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Picked-Up MagicJack for my BlackBook...

SFStateStudent

SFStateStudent

macrumors 604
Original poster
Aug 28, 2007
7,496
3
San Francisco California, USA
anyone have any experience with this item? Especially since they just added "the total Mac Beta" and would apply to your MagicJack if you bought it after March 8, 2008.

Website: MagicJack.com

Click on Customer Care and you'll see the update for Mac Users (Intel Macs). I'll post an update when I receive mine via USPS. :cool:

Moderator: If this is not the appropriate Forum please feel free to move this Thread. Thanks. :cool:
 
SFStateStudent said:
anyone have any experience with this item?
Click to expand...

I'd like to hear your reviews after you use it a bit as far as sound quality and reliability. I was just looking at it today and it looks like a much cheaper than Vonage, but not if there are sacrifices to quality.
 
JHacker said:
I'd like to hear your reviews after you use it a bit as far as sound quality and reliability. I was just looking at it today and it looks like a much cheaper than Vonage, but not if there are sacrifices to quality.
Click to expand...

Will do JHacker! Their shipping is pretty good, comes with a "tracking number" via USPS. I'm also interested on its clarity, sound quality and reliability. I'm just hoping I don't have to go through "Bootcamp" and Winduhhs, to operate it on my BlackBook 2.4 Penryn. I'm going to try it on the BlackBook first! :p
 
Good Luck

I spent two hours helping my mother setup her MagicJack with no success.
What they don't tell you is A. You need to be running windows to download the software, that was fine since I brought my girlfriends laptop over.

Got everything setup on the PC and it worked great and was really nice. Reset everything and downloaded the Mac patch, which they had provided an inaccurate link to on their website, So it would not download.

Then I went on the Tech Support chat and they gave me the appropriate link so I was able to download and install it. Went back to mac and tried again, still got the Unrecognized device error.

Went back to talk to the Tech Support person, they had me check the kernel version and such of my mom's intel Imac and everything checked out, then they had me try silly things such as power cycling the magic jack and such. They really did not have any clue what they were doing on the Mac side, they even told me to download and run the Mac .EXE patch in OSX which is not possible as far as I know.

After that and a whole bunch of "try reseting the magicjack" we were unable to get it to function, my guess is the Mac Beta was not quiet ready yet when they released it, I was trying to set this up last week so it may be functioning now. The Magic Jack was a pleasure to use on the PC side though .
 
Jibajab said:
I spent two hours helping my mother setup her MagicJack with no success.

After that and a whole bunch of "try reseting the magicjack" we were unable to get it to function, my guess is the Mac Beta was not quiet ready yet when they released it, I was trying to set this up last week so it may be functioning now. The Magic Jack was a pleasure to use on the PC side though .
Click to expand...

Thanks Jib, I'll give it a shot when it arrives. I appreciate the excellent information you passed-on, so I'll have some sort of idea as to what problems I'm up against.

I kinda' figured it was going to be a difficult match with the Intel Macs, and they may be rushing into the Mac market. :(
 
Well, it took a total of 30 seconds to download the software and was making my first call about 10 seconds after that. Apparently, with the new upgrade, I didn't run into all the problems the previous poster JibJab had mentioned. I was able to select from several area codes and prefixes while setting up my phone number. My first call was much clearer than my regular landline, with "0" static or background noise. I walked throughout my house and even in the backyard and front yard without losing a signal. The MacBook hook-up was extremely quick and effortless. I spent more time opening the packaging than setting-up the MagicJack! Feel free to PM me for any additional questions. :D:cool:
 
SFStateStudent said:
Thanks Jib, I'll give it a shot when it arrives. I appreciate the excellent information you passed-on, so I'll have some sort of idea as to what problems I'm up against.

I kinda' figured it was going to be a difficult match with the Intel Macs, and they may be rushing into the Mac market. :(
Click to expand...


