43 as a VoIP device

[RFK]

I'm curious how effective the 43 has been as a VoIP device for people.

I'm especially interested if there's a speaker at the top of the screen (i.e. where an earpiece would be), and if there is, is it suitable for using as a handheld phone? Or are there issues - is it too loud? Can everyone around you hear the person at the other end?

I'm sure it works great with a bluetooth headset, but I'm trying to avoid fumbling around with an extra device or with a wired earbud/microphone combo if I can avoid it.

[Greg_e]

I have not tried this yet, but basically the 43 has the same form factor as a Droid X, speaker at one end, microphone at the other and is the same basic size as most smart phones.

[Greg_e]

I just tested the skype system test and it worked OK but certainly not going to win any sound quality awards. A bluetooth headset would make it much nicer.

[RFK]

I just tested the skype system test and it worked OK but certainly not going to win any sound quality awards. A bluetooth headset would make it much nicer.

Thanks for checking! Much appreciated.

Can you tell me, did the speaker behave like the speaker in the earpiece of the phone? Compared to, say, putting a regular phone into speakerphone mode.

Do you know if that's the only speaker in the phone? I've seen a diagram in a review somewhere that suggests there's a speaker right beside the microphone. Which would be annoying.

[hgushee]

There are 2 speakers -- one at the top works as a ear speaker on a phone, one at the bottom (near the microphone) works to output music, video, and game sound. No stereo. Skype works like a phone.

[dmchssc]

I just set up Sipdroid with my Google Voice account today on my 43. The sound quality is pretty good, but the people on the other end said that they could hear an echo of themselves unless I had the ear speaker at low volume. Like Greg_e said, it would work nicer with a bluetooth headset.

Since the Google Voice app doesn't show up in the Market for tablets without their own phone numbers, I had to download a .apk from 4shared. To get the app to install, you have to use a real phone number to confirm (I just used my real cell phone's number), but it doesn't matter that the 43 isn't actually the device with the number. Then, it gets into an endless loop when it's checking for voicemail settings, but rebooting the 43 and re-running the app lets you bypass voicemail set-up. Once you get Google Voice all set up, it works perfectly as an SMS messaging program. To get actual calling capabilities, you need to install Sipdroid and use the automatic GV configuration, but that part is relatively easy. Sipdroid can be found in the market, and there's a button at the bottom of its default screen that lets you configure it for Google Voice.

[RFK]

There are 2 speakers -- one at the top works as a ear speaker on a phone, one at the bottom (near the microphone) works to output music, video, and game sound. No stereo. Skype works like a phone.

Nice. That might just seal the deal for me. I'm glad I asked on the forums here - I called Archos directly and chatted with someone in technical support, who told me that it was a regular speaker and wouldn't work, but I was skeptical of that answer. Thanks for your help.

[RFK]

I just set up Sipdroid with my Google Voice account today on my 43. The sound quality is pretty good, but the people on the other end said that they could hear an echo of themselves unless I had the ear speaker at low volume. Like Greg_e said, it would work nicer with a bluetooth headset.

Hm, good to know. The important thing is that I'll have options either way.

I've been playing with CSipSimple on my HTC Evo Shift 4G (which I'm thinking about re-selling on eBay since no service provider up here will activate it, and replacing it with the 43, thus my questions) via voip.ms. So far the results have been pretty decent - much better than the results I got with Skype.

[tmc]

Using wifi, there can be a 100ms delay.. maybe more if you use bluetooth

[racky]

After a few upgrades of the FW and the program of Sipdroid, the top speaker is no longer have sound. Doesn't anybody have the same problem or just me?

[Greg_e]

There is only one speaker in the 43it

[racky]

There is only one speaker in the 43it

That is not true. Read further up. It did have sound before.

[Greg_e]

If you check the specifications, the only device with stereo speakers is the 70, I'm certain that if the 43 had stereo speakers that feature would be listed. The 43 has a single speaker in what would be the bottom of the device, there is a microphone in what would be the top of the device so if you hold it upside down, you get a wifi based communications device. I did a test with Skype and it seemed to work like this, but haven't really used it and now I'm fighting with support to try and get a refund because I feel they lack the commitment to make it actually work after now 4 weeks of trying to get it sent back to them.

Scroll down to miscellaneous:
http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archo ... us&lang=en
and do the same for the 70:
http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archo ... us&lang=en

Notice the singular speaker on the 43, and the plural speakers on the 70.

[Greg_e]

Just to prove I'm not being a dick head... go here:
http://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid/
Type in SOV (all letters) in the first box and 8300 (all numbers) in the second box and click search. Click the detail link, then the internal photos and you will clearly see a single microphone at the top and a speaker at the bottom.

[racky]

If you read the whole thread, then you know we are not talking about 2 stereo speakers. We are talking about one ear speaker for voice just like our phones, which is at the top, and one speaker for music and sound, which is at the bottom. The microphone is NOT at the top according to the manual, it is next to the speaker at the bottom, check the manual, it is #6 at the ARCHOS description. And the 5th post on this thread has also confirmed that.

http://www.archos.com/manuals/A43_EN_v1 ... 1294043976

Even though the manual doesn't say what is the hole at the top for, but after I talked to the tech support at Archos, they did say it is a ear speaker, NOT MICROPHONE. and they gave me a RMA to send it back. As I said, it did have sound before.
If your A43 doesn't have sound from the ear speaker, that means yours is broken too. Then it will give you one more reasons to send it back for a refund.

[racky]

Just to prove I'm not being a dick head... go here:
http://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid/
Type in SOV (all letters) in the first box and 8300 (all numbers) in the second box and click search. Click the detail link, then the internal photos and you will clearly see a single microphone at the top and a speaker at the bottom.

Nice found, but the photos still do not confirm whether it is a microphone or ear speaker. And if you look at the last photo, you can also see the microphone on the left hand side of the device as the manual said.
Anyway, thanks for your response.
I don't know why nobody else say anything. It is quite useful when you are travelling oversea and need to call your family for free.

[Greg_e]

OK, I did more digging and you were right about the speakers... The instruction manual only shows one speaker and shows the microphone down in the bottom next to the speaker. A quick test with the sound recorder proves the microphone is down near the bottom, and the upper device really is a speaker, but mine no longer works. I have updated the firmware to the latest and still no upper speaker. So if you return yours, and the speaker works with the latest firmware, I may jump through the RMA hoops and send mine back. Since I don't really care about the speakers I may not as long as other things keep working. Just as I thought the latest firmware fixed my previous issues (at least for now) which proves support is not very knowledgeable about their own products and what development may or may not be fixing.

[MisterTickle]

well, i have searched up apps in the android marketplace. it seems that the apps are either very very poorly built meaning poor sound/ voice quality or that they charge a fee. i have tried to find a free internet calling app, but was unsuccessful. however, if you are not worried about price, then i suggest you look at the comments and see what others have to say. right now, i am avoiding voip apps.

[racky]

I finally got my RMA A43 back. They replaced it with a brand new one and also came with all the accessories, including a wall charger which I didn't have from my old package. The new A43 came with the older but more stable FW 2.1.08. I am not going to change it. Now the ear speaker is working, and working very well as a VOIP. You just hold it like a phone and it works that way. If you are going to send yours back, do expect a whole month of waiting. But for me, a $5 postage and a month of waiting is definitely worth it. I travel oversea a lot, and this feature is very important for me

[Greg_e]

I'm just living with the dead speaker, my music plays fine through Bluetooth and that's all I really care about right now. I may put the SDK on mine and roll it back to 2.0.74 and see what happens.