VoIP Expert: Skype degrades my MacBook, so I'm switchin' to Gizmo

This is no newbie. We're talking Ted Wallingford here. Ted has written VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony and Switching to VoIP .

Ted's about fed up with Skype.  Doesn't seem to play well with his MacBook- even when  Skype isn't running.

Here's his story:

At first I really thought it was just me, but I’ve confirmed that my MacBook’s performance suffers significantly when Skype is running, even if it’s just sitting in the background. Many people have complained about this in the past but I wondered how much of the supposed performance degradations were reality versus FUD or old wives’ tales. So I’ve removed Skype from my startup items.

Performance isn’t the only reason, though. Gizmo does just about everything I need from Skype anyway, and a few things it doesn’t (hold music, free custom voicemail, etc.). Plus, very few of the contacts I rely on Skype for daily aren’t also in my Gizmo Project contact list. Plus, Gizmo really provides a value add by being a call target for Grand Central and by allowing my to place SIP-to-PSTN calls on my Gizmo account via a Nokia IP-enabled cell phone. There ya have it. Skype–Hasta la vista, baby.

Are any of you experiencing technical problems with Skype when you run it on your MacBook?