Customer Reviews

Plantronics CS50-USB Wireless Headset for VoIP Softphones

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Plantronics CS50-USB wireless headset works extremely well with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional software! This wireless headset is comfortable and it allows me to travel a considerable distance away from the computer to dictate without significant degradation of signal. The system will accurately transcribe my dictations when I am four rooms away from my computer and even when I'm outside the building. This wireless headset works as well with my system as the microphone originally supplied with the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software (Andrea Antinoise NC91). Both microphones achieved a very high score when training the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. I use the wireless Plantronics CS50-USB as my primary microphone because it is so much more convenient to work hands-free at a considerable distance from my computer.

This device can easily be transported from my desktop computer to my laptop computer by moving the USB base unit from one computer to the other. Most of the time I use the system my desktop computer because it's faster, and I've done more software training training on the desktop computer.

I usually use the included charger to keep the microphone battery charged even when the computer is turned off. The microphone base unit is plugged into a computer USB port. If the computer is turned on the USB port will charge the microphone and the charger is not necessary. The charger can be optionally plugged into the base unit at the same time as the USB port. The microphone battery maintains its charge well, and has not had problems running out of battery power even on long dictations. In between dictations, I replaced the microphone into its convenient base unit that keeps it charged.

The combination of this headphone and Dragon Naturally-Speaking Professional software has dramatically that improved my ability to produce high-quality transcriptions with very fast turnaround time. After training this software to recognize technical and medical terms, I'm now able to achieve much better accuracy on complex dictated documents than was possible with most medical transcriptionists I have utilized. In addition to better accuracy on technical terms, the system instantaneously transcribes complex documents and allows me to edit my work while I'm still thinking about the content I've just dictated.

This microphone provides the advantage of mobility that allows me to to move from area to area within the office without losing significant signal while I'm away for my computer. This feature is much handier than dictating into a voice recorder and downloading when I return to the computer.

This microphone features a mute switch on the earpiece, and it is also excellent at screening out ambient noise even when not muted. The microphone does not usually transcribe things other people say (the unit apparently uses noise cancellation between the microphone and the earpiece and only records sounds spoken by me). The system is even smart enough that it does not record my nonverbal sounds when I cough or sneeze,

In summary, the Plantronics CS 50-USB wireless headset admirably performs its role as a team member with Dragon naturally speaking professional software when utilized on a fast computer. This is one of the best purchases I've made in the last several years!

Stewart Ater M.D.
Pediatric Neurology P.A.
Houston, Texas

This is a usb wireless headset. just plug it in to your mac or pc and it sees it as another sound device , no drivers needed (xp or os x) I tested it with Skype on the mac and teamspeak on my pc . It comes with a sound api for windows for skype and a few others that allow the buttons on the phone to pickup or hangup calls , I did not try it out because I just like to use apps as is without special add ons ...

The range is great , so if you skype and dont want to be tied to your pc then plug this bad boy in and your free to walk all over the house , same goes for teamspeak for the gamers out there.

It was so pleasing for something to just work out of the box for a change! I tried for hours to do the same thing using bluetooth and it was a mess... This thing just works!

I'm in a situation right now where I am on skype maybe 3-4 sometimes 6 hours a day. I've been waiting for a USB wireless headset... This is perfect! I hear them (and vice versa) perfectly and am able to walk around my house/office without any issue. The quality is much better than Audio jack headsets I've used in the past, and definately better than bluetooth.

I'm so happy I purchased this device. I have all the freedom to move around my house while talking with friends using Skype, bundled with Plantronics CS50-USB. I had to download the latest version of PersonoCall from Plantronics website to make the headset work properly with Skype, but once I did that, the sound is clear and loud and the range is over 200 feet. I love it.

There are no comparison in the wireless handsfree headset product between CS50-USB and others. It's voice quality and range surpasses anything I've used... and I've used many others. But CS50-USB is NOT the best when Ease of Use, Cost effectiveness is considered.

In terms of Software/Driver, I consider the CS50-USB still has lots of problem to resolve. The problem started with Skype 2.0 where the CS50-USB will occasionally forgets a call was picked up and it just continues to ring, sometimes it just don't communicate with Skype and refuse to pickup the call.

