Product Review – D-Link Skype USA Phone Adapter (DPH-50U)

I thought I would start adding some “product reviews” since I do try out a fair amount of products and services.  I decided to pick the last product I purchased, the Skype USB Phone Adapter – DPH-50U by D-Link.This little device allows you to hook up a standard phone to you computer via a USB adapter.  The adapter has a pass through for your regular phone line so you can use the phone for both regular calls and skype calls.

The one issue I had, and I guess It’s my fault for not looking, is that the device is not compatable with Vista 64bit.  So after plugging it into my Vista 32bit machine I was able to install the drivers and it basically just worked.  There was no complicated setup and the lastest version of Skype seemed to integrate with it perfectly.

I had read that the device would allow you to call your computer at home via skype and basically “route” your call out to the phone line.  This was the main reason I bought the device, however, I was unable to see any configuration that appeared to allow you to do that.  I didn’t open the manual becasuse after discovering the device was non-64bit compatable I basically gave up on the whole routing out calls thing.

So based on it’s limited functionaliy and the fact that it only cost me $5 I am giving it a “so-so” rating.  I may use it again but for now it sits here taking up space.