Skype Mac Starter Pack
reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Skype http://us.accessories.skype.com/direct/skypeusa/itemdetl.jsp?prod=3237 Released: July 25, 2006 $20 USD, 13Û Euros In the Box, Earbuds with integrated microphone; 30 minute Skype-out voucher and a crushed-velvet pull-string back for carrying the headset around. Requirements: Mac OS X 10. 3 or later, 128 MB RAM, 43 MB hard drive space (for Skype) and a broadband connection. Forums: http://www.cmedia.com/forums/ Strengths: On-the-run Skype phone. Weaknesses: Muffled mic. Used on an iMac G5 with Mac OS X 10.4.7. Interview: Len Layton - VP of C-Media Electronics http://themoddingden.objectis.net/interviews/interviewwithcmedia Other Reviews: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/vonage/vonage-vphone-review.asp |
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The Skype Mac Start Pack costs twice as much as the one for the non-Mac environment with the basic difference being that the non-Mac unit is designed for plugging into the multimedia jacks and those starter kits are monaurial instead of stereo and the stereo unit is USB. Oh, and the non-Mac unit comes with a mini-CD to cover the driver needs for those non-Mac systems. The Mac unit doesnÕt need any new drivers for Mac OS X.
The back of the blister-pack shows information in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
The package indicates that 20 MB of hard drive space is needed, but the latest Skype folder for the Mac (1.5.0.48) shows that it is using over 43 MB on my system.
While working with Tim Verpoorten on the Mac ReviewCast, I tried the unit on for size. The USB cable has a generous amount of length (plus it has a blue LED indicator where the cable connects into the USB plug housing), so that is not a challenge. What is, is the earbud mic combination at the other end. The earbuds ability to hear are excellent, but the mic part hangs down to my shoulder. For Tim to hear me well enough, I had to hold the mic up to my mouth. There is no slide adjustment to bring the mic closer. The left earbud extends from the bottom of the mic and appears to be about 2 feet long. As he was listening to me, he said my voice sounded muffled.
My About this Mac (and System Preferences > Sound) reveals that the unit is a C-Media USB Headphone Set. So Skype is OEMing it from them. It consumes 500 milliamps of power and has a throughput of 12 Megabits per second. IÕm guessing it uses the CM108 audio chip; http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/USB/CM108 and after downloading the spec-sheet, I think I guessed correctly.
C-Media Electronics is located in Taipei, Taiwan, but the VP of North American Operations is based in Vancouver, BC and we provided a link to an interview of Len Layton above.
From the C-Media Forum I see that Linux folks have been having issues, (and when do they not?) regarding audio in and audio out.
If you use various headsets like I do, ever time you go into Skype the C-Media Headphone Set has to be reset to all the way up for volume. I suppose that if you leave the computer in Òalways-onÓ mode, the setting has to be set only once if Skype is running in the background.
This device might be desirable for those who are using a portable computer. I do not see it as being _Mac-only, since it uses a USB port, but IÕll experiment some. IÕm guessing that since the non-Mac Start kit uses the multimedia jacks and requires a mini-CD that contains the drivers that I canÕt just plug&play on a non-Mac system. And I do not see a download for software for the unit on the Skype website either.
So, if you Skype and have broadband access while being a road–warrior, you might be able to save a few pennies phoning from your MacBook Pro as long as you donÕt mind your voice sounding a little muffled.