Still my current recommendation is CS50-USB on the road, and I use BAFO's SkyMCB at home. MCB's interface to Skype is updated much more frequently than Plantronics, and works very well when I attach a Siemens Cordless DECT phone to the line. Quality is sumetime better than land line when talking in Skype.

My wish list for Plantronics is to fix the Skype 2 Interface problem, make the base unit much smaller or simply create a USB dongle, and a tiny charger like that of their 670 bluetooth headset for the CS50 headset.

While convenient and a nice, lightweight unit, the voice pickup is very poor, regardless of how you adjust the set. This is not only with the set I have used, but with others I have talked to - you can tell if the person on the other end of the phone is using one of these units because they are so faint. I've gotten so I just ask if they're using a Plantronics CS50 when they are faint and the answer is invariably "yes". Also, if you are in a building with a lot of exposed metal (window/door frames, high cubicles with lots of metal), the range deteriorates significantly.

This headset works great w Skype. You can set Skype to use this headset as the audio in and audio out devices while keep the incoming ring to the PC sound card so you can hear the ring while not wearing the headset. Base station also beeps when there is an incoming call. Make sure you change your Windows' default sound device (Control Panel -> Sound & Audio Devices -> Audio) back to your PC sound card after you install the software for this headset. Otherwise you won't be able to hear anything or play music on your PC.

Being able to answer call and end call away from PC w the push of a button on the headset makes Skype a viable alternative to fixed land line. It also allows me to use PC, listening to music while my wife talks on Skype for hours. Range is very good. I was about 150 feet away across parking lot in another building and had no trouble whatsoever. Sound quality of the mic is very good too, loud and clear. I was at the receiving end when my wife call me at work, so I know. Cannot say the same for the earpiece though. It sounds a bit harsh and not as clear, but acceptable. They could have made it better for this price.

Installation is as easy as downloading the latest software from Plantronics website, installing it, and then just plug and play. The installation does change your PC's default sound device to the headset. So as mentioned earlier, you'd want to change it back. Just set Skype to use the headset (Skype -> Tools -> Options -> Sound Devices).

One major problem that this headset disappoints me is battery's talk/standby time. It says up to 8 hour talk time, but so far we've been able to get 2 hours continuous talk time at most on a full charge before it runs out of juice. Standby time isn't great either (even after turning off radio link as manual suggested). It won't last more than 2 days just pure standby (no talk at all). So you pretty much have to charge the headset daily to ensure you can get enough talk time. It's a good idea to plug the included AC adapter into the base so you can charge headset while PC is in standby or turned off.

The strength of this headset is its range, great mic, and light weight convenience. There are cheapter (a lot cheaper) wireless Skype solutions out there. One is the RTX USB Cordless DUALphone RTX3055. You might want to check it out.

As a person who works from home and wears her headset approx. 15 hours a day...this product showed me a new side of freedom. I can now continue to work and talk while moving freely around my house. There is nothing greater than being able to grab yourself something to drink while carrying on a conversation.

The headset is comfortable to wear...although I could not use the ear pieces (3 came with it). I am a small female though so that is probably my main reason. Plantronics headsets run a bit wide on me (both models I own have a 2in gap between the headset framing and my head). But as this model is EXTREMELY lightweight I prefer the headband it came with anyhow. You really don't notice you have it on.

Battery life - my only concern when purchasing this headset was the battery life. But truthfully I haven't had a problem. I do, however, try to put it back in it's cradle as much as possible during the day to prevent battery run-down. I've only managed to wear the battery down once and started hearing the low-battery beeps but it was within the last 10 minutes of my work day so I was fine. I do however keep my extra headset in my desk drawer in case of a malfunction or dead battery - in my work situation virtual communication is a necessity.

Quality - EXCELLENT! I am impressed on the noise reduction technology on the Plantronics headsets. As I live on a military base, when the loud speakers come on I can barely hear anything...and yet my party on the other end doesn't hear it at all. The range is excellent. I can go to the mailbox without skipping a beat with this set as well as all over the house. No reduction in quality at all.

