Ok, this is the last post for a while on Magic Jack. I have been using it for several days now and here is what I learned and why I will not be replacing my home phone system with it.

1. I can’t port my number. That’s right, I have found several places on the Internet that will let me port my number to them and for a small per-minute or a per month charge forward all my calls from my old number to my new number. My outgoing calls will still show as originating from Magic Jack, not my original number. This in and of itself is a dealbreaker for me. Sorry, but my phone number is plastered everywhere and it would take too long to change it, and yes people do need to get in touch with me.
2. Incoming caller-ID does not work for me. I guess this is supposed to work, but if it shows anything it is just the phone number, not a name. Call me spoiled, but I prefer to see the name and the number.
3. Voice quality is actually pretty good. I have noticed a little clicking on the line sometimes, however otherwise the sound quality is crystal clear in and out. The only issues I have had can be attributed to my cell phone when I’m calling home to talk to my wife.
4. Computer has to be on all the time. Not a problem for me. I have a few computers I leave on all the time, but in additional to being on it has to run an application that lets me interface with the Magic Jack. That program popped up in the middle of doing something a few times. In order to make it as nice as my Packet 8 system I would have to purchase and dedicate a computer to it. I could do that with an Atom PC and parts I have around for probably $100, and it would still be worth the cost considering how much money Magic Jack saves me.
5. It passes the WAF, but barely. She is willing to put up with it only because it is so inexpensive.

Magic Jack will not be staying on as our primary phone. It does a good job as a backup phone or portable one, but I can’t see a reason to replace my regualr phone service with this.

December 2008 UPDATE: If television commercials are any indication, MagicJack has officially launched into the real commercial realm. For their sake they should have gotten number porting working before launching. I think they also should have found a partner of cheap Atom PCs to bundle this with as an option.

I have a few small topics that I’d like to mention that aren’t big enough for their own post yet.

The presidential debate and DirecTV

Am I the only one who has glitches throughout the broadcast? Pieces of their words are missing as the system seems to lose the stream and has to rebuild it. Then near the end one such glitch ended up with the audio and video way out of sync. The HD picture is great, but its hard to believe it costs so much for such lousy total experience. Wait, am I talking about the candidates or the DirecTV service?

MagicJack

I’ve been curious about this for a long time. How can they provide a product at such a low initial cost with no monthly fee? Well I bought one to find out since I can’t find a review of one that doesn’t sound like a paid advertisement or a baseless bash. I’ll be keeping you up to date on how that is going. My initial reactions are that the voice quality is great, and it seems like they are subsidizing the calling with advertising on the screen. Also, about all the little “rush processing” and “last chance for savings” that they try to pressure you into during the purchase process? Ignore them. You have the same opportunities after you receive it, and I chose standard shipping and got it in just a couple days.

Entrecard

I’ve commented around a few places about the ups and downs of the service. I am still happy with it, but there is a serious problem with the ranking system. Still. Any time a blog with half a dozen total posts that hasn’t been updated in a month and a half is ranked ahead of people who are obviously trying, that is a problem. I’ve figured out the system myself and am ranking between position 4-6 in the Technology section, but there are a lot of people way down the list with high quality blogs.

Blogging

I saw a website of a guy who absolutely hates blogging and is quite vocal (wordy) about it. I found it ironic that while his tirade wasn’t in a blog format, it sounded just like the kind of spewing opinion that he finds offensive about blogs. There are a lot of bloggers out there trying to make a quick buck at the expense of quality, but it is so obvious when people do sponsored posts that I have no problem ignoring it and moving on to real opinion that is interesting and thought provoking. On the flip side, even his opinion was interesting enough for me to mention it here. The best thing about the Internet is that you don’t have to visit every page.