Customer Reviews

IPEVO CDPU-501 / FR-33.1 W Skype USB Handset (White)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We bought two of the Ipevo VP170 USB phones because we had read that they work well with the Mac. No Mac driver comes with the phones and no instructions for use with Mac but when you go to the Ipevo website you'll find a downloadable OS X driver. We are surprized and pleased at how well the phone works. Every feature (and there are many) seems to be supported by the Mac version of Skype. Once installed, the phone appears in the Skype preferences pane and in OS X system preferences, sound department. Thanks to Ipevo for the excellent implementation for OS X! Previously I used a Logitech 250 headset but the sound quality on the Ipevo is as good or better and it's much more convenient to use.

The Mac driver is only a Beta from their online web site, but works great and, so far, is quite stable. I use a Mac power book G4 with OS 10.4.3 with nil problems. Great sound.The Amazon description is accurate. Recommended.
UPDATE 03 Feb 2006 Mac 1.02 driver now out and works well with OS 10.4.4.

I received my IPEVO phone about a week ago, and have been very favorably impressed. Previously when I used other USB phones or my internal laptop speaker and microphone, I was constantly receiving complaints regarding the poor quality sound.

With this product, people are amazed that I'm using my "computer phone." I've been told that the sound quality is better than the regular telephone line connection.

The phone itself works well with Skype on a Macintosh computer, but I was a little disappointed in the "driver," which is available for download from the manufacturer's website. Rather than an invisible piece of coding which instructs the operating system on how to use the phone, the "driver" is actually an application that must be running whenever you use Skype. I've seen the application already crash a couple of times (during non-use), and feel that an actual driver would be more stable and less of a cause of desktop clutter.

All in all, I recommend this product as the best Skype phone I've seen that's Mac-compatible. 5 stars for the phone itself, but only 3 for the application required to use it, averages out to the four star rating above.

We bought two of the Ipevo VP170 USB phones because we had read that they work well with the Mac. No Mac driver comes with the phones and no instructions for use with Mac but when you go to the Ipevo website you'll find a downloadable OS X driver. We are surprized and pleased at how well the phone works. Every feature (and there are many) seems to be supported by the Mac version of Skype. Once installed, the phone appears in the Skype preferences pane and in OS X system preferences, sound department. Thanks to Ipevo for the excellent implementation for OS X! Previously I used a Logitech 250 headset but the sound quality on the Ipevo is as good or better and it's much more convenient to use.

I just started using Skypeout on the Mac and was getting complaints of terrible echo when using my Powerbook's built-in mic and speakers. Got this phone a few days ago and the quality is like that of a regular landline at best, cellphone at worst. The size is bigger than most cellphones but not quite as large as a regular phone. Overall a good balance. The software for OS X is good and the phone is even recognized by the system so you can use it with programs other than Skype. I've also used it on a Windows XP laptop with Skype 2.0 and it works just as well there. The USB calbe is quite long, but it isn't a curly cable like on a regular landline so be prepared for yet another cable on your desk.

expected time of delivery was 2 weeks, got it in 3 days! tiny little cute thing!good since i am gonna carry it with my laptop.Really sleek.
works well with Skype..supports all features. works with msn ,yahoo chat as well just the key pad is no use.
worth the price. exceeds my expectations. am using it with Windows XP on my notebook. simple and easy to use.

should have had telephone like wire...would reduce the mess around the table! great voice quality..unbelievably improved my voice conversations on msn,skype,yahoo!

Having got fed up with the irritating echoes on Skype through the computer speakers, plus the fact that talking into a microphone in front of your PC isn't very relaxing, I decided to get a Skype phone handset. I knew what I wanted - a corded handset, nothing too expensive, that worked out of the box. I also wanted - and this was the tricky part - to find one that would also work on my Mac and not just the PC.

When checking around for products I was amazed at how expensive some of this stuff was. Equally there was some very cheap stuff out there but I had no idea if it would work. Fortunately I stumbled across the IPEVO FREE1 phone and various reviews that said it worked on Mac OSX (if you download the drivers) so I ordered it.

Straight away I have to say that this whole buying experience was excellent - Amazon are usually very good for me but this time they excelled; my phone arrived less than 36 hours after I had ordered it and even with Free Super Saver Delivery. It cost me £17.99 which is one heck of a bargain.

