Skype - to make those V6 "chats" interactive!

Grazie wrote on 9/5/2005, 9:32 AM

Anybody already using this?

I'm gonna investigate . . At least it may get me OFF this Forum! Then you can all breathe a sigh of relief - HAH!

http://www.skype.com/

Seriously, I can normally "describe" in spoken words better than tiping. Yeah?

Anybody wanna Skype too?

Grazie

Comments

Coursedesign wrote on 9/5/2005, 9:48 AM

Skype has both chat and talk, even at the same time.

The codecs they have been using since the beginning of the year have a sound quality that is usually better than a landline. Works perfectly from aircraft with Wi-Fi too (Lufthansa for example charges $29.95 for unlimited high speed Internet during the entire flight).

Calls to anywhere in North America or Western Europe are 2.1 cents/min, which is slightly more expensive than Lingo, but Lingo doesn't seem to work reliably at this time.

Skype is great!

Tom Pauncz wrote on 9/5/2005, 10:02 AM

Been on it a while .. lemme know when you're set up Grazie..:-)
Tom (my first name [dot] my last name)

Grazie wrote on 9/5/2005, 2:01 PM

OK . .

Anybody who's got SKYPE can talk with me .. just sear4ch for GRAZIE or BIGGRAZIE . . .. yeah well . .

G

That_Kid wrote on 9/6/2005, 11:46 AM

hey this is a good idea, Grazie i'm going to add you to skype. I'm of course that_kid on skype as well.

B.Verlik wrote on 9/6/2005, 11:54 AM

How much better is this "Skype" than Yahoo's live conversation? Or is it?

Grazie wrote on 9/6/2005, 12:50 PM

Dunno. . . . Tom and I just tried MS Messenger and SKYPE is clear as a bell!

G

boomhower wrote on 9/6/2005, 5:05 PM

On with Grazie now......very clear.....

Grazie wrote on 9/6/2005, 5:23 PM

Oh yes we are. - G

mel58i wrote on 9/7/2005, 5:23 AM

You can find me on there with the name mel58i

Mel

Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2005, 7:56 AM

Steve, it's amazingly better! I felt like Grazie was sitting in the room with me. It's that clear.

I'm in! chienworks ... of course.

Grazie wrote on 9/7/2005, 8:18 AM

"I felt like Grazie was sitting in the room with me." . . .sounds like a curse! - G

B.Verlik wrote on 9/7/2005, 9:58 AM

I'll have to look into it. This may be one of those situations where you have to have a high speed internet connection to get the best quality. I'm still in the stone age for a few more months.........then maybe...DSL.
Somebody else told me, a couple of months back, that he thought Yahoo sounded better, but I never thought that Yahoo was that great. Too much latency and like MSN, too much stuff to shut off afterwards. (If you even try to use MSN, it then starts up with your computer after the 1st attempt to use it. Then you have to get into your "msconfig" and change your start up items.)
I'll get back to this column and add my 2 cents about how it works with a phone connection after I try it.
PS: I've tried "Net to Phone" and have used it occasionally for the last 2 years. A lot of latency at times and weird, psychedelic "tone shifts" every now and then. Again, that may be because of a phone connection, instead of a High speed internet connection. (It was the only way I could have the computer on the internet and make a call at the same time.)

jetdv wrote on 9/7/2005, 11:04 AM

This may be one of those situations where you have to have a high speed internet connection to get the best quality.

Grazie, boomhower, and I chatted last night for nearly an hour. I was connected via dial-up with a speed of 26.4. Talking worked well. Just don't try to do anything else! I checked e-mail once and that was not good on the incoming voice.

B.Verlik wrote on 9/7/2005, 11:41 AM

Just don't try to do anything else! I checked e-mail once and that was not good on the incoming voice

Now I see what that guy was talking about. It just occured to me. At the time, we were playing EA Tiger Woods golf and trying to communicate at the same time. Yahoo works pretty good for that. Connection problems do occur from time to time, but for the most part, it works fairly well.
I guess Skype interferred with the game or the game interferred with Skype. He just didn't explain why he thought Yahoo was better at the time.
EDIT: forgot how to make Italics

B.Verlik wrote on 9/8/2005, 1:00 PM

Hmmmm. Only works with Windows 2000 or XP. Still waiting for my next computer, which should have XP. It's just when????????????

Chienworks wrote on 9/8/2005, 1:18 PM

I think Skype must use about 16 or 18Kbps for the voice encoding, as compared to about 5Kbps for Yahoo. This explains why Yahoo interferes with other internet transmissions less, and also why Skype sounds so much better.