The Philips VoIP841 allows you to make calls both via your regular and line or, if you'd prefer, via Skype, without even needing to switch on your PC.

It's been a a fair while coming, but "digital home" buying advice website Hexus.lifestyle have managed to get their hands on one this week. The timing's great, as from March 8th Skype will be offering a combo of the VoIP841 phone and the VoIP080 phone (a corded phone that you plug into your PC) in the UK and Continental Europe for just £129 / E179.

Hexus' extensive 4-page long benchmarking test really gives the phone a good going over, covering every aspect from setup, through ease of use, to call and build quality. The verdict?

"Our take on the Philips phone is hugely positive-  almost worryingly so because we're thinking we must have missed some flaw or other."

A Hexus Media Recommendation duly comes Philips' way!

For those not familiar with the VoIP841, Skypegear took a look at it a couple of months back in a fair bit of detail as well, and we liked its build quality and ease of use, as well as the fact you don't have to have a PC in order to use it. In fact, Estonians are so proud of the VoIP841 that Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip gave the US President one as a gift on his official State visit back in November!

I'll leave you with more from Hexus' review...  

...the bottom line is that the VOIP841 is a genuinely excellent product. It's exceeded our hopes for it and we can whole-heartedly recommend the phone to you.

If you like Skype, want to take full advantage of it at home (or in the office) and don't want to have yet another phone cluttering up the place in addition to a DECT handset, then we'd be deeply shocked if you splashed out on a Philips VOIP841 and then ended up being any less delighted than we are with the phone.

The VoIP841 is available in the US through retailers such as shop.com for around $199.99.

As mentioned from the 8th March in the UK and Continental Europe it is available as part of a package with Philips' VoIP080 handset, for a reduced price of E179/£129 (combined retail price is E234/£154).

The idea here is that you use the cordless VoIP841 as your main phone, and then the VoIP080 handset, which has to be attached to your PC, can be used when you're around the computer. Perfect for a study/living room combination for example.