice on the Web

RTX Dualphone 3088: The Bloggers’ Have Their Say | Voice on the Web — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:05:46 +0000

[...] limited to handling 200 contacts on a buddylist. As pointed out by Stuart Henshall, if you have over 200 contacts in your primary Skype account, you want to think about whom you want [...]

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:58:30 +0000

I’ve had one of these for about 6 months.

When I bought it, it was overpriced (once you get it, it looks very cheap) – I bought it for £70, I think you can get it for £40 which is the most it is actually worth.

The UI is the area that needs the most improvement:
- When you scroll down there is a really visible redraw.
- Theres no way to decide some contacts (or just any contacts outside your home country) should dial using skype, while others on the standard landline.
You can set it to dial *all* via skype or just skype contacts, this means when phoning friends abroad I have to change the setting, then change it back later.
Nice to haves:

- Being able to toggle between multiple skype users would be useful if you live in shared house.
- Being able to check / update missed calls via wifi

Theres no forum on their website to create a community or give feedback, just an anonymous web forum, which is a real shame… the UI issues make it seem flakey and cheap, fixing just these would bring it up to a baseline.

By: David Beckemeyer

David Beckemeyer — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:06:53 +0000

I was referring to stand-alone Skype phones, not USB handsets, first appearing in 2006 with a lot of hype from pundits about how it was going to change everything and now most people don’t even remember it happening. So much so, that we saw Skype “PC-Free” phones hyped again in 2007 (see October 10, 2007 SkypeJournal “A Primer for Skype’s Direction — Skype Hardware”), again, as though they would change everything, to the same result, and again…

Again, I think the two, Skype and PC-Free hardware, are strange bedfellows, a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist. I think your post nails both key reasons why someone might want it and the key reasons why nobody wants it. Skype is locked in to a PC-dominant user space. On a non-PC platform, Skype loses its competitive advantage.

By: Andy Abramson

Andy Abramson — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:03:45 +0000

Some company will get it right one day. Mostly I too have been disappointed in the fit and finish of the so called “Skype phones.”

The only one I have seen that works is the INQ built Skype mobile phone for 3 in the UK.

By: Ed Prentice

Ed Prentice — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:48:45 +0000

I have one of the Netgear phones. Not bad, but no one has figured out the human interface. There is some force determined to make this geeky. Skype has shown little interest or understanding of this market. I don’t see anything new of significance. No wonder Ooma can hang around. And now who wants to invest in a dying market.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:44:34 +0000

David, totally agree – yes those horrible handsets with USB cords were not useful and keeping them connected via the SkypeAPI almost impossible. Still that idea got Skype a big Sale price to eBay. The API was ahead of its time. Unfortunately the innovation stopped at the same time.

Hardware become almost irrelevant when Skype and VoIP is integrated into the mobile handset. Truphone (when it was free and cheap to use) was a perfect example for me in 2006 making calls out of India on a Nokia N80 to the US for almost nothing when the bandwidth wasn’t enough for Skype.

The idea of the home phone… or needing a Skype that is not always-on or always connected is so yesterday now. Text matters. That works on iPhones with SMS or notification turned on. However not with Skype or yet with GoogleTalk.

Skype proved to me that we are names not numbers and would prefer to share a richer callerID. It also proved that it now just software. I still use Skype a lot. I’m not convinced it won’t be superceded… and that could be soon rather than years.

By: Tweets that mention RTX DualPhone 3088 – Skype without the PC | stuart henshall's blog -- Topsy.com

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:04:21 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stuart, Jim Courtney. Jim Courtney said: RT @stuarthenshall: New post:: RTX DualPhone 3088 – Skype without the PC http://bit.ly/8IFWTa [good summary of its use and application] [...]

By: David Beckemeyer

David Beckemeyer — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:04:19 +0000

PC-free Skype hardware first entered the market in 2006 – and it fell flat, dropping into the clearance bins rather quickly, with the manufacturers taking a bath. Many of these devices were introduced with huge fanfare, but never went very far.

Skype and hardware are strange bedfellows. Skype zealots actually *like* that Skype is geeky to use – it makes it cool. And the hardware phones don’t support many of the benefits of Skype that are outside talking, the IM, presence etc. as you note. I don’t think any of the hardware phones support wideband (hi-def) audio either.

I have a Linksys CIT400 that I leave connected simply to have an always-on presence on Skype, without having to sacrifice any CPU resources for it – but the voice quality sucks and it is pretty flakey and unreliable. I hardly ever use it.

PS. I like the new theme.