Another Skype Phone Option from Philips

I've written previously about the cool Ipevo phone for Skype that's light and compact for traveling. This week I've been trying out another option from Philips and in some ways it's an improvement.

My Ipevo phone didn't come with a case, which this one does, plus there's one small design change that makes a huge difference: There's a slot going all the way around the phone so you can wind up the cord when you're packing it away.

For some reason my XP desktop took two reboots to get it installed (there's no CD driver), but after that it worked fine, with as good a clarity as you would expect from Skype and buttons that perform the functions of a normal phone. I made a long SkypeOut call to Costa Rica for 6 cents a minute then did another Skype to Skype one for free. The phone is incredibly light, so I'll be glad to pack this when I head to Europe for two weeks next month on a writing assignment.

The Philips VoIP080 is available at Skype Store USA or your own country's equivalent. Right now it's selling for $29.99. If you're traveling with a laptop, it won't take long to make that pay off by using Skype instead of making regular phone calls.