My complaints - I have to set the volume at 100% to hear well. The volume is set way too low. My 2nd compaint is the software. I use Skype a lot and installed the software to use with my Skype but had nothing but conflicts with that and wound up uninstalling it. I liked the idea of the auto-answer function so I can accept a call while away from my desk - and it would answer the call, but continue to beep alerting me a call was coming in and my audio would keep breaking up making communication difficult. Once I uninstalled the Skype softphone, my Skype works fine now with no audio problems. As I am usually within 15-20 feet of my desk anyhow, I can hear a phone call coming in and can quickly go to my computer and answer without delay so this works well for me.

Overall, it is an excellent product that has given me some much needed freedom. Physically it has allowed me to move around without being confinded to my desk chair with a bulky heavy corded annoying headset (how many of you have accidently spun around in your chair and yanked your headset off - or ran over your cord frying your headset?). Even with it's little quirks, I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Recently I acquired Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS) speech recognition software and was, as a consequence, confronted with the problem of selecting input and output devices.

DNS comes supplied with a headset which is, unfortunately, not very useful. It was neither comfortable nor was it accurate. I quickly learned that there are several sources of inaccuracy: 1) the intrinsic accuracy of the microphone itself and 2) the means of attachment to the computer.

The attachment can be either digital via a USB port or analog via a sound card. Many of the "onboard" soundcards are not well shielded against electrical noise and, as a consequence, they degrade the signal-to-noise ratio and with that, the accuracy desired for speech recognition. I did not want to add a well-shielded soundcard to my system. Additionally my computer is located in a fairly noisy environment with conversation and music in the background. In this environment, noise cancellation, directionality, and proximity are important factors in selecting the microphone. These considerations led me to buy a USB headset.

My first choice, an over-the-head stereo headset, had everything I wanted functionally. I quickly discovered that it had one major drawback -- it was terribly uncomfortable for prolonged use. It was too heavy and after about 10 minutes, my ears got too hot for comfort. That lesson having been learned, I went for the ultra-comfortable Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset. The comfort and wireless convenience of this headset was superb. It filled the bill in every way but one -- the microphone boom was too short to "hear" me speaking clearly. This sharply decreased the speech recognition accuracy.

This led me to the CS 50 USB. It is as accurate as the stereo headset, has the wireless convenience and almost as much comfort as the Voyager. Plantronics claims a range of something like 200 feet -- I have only tried it as far as 100 feet at which distance it performs flawlessly. With the supplied software, it integrates well with Skype and I presume with other Soft Phones.

In the best of all possible worlds, Plantronics would create a headset with the wonderfully pliable over-the-ear loop it uses for the Voyager 510. Because the CS 50 attaches to its ear- this is loop by clipping into a plastic ring, I am considering trying to adapt this ring to the ear loop from a 510.

Considering the comfort, performance and, convenience I believe it to be well worth its, not inconsiderable, price.

I could not be more impressed. I was highly skeptical as I have been buying bluetooth headsets like crazy trying to find one that worked, and they're all pretty much junk. This thing worked all the way out to the sidewalk, and likely much further, but that's as far as I went. The quality on the other end is very clear. The manual is plain stupid, it looks like they were half way through putting it together when they released it, but on the Mac the manual was of course not needed, just plug it in and it worked without any of the driver install nonsense Windows requires. BTW, I am using it primarily with Skype.

OK, I have to add something to this review. There's a fatal flaw in this device. A flaw that makes the device near worthless to me now. If the USB cable is unplugged, but the earpiece is left clipped into the holder/charger, the battery runs down within hours. Obviously a simple diode somewhere would have prevented this, but for me the device now is close to useless.

Update: May 8th 2011. So, 5 years later, the device is seriously failing. the electronics in the device are dying. I am having to constantly remove the battery to get the headset to work, and it's cutting me off in the middle of calls. It also refuses to charge, and discharges when not in use even when the base is connected via USB. It's a pity its failing, and I came looking for a new version, but there is none. Should I just buy it again?