Skype Me!

I downloaded Skype this summer, but never used it. I just didn't really know about it, just thought it was neat, but then I forgot about it. I mean, I know you needed a microphone to talk to people, but I didn't know if it was free or what else was involved. Anyway, just the other day, I thought I would give it a try.

So I pulled it up on my computer, logged in and proceeded to check it out. I then realized I needed some sort of microphone and I saw on skype.com they have a starter kit. It's super basic. Right before bluetooth headsets came out/got cheap, you know how people had those one earbud thing with a microphone hanging from their ear? Well it's one of those.

I saw online that Radio Shack had them, so I went and picked one up. Only $4. Nice. It even came with some free skype minutes. Anyway, I plugged it in (microphone and headphone ports) and did a test call. It worked!

Then I did some investigating on the site... Skype to Skype is free. Skype to regular phones is not. You can pay 21 cents per call or $30 per year for unlimited calls to the US and Canada. $30/year?! Wow.

I certainly see this possibly replacing a home phone... Also, you don't even have to be at your computer when you use Skype to call people. You can buy a home phone looking skype phone that acts as a regular phone but it calls using skype. They aren't that cheap, but they seem to be built of good quality and design and think of the money you are saving on phone bills!

Oh, I think you can plug your existing telephony phone into a convertor to make it "skypable." Check on that.

But the thing I want the most, and you can see it's the latest edition to my Froogle wishlist (see links on sidebar), is the Netgear WiFi Skype phone. Let me first say, it's not a cell phone replacement. Anywhere you go, with free wifi, you can call from this cell-type looking phone using skype. If you get the $30/year deal, you can talk forever!

At a hotel, don't want to use your cell minutes... use your wifi skype phone! At Panera? Skype! Qdoba? Skype! You get the idea.

So, anyone using skype? Anyone with thoughts about using skype? I'm looking for some "skype friends" so if you are on there, let me know. I have one. He is from Norway. But he lives next door. Doesn't really count...

Ok, check it out and tell me what you think!