I am running 10.5.2 and I have MJ mostly working. After closing the unrecognized device errors, go to the MJ Mac Beta page to run the update while MJ is plugged into the USB port.

After seeing a window stating successful install of update, you should then see a window pop-up asking to click here to start, IIRC. If not, click on MagicJack in your Finder under Devices to launch "Start magicJack."

It is mostly working because only the connected phone works but not the microphone and speakers through the softphone. But that is fine for now.
 
Good to hear it's working!

Good to hear it's working for you SF, Had my mother not returned it I would give it another shot lol.:D

They must have fixed the beta software! Which is really great since it definitely sounds clearer than Comcast digital phone.

I have a question for you, do you have to have the computer it's running through on all the time to get phone calls? That was the one thing I wasn't sure about and was waiting to see before I bought one
 
Jibajab said:
Good to hear it's working for you SF, Had my mother not returned it I would give it another shot lol.:D

They must have fixed the beta software! Which is really great since it definitely sounds clearer than Comcast digital phone.

I have a question for you, do you have to have the computer it's running through on all the time to get phone calls? That was the one thing I wasn't sure about and was waiting to see before I bought one
Click to expand...

I keep my BlackBook on when I have it connected, but I've kept my basic landline for incoming calls and my DSL. I've cancelled my AT&T long distance, which was about $40 a month. I'm really happy with everything about MagicJack and:cool: its compatibility of Mac Beta!
 
Jibajab said:
(SNIP)
I have a question for you, do you have to have the computer it's running through on all the time to get phone calls? That was the one thing I wasn't sure about and was waiting to see before I bought one
Click to expand...

Yes, you do. If the computer is asleep and the blue inside the MJ is off, then calls will go to voicemail.
 
sebring96hbg said:
I am running 10.5.2 and I have MJ mostly working. After closing the unrecognized device errors, go to the MJ Mac Beta page to run the update while MJ is plugged into the USB port.

After seeing a window stating successful install of update, you should then see a window pop-up asking to click here to start, IIRC. If not, click on MagicJack in your Finder under Devices to launch "Start magicJack."

It is mostly working because only the connected phone works but not the microphone and speakers through the softphone. But that is fine for now.
Click to expand...

the beta software is unavailable for download on their website...they dont even have it on their servers...if someone can provide the .dmg upgrade file then that would be great...if not, mine will be going right back as a return...it's one thing for your product to require an upgrade out of the box...it's another thing for the upgrade not to be available at all :(
 
BlackMax said:
MagicJack sounds pretty cool, but I have a couple of questions:

  1. Can you take incoming calls on it?
  2. Does it work with 10.4.11?
Click to expand...

1. yes you can
2. It's supposed to, but it depends on which version MJ you get. The one I recently purchased through a MJ reseller doesn't work out the box on a mac and MJ puts a link on their website to upgrade the software, but it's nowhere to be found on the site. However, some of the new ones you order directly from the magicjack.com site work right out of the box. For now I use my MJ connected to my computer via VMWare Fusion...it's pretty inconvenient, but it works for now for what I need it to.
 
I just recently moved my magicjack from my wife's Vista laptop to my Mac Mini (running OS X 10.4.11).

Her game playing was way too interfering, and I don't play as much.

However, I noticed that the magicjack only works when you are logged-in under the account you installed it on (my installation only required plugging the magicjack into my Mac's USB port).

I'd like it to run whenever you switch to another account, but it does not.

I even tried starting the software in background mode, ala:
/Users/benyates/.magicJack/Softphone/magicJack.app/Contents/MacOS/magicJack -psn_0_7733249 &
which starts up two other processes - but still, phone goes dead when I switch to another user. Figure it is because the other two may not be in the background?

Any ideas?
 
ti99forever said:
I'd like it to run whenever you switch to another account, but it does not...
which starts up two other processes - but still, phone goes dead when I switch to another user. Figure it is because the other two may not be in the background? Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I've only run it on my BlackBook 2.4, so I can only imagine that it will only work on the account assigned to my adapter. :confused:
 
SFStateStudent said:
I've only run it on my BlackBook 2.4, so I can only imagine that it will only work on the account assigned to my adapter. :confused:
Click to expand...

