Philips VOIP 321 Skype Dual Phone Single Handset ( VOIP3211G/37 )

Great sound quality and even better range this phone works much better than I imagined. The phone has a feel of quality. I agree with the comments made by grn4jd and I should add that grn4jd's comments made me realize how to dial directly from the handset. The fault that people are making about dialing directly is because of the bad documentation, also Philips tech support is not great about how to configure the phone not to disable the computer speakers. I actually found the fix to this at Philips online Knowledge base. I won't go in the details but it has something to do with going into Control Panel>Sounds and also you need to go into Skype>tools>options>sound devices and choose "Audio in, Audio out & Windows default device" then reboot. As far as dialing out directly from the phone, it's simple, dial the prefix 001 then the 10 digit number then press the red Skype button. The only thing wrong with this phone is that the computer needs to be on for it to run Skype and there are...Read more

Bought this phone to work with my laptop at the office, and so far it is working really well. I can call from anywhere in the office (which is about 20,000 sq ft), and reception is great. Interface with Skype 2.5 works great, and it is pretty easy to browse thru your Skype contacts list on the phone. There are only a few minor issues so far:

. Skype 2.5 allows you to view you MS Outlook contacts within the Skype application, but these contacts are not displayed on the phone.

. I have to turn off the phone software when undocking my laptop, because Windows XP doesn't like to let you undock or hibernate with an active USB connection.

. The instructions don't tell you how to make an outbound SkypeOut call instead of the landline. I finally figured out that you have to hold down the 0 key (which is +) -- always prefacing the phone number with the + will initiate an outbound SkypeOut call.

UPDATED: A few of the subsequent...Read more

I already had the Philips 3211 Cordless, which actually plugs directly in to my computer, the great bonus with the Linksy CIT400 is it plugs directly into your wirless router, so your computer does not need to be on to use Skype, unlike the Philips.
The other bonus with the CIT400 is once you have programmed the phone (a child could do it), when you dial a landline you don't have to even dial an area code, providing you are calling a number with the same local area code as yours - so it's back to 7 digit dialing - what a treat. However, this is exclusive to the types of phones you plug into the router , all of the phones you connect to your computer (including the Philips 3211) have the big drawback that when calling a regular landline, even in the USA, you have to prefix it with the Country code (ie 001).
I have both types, in two different locations, if you're on a budget and don't mind dialing some extra numbers prior to making landline calls and your computer is on all...Read more