RSS Feeds: Is magicJack Better or Cheaper than Skype for Calling the Philippines?
I've written about cheap calls to and from the Philippines a couple of times and each time I mentioned Skype as what I considered the best solution. A number of people have left enough comments about magicJack being better and cheaper than Skype that I decided to do a little research.
What is magicJack?
"magicJack" is a computer USB-enabled device that, in combination with the telephone service of the YMAX Corporation, provides a voice-over-IP (VoIP) service to the United States and Canada for a flat yearly fee. A high speed Internet connection is required. The device allows you to plug a conventional land line telephone directly into it. The software is contained within the USB device, but it adds or modifies Windows registry keys. I understand it works on Windows and on Macs, but I don't see it as being compatible with other Unix-based systems (like Linux or BSD).
Skype, on the other hand, is completely software-driven. Notwithstanding the availability of Skype phones, one end of the communication link requires a computer running Skype. Skype phones won't work in the Philippines. Heck, regular cell phones only work part of the time in areas outside of metro Manila.
Unlike magic Jack, Skype can be used with a connection as slow as dial-up, just like other instant messengers with voice capabilities. In my experience, Skype calls are clearer than both Yahoo voice and Windows Live/MSN voice services.
Drawbacks
According to several sources, magicJack uses advertising to make the service as cheap as it is and tracks calls to provide more relevant advertising. I don't know about cheap. The device runs about $40 and the service is about $20 per year (both are in US dollars). If you're calling from the US to the Philippines and you don't have a local number provided by magicJack to call, the calls are 18 cents per minute — you call can cheaper with a phone card. I understand you can buy international long distance minutes from them for less, but why would you? And what's this about advertising? I don't want advertising in connection with any phone service.
I wouldn't trust the device to last very long in the Philippines. Due to factors such as heat, humidity and corrosion, electronic devices tend to crap out quite a bit here. Although computers tend to last a while, along with USB thumb drives, I've seen a number of portable home phones quit working due to corrosion and a few didn't last more than six months.
Skype costs me about $6 per month (or about $72 per year). That price includes a local number for where my wife currently lives in Arizona. Because of the one-country plan, it's good for calls between the two of us (at no additional cost ever), but I have to pay additional charges if I want to talk to my son in Germany. Of course, if I talked to him frequently, I could just set up another one-country plan.
With Skype, my wife calls me with her cell phone and I call her on her cell phone. I use a headset with my PC, but I'm sure I could figure out a way to use a corded or cordless phone with it if I wanted to do so.
There are drawbacks to both services and I won't go into any more detail about it. In my opinion, Skype is the better choice for me. I use it to call banks, relatives, etc. in the US and they have a number they can reach me at and it doesn't cost them a thing. There may be a local number available with magicJack, but they don't list which area codes they have available so I can't even speculate.
Tell Me I'm Wrong
Go ahead and try to tell me I'm wrong or that magicJack would be better for me. My wife will be returning to the Philippines in a little over a month and would bring the magic Jack device with her if I choose to go that route. Convince me. If you can't, then it's really no loss as far as I'm concerned. Anything's better than standard international long distance charges.
[Note: I keep wanting to spell magicJack as "majicJack" (with a j instead of a g and I don't know why) and with or without a space doesn't really matter, so forgive me if I misspell it later on.]
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Skype is way to expensive as compared to MJ and does not come close to what MJ has to offer, based from my experience. Magic jack has much more features and the call forwarding works awesome. The unfortunate thing about MJ is that you need a very good pc (preferably dual core or better) and an awesome broadband internet – I'm not sure about macs because I do not have the money to afford one when I can have 2 PCs for the price of one mac. I own 4 computers with different processors – 2 amds and 2 intels. My desktop and 17in laptop both have amd processors, and I have noticed that they do not work very well with Magic Jack. For some reason when I used MJ on my amd-vista laptop or amd-xp desktop MJ's memory of phone numbers erase and the call just sounds awful. What I find strange is that when I plug the same MJ with my intel computers they work fine – MJ's memory of phone numbers stay intact and the calls are clear.
