I can call home now!

Yeay!

I just bought Skype credit of USD 10 which showed SGD 13.58 in my bank transaction history. And I tested with a faulty headset at home. Called the home phone and my brother answered. It was so exciting, like calling home through the computer. HAHA. I could hear him but he couldn't hear me, so it's the microphone. Thus we threw the headset away. Now I have to hunt for a reliable headset.

Oh in fact the quality was quite clear! Superbo!

Skype's really easy to use once you get the hang of it.

SMS's really expensive. I'll use StarHub and SingTel's free Internet SMS to contact people at home!


Uh what I meant is that you can't reply to the SMS I send to you by Skype.

So here's my usage and its costs.


Rates: SMS, International long distance, Connection.

It's gonna be so much cheaper! Skype's website stated that it's per minute but when I calculate it seems to be pro-rated. And without VAT too. Weird.

So it's just that when I call home I have to have my computer with me. Plus wireless. Else...use StarHub GlobalRoam *108*. That's expensive!

I can make video calls thru Skype too! Means I have to hunt for a headset with mic + two webcams, one for brother's comp and one for myself. Can video call using MSN too. Yeay~

Calling home

One thing that I'm required to do at LA is to call home.

So as to reduce my parents' worry for me.

At Italy last year I called everyday and can chat with my parents for minutes and oh-my-god my bills.

I have to find a much cheaper solution now. Plus, I will be having a laptop this time which may make things simpler.

I can call from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Singapore time, which means 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day in LA. Erm. So I guess it'll be in the daytime at home when I call.

I'll probably just use MSN, which means I can only call home when my brother is online because my parents don't know any MSN. I can use SingTel Internet SMS to text my bro to come online, so that I can talk to my family. This would be totally free. However this will mean that I may be unable to call 'cos of time zone differences and there are times when my brother has to work the whole day. I won't be able to do reporting when I'm travelling/away from my laptop.

If I'm stupid enough I'll use Starhub International Roaming which will cost me SGD3.50/min. I'm soooooo not gonna subscribe to that.

I used StarHub's GlobalRoam *108* when I was in Italy. The rate was SGD 1.50/min (the quality is supposedly poorer than Int. Roaming but it is good enough) and it's the same for calling from the US! *faints* I'll be there for like 7 weeks and oh-my-god-again the bills. SMSes are at SGD 0.60. I guess I'll only use this when I won't be able to connect to the internet, for e.g. when I'm travelling, when I reach Bangkok and LA, when I leave Bangkok and LA. Gotta check if we need to pay for wireless at the airports. I can expect a voucher from StarHub again.

I was thinking I'll probably get a prepaid line in the US. The returned students told us that you can actually get a prepaid line and it comes with a free Motorola disposable phone. I don't know how disposable is disposable but oh well. I searched AT&T because it's the only telco I know (read: American Idol). But I didn't find anything relevant at the site. I'm actually interested in how the phone will look like and feel like getting one for the fun of it. The returned students advised us against getting it. We'll see how cheap (or expensive) it is.

And next, Skype. I am rather alien to this program. My problem now is I have to pay to call mobile phones and landlines and I'm not comfortable with paying up but aiya. I'll talk to my family about this. The rates are actually quite cheap compared to my other options, I'm just worried about the extra fees. Calling Singapore landlines/mobile is USD 0.024/min with value-added tax (VAT). Which means it's about SGD 0.033/min. And I have to pay a connection fee with every call. That is USD 0.045 after VAT which is SGD 0.0612. That's very cheap compared to my other options. I have to buy prepaid credit and that's USD 10. Let's say I make a call for every of the 49 (minus travelling time) days, that's USD 2.205. I'm left with USD 7.795 and that's about 6 to 7 minutes' worth of talktime per day. That should be enough.

I'll most probably use Skype la. Will talk to bro about this.