magicJack - A921 Review

The Magic Jack is a solution to a common problem:paying high phone bills on your land line and probably doing so long after you've come to rely solely on your cell phone for your telephone needs.  It's OK, just because generations of your family paid Ma Bell doesn't mean you have to.  You really can cut the cord.  And confess: at one time or another you picked up a household cordless phone and tried to send a text message.  Yes you did.

The day I knew that I finally  had to get rid of my land line two things happened.  First, I opened my phone bill and saw they wanted another $65 or so for the privilege of renting me a phone number I no longer gave out.  (That, and I was replacing cordless phones at the rate of about one every six months.)  Second, my kid was calling a friend and said "Dad, there's something wrong with the phone, I hear a strange beeping sound."  He's 13 and had just heard a busy signal for the first time.  This was the present calling me to embrace the future.

Deciding to jump into the 21st century and save some money while I did it was easy.  The hard part was deciding how.  If you've seen the Magic Jack TV ads (and how could you have missed them?) you were curiously drawn.  It sounded like Vonage, right, but the emphasis was on saving money, not on your computer.

Magic Jack is a small piece of technology that allows you to access VOIP (voice over internet protocol) via a USB device and some software.  You get free local and long distance calling, a new phone number, a gadget you can take to other countries and call back to the US and Canada for free (don't call Japan from Germany though) and a voice mail account.

Like any VOIP it does not do 911 like a land line does.

You can't wander around the house while using it.

And installation was a bit tricky.

And service has been slightly unreliable.

But I wasn't trying to replace my landline.  I, like most people these days, had come to rely on my cell phone and just wanted the free services and the option of VOIP. I got that and paid about half a regular phone monthly bill to get it permanently.  A Mercedes may be more reliable, but a Chevy gets you where you want to go much more cheaply.  And honeslty, if you Mercedes level phone service does any one you call ever notice?  Of course not.

Which brings to the biggest gripe about Magic Jack, apparently: that it's a scam.  Well, not really.  They do say that you can try it free for 30 days.  But what htey do is place a hold on your account for the charge.  That means it looks like it has already passed out of your account, but it doesn't until they actually charge you at the end of 30 days.  If you have been reading reviews you'll probably note what I did: most of the complaints about billing reflected a misunderstanding on the part of the complainant.  Sure, your money is not available to you and that's a whole lot like making a payment, but from a strictly legal perspective the Magic Jack guys are shooting straight.

Second biggest gripe is sound quality, which is part of the reliability equation.  Meaning, sometimes you get quality, sometimes you don't.  I had th esame experience as many users in that some calls contain a  lot of clicking in the background.  Don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out if the problem has somthing to do with you or your equipment, your PC, your sound card, your USB port, etc.  It doesn't.  And don't blame it on the person you're calling.  This problem is one that many, if not every, Magic Jack user experiences.  That does not mean that it is any less frustrating, just that you have company.  Fortunately, there is hope.

The fix is easy, and you've probably done it to fix PC or printer problems: rebbot the Magic Jack.  Turn it off, turn it on.  Just like the computer and every other peripheral we use with it, this problem ccan be remedied with a simple on/off process.  I think the most I've ever done it in one sitting was 4 times, which is more than even my worst printer ever required.  During the boot up, and the ad screen, I just keep telling myself "I'm saving money, I'm saving money, even this beats a monthly wallet raid by Ma Bell."

Another note: the documents that come along with the Magic Jack are contradictory in one particular way.  One spot the included paperwork  says it's OK to use a USB hub, so long as it is plugged into an AC powered hub.  Another spot says not to use a hub.  My personal experience is that a hub, any hub, is just inviting trouble.  Use your USB for any and all other peripherals that aren't finicky like this gadget, and save the USB ports in your PC for the Magic Jack.  And your finicky peripherals.  I don't have any as finicky as the Magic Jack, I'm just saying you might have a gadget that is and built in USB ports are limited.

So the Magic Jack isn't perfect, but when you saw the price you probably knew that deep down you'd have to make some trade offs.  All by itself the Magic Jack is not a replacement for your landline, but since you already have a cell phone you use more often you didn't need an identical replacement.  But this Yugo priced solution will save you enough money to get a really impressive cell phone and all the iPopularity that comes with it.