When it arrived I plugged it into the USB port on my Mac and it worked as a phone instantly. However pressing all the little buttons on it did nothing so I went to the IPEVO website and downloaded the drivers, realised that I have to run a little separate program as well as Skype, ran the program and off it went. I had a choice of ringtones on the handset (all pretty basic), where the sound came from (I could have it from the computer's speakers or the Free1 handset), how loud various bits `n bobs were. Basically all the things you might need to change. It's got some useful buttons on it that scroll down your Skype contacts list so you don't actually have to touch the computer to make calls and stuff.

I then loaded the drivers for the PC, plugged it into the PC and it worked instantly then too (although I did have to shut down first, as it informed me). I can't think of the last time I plugged the same new piece of hardware into both PC and Mac and it worked first time, so 10 points for IPEVO for that. Sound quality seems fine on both platforms, there's a little green light so you know it's working and... what more can I say. A great bit of kit, a smaller handset than your usual home phone (it's 15cm long and just under 4cm wide) and it works. It's a great little phone that I highly recommend.

bought this from IPEVO thru Amazon, ordered on 19th Dec still received on 23rd. this phone is so small it can really fit into the laptop bag without creating a bulge. No problem setup on my IBM thinkpad T43p running winXP as well as my 5y/o dinosaur Dell Inspiron8000 with 256MB RAM running win2k. Good call quality, almost no echo at-all except once when i called my own cell phone which could be a freak incident or feedback. since it is meant to be placed beside the PC i didn't feel the absence of a separate lcd display.


Cons. (i) would it be so much of an trouble to have the usb cord in coils. (ii) the ringer volume can't be adjusted or maybe I havent read the manual entirely (iii) sometime the IPEVO software freezes up if the PC goes to sleep /hibernation mode, a simple relaunch solves it. (iv) for desktop use, the cradle is light and flimsy; in my opinion the cradle design is somewhat odd with an ugly FCC comliant sticker facing towards the user.

those who are having trouble with the PC speakers being taken over by the IPEVO software; left click or double click the tray icon and bring up the options window to select PC speakers/sound card for music etc.

By the way did i mention it is sleeeeeek in black.

Having got fed up with the irritating echoes on Skype through the computer speakers, plus the fact that talking into a microphone in front of your PC isn't very relaxing, I decided to get a Skype phone handset. I knew what I wanted - a corded handset, nothing too expensive, that worked out of the box. I also wanted - and this was the tricky part - to find one that would also work on my Mac and not just the PC.

When checking around for products I was amazed at how expensive some of this stuff was. Equally there was some very cheap stuff out there but I had no idea if it would work. Fortunately I stumbled across the IPEVO FREE1 phone and various reviews that said it worked on Mac OSX (if you download the drivers) so I ordered it.

Straight away I have to say that this whole buying experience was excellent - Amazon are usually very good for me but this time they excelled; my phone arrived less than 36 hours after I had ordered it and even with Free Super Saver Delivery. It cost me £17.99 which is one heck of a bargain.

When it arrived I plugged it into the USB port on my Mac and it worked as a phone instantly. However pressing all the little buttons on it did nothing so I went to the IPEVO website and downloaded the drivers, realised that I have to run a little separate program as well as Skype, ran the program and off it went. I had a choice of ringtones on the handset (all pretty basic), where the sound came from (I could have it from the computer's speakers or the Free1 handset), how loud various bits `n bobs were. Basically all the things you might need to change. It's got some useful buttons on it that scroll down your Skype contacts list so you don't actually have to touch the computer to make calls and stuff.

I then loaded the drivers for the PC, plugged it into the PC and it worked instantly then too (although I did have to shut down first, as it informed me). I can't think of the last time I plugged the same new piece of hardware into both PC and Mac and it worked first time, so 10 points for IPEVO for that. Sound quality seems fine on both platforms, there's a little green light so you know it's working and... what more can I say. A great bit of kit, a smaller handset than your usual home phone (it's 15cm long and just under 4cm wide) and it works. It's a great little phone that I highly recommend.

This phone worked pretty well on my old PowerBOok and my new MacBook for a while but eventually stopped showing up when I plugged it into the USB port. I opened the phone and found that the shielding wires from the cable were splayed out all over and I think they were shorting out against some other components. I cleaned it up and it's working again but I'm sure that's not the last of the problems: it's kind of a cheap toy-like phone. In the end, it's way better than the headsets that I've used and better than talking at my MacBook (which, surprisingly, works fine with Skype - no headphones, etc just talking toward the MacBook .. no feedback occurs). Also, this cable problem has nothing to with rough handling on my part or poor design of the cable. It looks like it's just sloppy assembly. I'll probably try a cordless one when this breaks but for now it's still doing it's job and it's lasted a LOT longer than I expected. Not bad for the low price.