Poor vision, dangerous software
Written: Dec 07 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick delivery, inexpensive, simple to install
Cons: Poor image, poor color, poor focus, and dangerous uninstall of software.
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| TDC's Full Review: IBM PC Camera Webcam |
We got what we paid for, a cheap camera and something we didn't, dangerous software.
Background: We have a large family (7 children in 5 cities and 13 grandchildren). Video conferencing offers some real advantages as we are stretched from Dallas to the UP of Michigan to the low country of South Carolina to the mountains around Denver. We are a family who uses e-mail almost daily.
The deal: AOL offered a two-for-one sale on the IBM PC Camera for a reasonable amount after a $20.00 rebate. It arrived at light speed. Two days after placing the order it was on my door step.
Installation: Installation was easy and the software seemed complete.
Hardware Installed on:
Gateway Performance 866 with 128megs of ram
NIVDA DDR with 32megs of video ram
Display FPD1500
Software:
Windows 98SE
SoundBlaster Live
The result: Hardware seemed robust and mounting was easy. The quality of the camera image left a lot to be considered. The image was fuzzy and lighting was extremely critical. No matter what we tried, we could not focus it. We are somewhat computer literate and I am an engineer, we usually don't have issues like this. My wife and two of our daughters could not get it to focus nor could they deal with the light issue any more than I could. We found that placing a light bar at keyboard level gave the best results. We had to close the blinds, and turn off the overhead light. No matter what we did, nothing worked well enough to see the image clearly for more than a few seconds. Any movement and the image became distorted and color dissolved.
The upside:
- Delivery speed was incredible
- We got an image
- Software was easy to use
- Installation was simple
The downside:
- It was hard to determine whom the image was of
- Focus was not achievable
- Light requirements were never fully understood or achieved.
We returned both cameras for credit.
The Warning: Uninstalling the software. I do not believe in software piracy and if I return something it is my responsibility to remove it. When we used "remove software" (uninstall), it also removed all basic windows audio drivers. We have tried to restore the drivers with the help of Gateway, Microsoft and IBM. The only offered solution is to back up the computer and reinstall windows from scratch. Any software program that gets upside down with the operating system should not be on the market. I put this out as a warning to potential users of this system.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
TDC
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Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
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