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The magicJack, real magic or just hocus-pocus?
Website: www.magicjack.com
Price: Device and first year: $40, additional years service: $20*
Reviewed by Clint Crocker on 05/25/2008
No doubt you have heard of the magicJack by now. The advertising is everywhere, on the TV, banner ads on websites, reviews by some of the top organizations on the web including c|net, PC Magazine and the NY Times. The idea sounds too good to be true, free local and US/Canada long distance for about $1.66 a month. Yes, you read right, less than two bucks a month. To say that I was skeptical would be an understatement. But anyone who knows me knows my love for cheap and free. Needless to say, I was eager to see if it worked.
A call came in and a job was scheduled to setup the first magicJack we'd seen. I was definately impressed with the design and looks of the unit, it is well dressed in bright chrome and neat graphics surrounding a window displaying the unit's innards. Once it powers up the circuit board inside is illuminated by a rather fancy looking blue LED. Looks are only half the gadget appeal though, this thing has to work well to keep me interested. Installation went smooth; on the XP system I was using it was pretty much plug-n-play. After plugging it into an available USB port, it loaded the related software automatically and then we had a dial tone on the attached phone. A couple of test calls to and from my cell phone verified proper operation. Call quality was at least as good as a landline during the short test calls.
What amazes me is the seemingly endless uses for this device. In the reviews I've read so far people have come up with all kinds of creative uses for the device. Many people have used them to provide dial tones to systems such as monitored alarms and satellite boxes in the absence of a traditional land-line. Soldiers stationed overseas are snapping these things up for an inexpensive alternative to calling cards. European businesses are using them to provide US based phone numbers to clients here in the states. In our testing we were able to use one with a fax machine without any issues to provide a very cheap fax line. Parents are reportedly buying them for teenagers to provide second and third phone lines without the cost of wiring and service (do teenagers still use land-line phones?) The product has a million uses at this price.
If the quality and price of this device and related service remain stable, I think magicJack will be with us for quite a while. Though there were a few reported issues, most of those can be avoided by simply reading through the F.A.Q.'s on their website. I would not anticipate any issues on a Windows XP or Intel Based Mac machine and very few issues under Windows Vista. Based on the current service quality I would recommend this product for either residential or commercial use.
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* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
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