Skype on MacBook Pro

My (very limited) experience with Skype is that you have to use a headphone and mute your speakers. I was stymied trying to get the speakers/headphone/etc. all set up right until I realized that Skype has its *OWN* preference panel for what input/output source to use, and it apparently ignores (or resets? - I didn't pay close enough attention) what's in the system preferences Sound panel.

Maybe that's not your issue at all, but I remember it being a real head-scratcher until I found that Skype preference.

On May 7, 2007, at 3:47 PM, Clark David wrote:

> Has anyone any experience using Skype from a MacBookPro Intel to
> speak with another person? Skype is a VoIP that is free anywhere on
> the planet to another Skype user. I used a Logitech headset with
> microphone, plugged into one of the USB ports.

Not MacBook Pro, but MacBook (Core Duo--not Core 2 Duo; connecting
over 8.02.11g wireless thence 3 gigabit cable). General quality
better than land line, except
    1. occasional periods of garble--either minor or severe
    2. serious delays in Skype Out (similar to those in cell phone to
land line around here)
[I've also used 1.5 mbps DSL, which was not quite as good--ono-on-one
or conference.]

I mostly use it for conferences--one is weekly, with 3 Skype and one
land line participant (although last week a broken bicycle for
another participant led to 2 of each). Both item 1 and 2 apply.

I participated in one 10-person conference (at least one land line).
That went well, too (biggest problem being getting people to mute
while not intending to talk).

> On our trial run with one person, it wasn't bad although the quality
> did not anywhere match standard land-line international
> longdistance. We tried doing it in a conference call with four
> others, one of whom was in Australia, and it was essentially
> useless. The sound was not very good, kept cutting out, the whole
> conference kept dropping, and after about 30 minutes of fiddling I
> gave up. The others continued with the conference. It was reported
> to me that my voice had a bad echo and feedback, and we tried
> shutting off (mute-ing) my Mac's speakers -- which also shut off the
> headset.
>

What is the speed of your DSL connection? You need more than the
bare minimum (around here) 256 kbps DSL circuit for conferencing, in
my experience.

There are also tricks you can try, particularly for the originator of
the conference. Namely, discover the port your copy of Skype is
using (it's picked randomly at first run unless you set it by hand--
discovery and setting in Preferences). Open that port inward on the
machine, and open it with suitable port forwarding in firewalls and
routers between the world and your machine. (But don't leave it that
way while not using Skype unless you want to donate bandwidth--fixing
the outer firewall between uses would be one approach if you have
that power--if you don't, your IT folks may not want to do any of this.)

   --John

If you use the Logitech headphones, the speakers should automatically be off -- check the Skype preferences.

As for voice quality, that's dependent on bandwidth. When I use ethernet to connect the university's T3 system, the quality is very good most of the time. It's almost as good on the university's WiFi system.

On my home WiFi, sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's mediocre. Connecting it to the modem via ethernet improves the quality.

John Massengale
http://massengale.typepad.com/

I use Skype on my MacBook Pro C2D without a headphone using just the
built-in microphone and speakers. Works fine, even for video conferencing.

Clark David 07-05-07 15.47 -0700 wrote:

>Has anyone any experience using Skype from a MacBookPro Intel to
>speak with another person?

I use it a lot on a MacBook, iBook and iMac to talk with Mac as well
as Windows users. It generally works really well.

Many of my customers/friends/family also use it a lot. They mainly
start because they want a cheap way to call abroad but end up using
for a lot more than that.

I would prefer to use a standard SIP solution but Skype works and
it's easy and quick to setup.

The Drupal Dojo http://drupaldojo.com/ use Skype (plus VNC and IRC)
to conduct online live lessons. Very cool and good lessons if you are
a Drupal user/developer.

Regards,
Fredrik Jonsson

--
Web site: <http://xdeb.org/wiki/Fredrik>

Sue Boettcher 07-05-07 19.49 -0700 wrote:

>until I realized that Skype has its *OWN* preference panel for what
>input/output source to use, and it apparently ignores (or resets? -
>I didn't pay close enough attention) what's in the system
>preferences Sound panel.

iChat works like this also and it's a very nice feature. I want to
use my headset with iChat and Skype but I want all other sounds to go
to my speakers, like iTunes e.g.

The built in microphone on the MacBook and other Macs with a built in
iSight is very good but on other computers a headset is a must. This
goes for all voice chat, not only Skype.

Regards,
Fredrik Jonsson

--
Web site: <http://xdeb.org/wiki/Fredrik>

On May 7, 2007, at 15:47, Clark David wrote:
> Has anyone on this list any experience with Skype? I'd appreciate
> any advice or comments.

I use Skype all the time, Using a Powerbook and 24" iMac (Intel Core
2 Dual). The iMac uses a Logitech Headset and the Powerbook nominally
uses a Bluetooth. The noisy sound usually occurs when a bandwidth
issue exists. Have you tried calling "Echo123" to test your sound
without having to deal with others problems.
...lj

We've had a lot of experience, using Skype on two different iMacs and my
MacBook, both from NZ and Oz, talking and videoconferencing to others in
Europe, China, the US and Canada. Occasionally I experience issues a
little similar to those you describe.

On the other hand, I've had perfect reception sitting in my car, in a car
park, waiting for my fish & chips, in a coastal town in northern NZ.
Atmospherics? Who knows...?

I remember the same kind of issues bouncing SSB radio across the world
forty years ago. Brilliant reception one day, dodgy the next... .

Paul Bradstreet,
Margaret River, W. Australia.

I'm so new to Mac I was unaware there was a built-in mic. Maybe I'll
try that next time.

I also plan to use my iMac 20", which has 2G of RAM after my own
upgrade.

There've been some great suggestions and advice. Thanks to all.

Hope our conference call goes well this Sunday.

--
Dave Clark
http://home.earthlink.net/~dc1999/
http://web.mac.com/dave28c
http://www.clarklawfirm.com

One consideration when using the built-in mike and speakers for Skype:
the other party will get a terrible "echo" on the other end, if you're
not careful. The sound coming out of the speakers goes right back into
the mike, so they hear themselves talking. I got a Bluetooth earpiece
which I use for listening, while speaking through the built-in
microphone.

---Tim Archer