Home > Consumer Reviews > GE - SKYPE - Dect 6.0 Cordless phone

you definitely need firmware upgrade. They can do better with the LCD screen and menu selection. But we buy it for one purpose only right... Voice quality is as not bad at all, similar to Von@#ge service.

PROS - Easy hardware setup. Easy software setup. Firmware automatically updated itself. No problems when calling companies with voice menu with number options. Features: mute, redial, flash, etc... .
CONS - Cheap plastic feel and look. Pressing dial pad numbers feels soft and rubbery (You have to press the numbers firmly so fast dialing is difficult).
VOICE QUALITY - About 80% as loud and clear as land line phone. Very usable.
CONCLUSION - Though there is room for improvement, this phone functions very well.

I decided to try this phone largely on the strength of the Amazon reviews, but my experience was less than positive.

I bought this phone used; the person I bought it from said it worked fine for him, but he later decided to get rid of landline phone service altogether (including Skype) and use cell phones only. I hooked up the phone and base station as described in the user's guide and was able to go through the first several startup screens successfully (this is a series of screens which are accessed using the phone handset), but when I got to the step where I was directed to sign in to my Skype account the phone displayed a screen which read simply, "Communications Error."

Finding no additional help in the user's guide, I called GE Tech Support at (310) 953-9028 and was told, after a rather frustrating series of exchanges with a technician who seemed to know less about the phone than I did, that all they could recommend was that I get another phone.

I would love to try out Skype's service using a Skype phone, as I have had great success using Skype with my computer and webcam, but I have been less than impressed with the selection of currently available Skype phone products, and my experience with the GE 28310 has done nothing to change that.

Update, 1/19/09: After my initial frustration with this phone as described above, I ended up just leaving the phone and base station connected and sitting on my desk. I had in mind that I'd try a firmware update and see if that would solve my problems with signing in to my Skype account, but I ended up not getting around to it.

Then a few days ago, a couple of weeks after my initial attempt to get it working, I picked up the handset and it had a message on the screen that said something like, "A new update is available, would you like to download it?" I can't remember the exact wording of the message, but I'm pretty sure it didn't specifically say "firmware" update, because I would have remembered that.

I said "Sure" and it immediately began downloading and installing some sort of update, and a few minutes later I was able to sign in to my Skype account! I have since made and received several calls on the phone and have found the sound quality to be excellent (though perhaps not as good as on my USB headset when I use Skype on my computer). I plan to test it out a little more before I decide if I want to ditch my current phone provider (Vonage) for Skype.

If Amazon would let me, I'd probably raise my rating for this product to two stars; the phone itself seems to work pretty well, but my experience with GE Tech Support was still horrible. Not only did they not fix my problem, they suggested that I get rid of a perfectly good phone.

It is a shame that I have been sick and unable to return this product. It simply doesn't work. It is blocked and there is no way to unblock it.