I have the original design for the pipeless skimmer from CADlights. While it certainly works, I would suggest that you avoid it.
The original design is extremely touchy to adjust the water level inside the skimmer, and depending on the water level in the sump chamber that you have it in, the upper body has a tendency to float, which screws up the touchy adjustments that you just made to the water level.
Also, the pumps that they put into these skimmers are Chinese made and relatively inexpensive (in other words, cheap). That's not necessarily an indictment of CADlights - lots of lower end skimmer manufacturers use no-name Chinese needle wheel pumps. But I had to get CADlights to replace my pump within a couple of months of putting it into operation, and the replacement is now making a lot of noise, so I'm not expecting it to last all that long.
If you would like a budget skimmer that still gives you an extremely high quality pump, take a look at Seaside Aquatics - they take a Bubble Magus skimmer body (Chinese), and substitute an extremely high-quality Sicce needle wheel skimmer pump:
http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=216
Be aware, though, that they also sell Bubble Magus skimmers with the original equipment Chinese "Atman" pump - just be sure of what you're ordering.