Anyone used the 3 skypephone?

[Evil Badoshix]

I'm a bit behind the times and only just found out about this device. I've been on the 3 site and from what I can tell, this looks awesome!

The 3 site is sadly lacking in detail, so can anyone here fill me in? I'm sure there's got to be some kind of drawback, i've got a few questions...

1) I'm assuming this is using 3's 3G network to send and receive skype calls? It's not wifi based?
2) Is the skype connection permanently on, or do you need to log in for others to call you on your skype number?
3)If I purchase this for 50 quid on PAYG, other skypeusers worldwide can call me on my skypephone for free, and there's no commitment for me to keep topping up?

Apologies for the questions, i've been hunting around the net, but can't find much more info. I've recently moved abroad, and am thinking of purchasing this for my parents, so I can call them for free via my PC. In theory it sounds perfect!

[Evil Badoshix]

1) I'm assuming this is using 3's 3G network to send and receive skype calls? It's not wifi based?
2) Is the skype connection permanently on, or do you need to log in for others to call you on your skype number?
3)If I purchase this for 50 quid on PAYG, other skypeusers worldwide can call me on my skypephone for free, and there's no commitment for me to keep topping up?


lol just been digging around and answered my own questions...for anyone that's interested:

1) yep it uses 3's network, so skype is available everywhere
2) no need to login, skype is always on
3) yep it's 50 quid payg, you get 4000mins skype incoming & outgoing calls a month. The free skype calls are valid for 30 days each time you top up with a tenner.

I'd still be interested in hearing peoples experiences with this phone & the skype functions....

[DB2k]

well.. it uses the radio network so as long as you are on either 3 or Orange with 2.5G you can make and receive Skype calls.

[stephen]

I've got one of these and I'm pretty pleased with it, I've been using it call home daily for the last couple of weeks (where I have got a Philips VOIP841 Skype phone). The call quality is generally pretty good, there have been a few times where it has been poor and kept breaking up but it sorted itself out after a minute or two, I don't know if that was down to mobile reception or the internet part of the connection. One probem I've found is that the online status isn't always correct, it often shows my home phone as offline when I know it's online, however it always gets through when I try and call. I've seen that before on Skype so it may be a general Skype problem rather than something specific to Three. One of the drawbacks is that you can't use SkypeIn or SkypeOut with it, but that's understandable really.

There are some forums for it here:

http://www.3skypephone.com/forum/index.php