I opened it under my wife's account, and it re-downloaded everything again! But now it works on both accounts...

Question I have is: On a Mac, would I really want to try to "optimize"? Would this download some Windows binary? Or would it replace files on the device (possibly with Windows binaries, etc) hosing it up.

Perhaps I should make a copy of it just in case something happens...
 
ti99forever said:
I opened it under my wife's account, and it re-downloaded everything again! But now it works on both accounts...
Question I have is: On a Mac, would I really want to try to "optimize"? Would this download some Windows binary? Or would it replace files on the device (possibly with Windows binaries, etc) hosing it up. Perhaps I should make a copy of it just in case something happens...
Click to expand...

That's totally cool! I'm considering getting a second MagicJack adapter for my wife, that way she can stop using mine 24/7. What kind of phone are you using on the road? B/C I'm interested in those phones that plug right into the computer w/USB adapters, but I'm not sure if they'll do the job.

Not too sure about the "optimize" question, but keep me advised on your progress. I can't believe how "clear" the phone calls have been, in comparison to my AT&T landline connection. :cool:
 
Need a Windows Computer to Make it Work on a Mac.

After escalation to a supposedly knowledgeable agent magicJack HELP service was stumped & threw me out without warning. Total waste of time. A sorry experience. Agent asked what I meant by my statement the ".exe files won't work on a Mac".
After I gave up trying, Google found a magicJack URL: “You must have your magicJack plugged into a Windows PC to download the MAC upgrade. Then you can plug your magicJack into your Mac. For requirements and/or ...” (http://www.magicjack.com/6/customercare.asp)
Never a previous hint that I’d need a PC to make magicjack work on my Mac. magicjack made the sale by using deceptive advertising.
I will return it today.
 
rob-o-Mac said:
After escalation to a supposedly knowledgeable agent magicJack HELP service was stumped & threw me out without warning. Total waste of time. A sorry experience. Agent asked what I meant by my statement the ".exe files won't work on a Mac".
After I gave up trying, Google found a magicJack URL: “You must have your magicJack plugged into a Windows PC to download the MAC upgrade. Then you can plug your magicJack into your Mac. For requirements and/or ...” (http://www.magicjack.com/6/customercare.asp)
Never a previous hint that I’d need a PC to make magicjack work on my Mac. magicjack made the sale by using deceptive advertising.
I will return it today.
Click to expand...

Actually, it is on the customer care home page, follow the Mac links to http://www.magicjack.com/1/mac.asp and follow the directions. The next page will either tell you to use a PC (for the upgrade) or not (for the update).
 
I'm wondering why people with "Intel Macs" are running into trouble setting-up their MagicJack? I just clicked the update/upgrade for Mac and it took about 15-30 seconds to make my first call. I never hooked-up to a PC 'cause I don't have a PC in my house; so, don't give up people! It's been a great device with my BlackBook 2.4 Penryn, and it worked on my MBA as well. :confused::cool:
 
MJ works like a charm here, not a big deal that it does not have a Canada area code. However for the price I cannot complain plus I can get a SIP local number, so that resolves that. :D

Happy thus far. taken some time to download the SW for MJ soft-phone however please at present.

Soon to try it under Vista. :p
 
Good to hear!^^^ I've gone out and hooked up my wife's Lifebook Fujitsu to test the compatibility with PC-Windows XP and it works like a charm as well. I've set-up a 2nd one that stays connected 24/7 at the house. It's easily transferred to my BlackBook or the wife's work PC Dell Inspiron 1520 with Windows XP. Haven't tried Vista yet. :cool:
 
I'm looking at this for our next phone service, but we're about to move. Does anyone know if the trial begins from the time they ship me the magicjack, or does it begin from the moment I activate it?

Thanks for the info!
 
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