Furthermore, with my experience with visits outside the US, I have found my MJ to work in China and japan with a great broadband-internet connection. Both countries, at the hotel where I had stayed, offered ethernet but no wireless. To my amazement . . . calls which I had made with MJ from China and Japan to the US worked like a charm. My calls made back to the US, through MJ, was so clear, my friends did not believe me when I told them I had made the call outside the US. Try doing that with skype, you can't. If you bring your skype account elsewhere it will not work appropriately. I had experienced this in Ireland before MJ. When I made calls in Ireland to the US, skype started to drain out my skype credits. The same experience held true for Japan.
Unfortunately, the MJ product is not perfect. MJs Customer care is just horrible – it's just chat based and they do not have a call center. Everytime you present a problem to MJ's customer care you are immediately advised to update MJ via their site.
I've owned MJ for a year now and I completely love it. I was willing to gamble $46 for the MJ and my gamble has saved me money over skype. Before skype, I recall spending over $100 year for basic features – skype-phone number, unlimited calling, and voice mail(I don't understand why skype couldn't just keep it for free) and I hated that survey-pop up which had asked me to rate skypes quality.
I was never able to find a solution for MJ with my AMD computers – by the way my laptops operate wirelessly and my desktop operates wired via ethernet connected to a wireless router. I tried using solutions on MJ's un-official and official websites by opening udp ports in my router and assigning ports on my firewall – none of them made MJ work better with my amd computers. After a month of trying to find a solution for AMD computers I just gave up.
A year has passed and now I am finding MJ offered through the US's most popular electronics retail store, Best Buy. I'm not sure what the return policy is with Best Buy and MJ, but if you would like to try something cheap and would like to connect with friend or business people in the US while being outside the US, I can assure you . . . with the right computer and right broadband internet connection . . . you will not go wrong with MJ. It comes with a phone number, caller ID, call forwarding, 3-way calling, phone connection, voice mail, and a cheesy yellow pages to find business phone numbers.
I hope this helps someone.
Thanks for reading
Shurem447s
Just renewed my magicjack for it's second year of service in the Philippines. Works great, however I do not leave it plugged in 24 hours a day. I use it when I need to call has voice mail, 3 way calling, allows you to select area code in US. Very satisfied with the initial cost $39.95 (first year service included) and renewal ($20.00 per year)
I prefer Skype as well. Relatively cheap, easy to use since I'm always online anyway. Have you figured out how to connect Skype so I can use a cordless phone?
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No, but I imagine if you can get a wireless headset, that something similar to cordless phone could be set up.
The best thing is MJ is CHEAPER than Skype.
for the SKYPE its a MONTHLY basis while MJ it is YEARLY.
So in SKYPE you are obliged to pay MORE rather than MJ.
You can use any phone in MJ while skype you just use headset…..
Youre calls in MJ is clear but it is said that our technology is getting beter and better so at least you will get your the best computer you can get as long as you have a good conection with your Internet and a good PC the MJ is the BEST for YOU…
hi guys,
Sorry if I have not read everyting here. I read most of the messages. I live in Ireland and my girlfriend lives in Manila. My current mobile service provider is making a fortune from me on my mobile calls. I am looking for the cheapest mobile call plan. I have been thinking about sending my girlfriend a skypephone (3G) to make skype > skype free calls and sms. I did readon the first message that "skypephones will NOT work in Philippines" Is this true. If so I guess i will source the cheapest call card for my calls/
Thanks for your advice.
Mike
If your girlfriend doesn't have her own computer and Internet connection, I'm sure she has access to an Internet cafe. All of the computers I've seen at the cafes have Skype on them. You can do what I did and purchase the one-country plan from Skype and set it to Ireland. It costs me about $6.00 USD per month for mine. She can call your number from there, you just can't call her (unless you can get a local number through Skype, in which case it's a little more expensive). I still think it would end up being much cheaper and reliable than phone cards.
I think that Skype is not only better but also more convinient. You can get it on your mobile phone instead of having to carry around an extra thing and having to have access to a computer.
Mark from buy to let mortgage deals
Like most products, Magic Jack has it's good points and it's not-so-good points. It will be up to you to decide what is most important to you in internet phoning and to choose the product that should work best in your situation.
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I have been using MJ here in the Philippines regularly for about a year now and I`m very satisfied. My husband is in the US and MJ has made our communication easier in a very cost effective way. We talk everyday, without thinking of phone bills. Unlimited minutes for only $20 A YEAR — that`s a no-brainer. Nothing cheaper than this. When I first read about it, I thought this is too good to be true…and we have proven it to be real. I`m renewing my subscription in a couple of weeks.