Asus Aiguru SV1T

The Asus SV1T is a video phone for making Skype calls over the internet.

Normally making Skype calls requires both an internet connection and a computer, but using the SV1T you can skip the computer part, though you’ll still need a broadband connection.

It’s an odd-looking device, though better designed than most video phones, which stands about 10 inches off the desk. Its mount allows the screen section, which also houses the camera and microphone, to be tilted a little.

The large screen was bright and clear, and it’s touch-sensitive so you can control it by touching as well as by using the physical buttons below.

Setup was quite easy. It can connect to both wired and wireless networks, and unlike on many small devices, setting up a wireless connection was simple because of the on-screen keyboard that you can type on by touching – it was much easier than scrolling through the keyboard using the buttons.

Once you’re logged into Skype you can access your contacts and make or receive calls. Note that you can’t use Skype’s text-messaging functions, and if you don’t already have an account you’ll have to set one up on the computer, as you can’t do that directly on the SV1T.

Using it was also quite easy, with big, colourful, easy-to-understand buttons. One major annoyance, though, was that the contact list doesn’t easily show who’s online in their own category – if you want to see which of your contacts are online you have to manually scroll through the entire list.

Sound quality was excellent and video quality fine, though video is dependent on your internet connection and your correspondent’s. The built-in microphone can pick up a voice from across the room or you can plug in your own headphone and microphone.

Although this product can have an internal battery, the version on sale in the UK doesn’t, and if you leave it unplugged for more than a few minutes it will lose all of your settings including call history and wireless network configuration, which is a huge annoyance.

The Asus Aiguru SV1T is an impressive device but it’s let down by a couple of flaws – at this price we would have expected it to be perfect.