Wireless cameras, HDMI switchers, VoIP phone
Geeks.com were very generous to send us over three of their computer store's gadgets for a review. We get to test a wireless dual camera kit, an HDMI video switcher and a VoIP USB phone. Read on for more.
* 2.4GHz Wireless Dual Camera Kit w/2.5" LCD Wireless Receiver
If you have a baby, you certainly need a baby monitor. But even if you don't, this wireless camera kit is able to offer you a glimpse of what's going on in your home or office, at a radius of 100 meters. The product consists of two wireless cameras with antennas and built-in microphones, a receiver with a color screen, an RCA cable, 3 chargers, car charger and earbuds.
The receiver has a kick-stand, a handstrap, ability to put it to sleep, select one of the 4 available "channels", change saturation, brightness and contrast to the screen, A/V in and out, and a headphone jack. We found that using its internal battery we could operate it for 3 hours before it needed recharging. The screen quality is very good at 480x234. Walking around with the receiver we were able to receive the 2.4Ghz signal at a practical effective radius of about 30-40 meters.
The wireless cameras can adjust their position, be turned on and off and be placed steadily at unlikely positions inside a room. They are not easy to hide -- if that's an intended usage-- but they are not obtrusive either. We had a major problem with one of the two cameras though. When we first took the first camera out of its box, we connected it to the included power supply and turned it ON, a small fire came out of it. At first we were afraid to touch it, but it was obvious at that point that the camera was immediately dead, so we unplugged it and had a look at it. There was a smell of "burning" coming out of it, and turning on/off the camera from that point on did not do any good. The camera was obviously burned and quite possibly it was a grounding issue (although many many devices we tried at that same wall plug never had a problem). The second camera that comes with the kit did NOT have the problem, but then again, we decided to not turn it ON while charging. If we had done so, we might have experienced the same problem but we are not sure we want to try...
Honestly, for a "baby monitor" this product seemed a bit dangerous. I am not sure I want it charging (or even operate) on the same room as my baby. Other than that though, this is one of the most good looking and functional products in the market for the price, so the choice is yours. Besides, the specific box we received might have just been a bad batch (it happens), but still.
Rating: 5/10
* VoIP/Skype USB Phone with LCD Display (Red)
Skype, IM voice and SIP/Gizmo are very popular these days and so this USB headset can save the day for many users. When using normal speakers and external microphone on a voice chat, there is a lot of echo generated from the speakers. Using this headset is eliminating the problem. The headset can ring and has a keypad to dial VoIP numbers in it, but unfortunately that part only works with Windows with Skype, and with Windows' GizmoProject only after using this driver. However, the basic operation of the headset (without the extra buttons working), worked with Linux. On Mac OS X Tiger the OS was able to load the right driver for the headset's internal sound card, and you could use it as external headphone, but the microphone part didn't work (we had to use the Powerbook's internal microphone instead). We had no way to test this with OSX Leopard at this time. Except the echo cancellation there is noise reduction and full duplex support. Under Windows only there is also a selection of ringer styles, a caller ID function of VoIP calls and memory for 199 incoming calls and 199 dialed numbers. This is one of the better VoIP USB handsets in the market, so go for it.
Rating: 8/10
* Oricore SW515 3-to-1 HDMI Video Switch w/Remote & Cable
Being a fan of video and multimedia, this product is one of our favorites. It has a 3 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output that connects to the TV. Using its elegant and easy to use mini-remote you can switch between devices and use multiple of them, even if your TV only has a single HDMI input. We tested our 1080p upscaling DVD player, our HD-DVD and our Blu-Ray PS3 with it and we got outstanding results. We saw no drop in visual quality or audio. The switcher supports up to 1080p resolution, but its two main features is the fact that it's HDMI 1.3 compliant (one of the few in the market that are), and it also supports HDCP (although this was not listed among the feature bullet list, it was mentioned in the manual as being "compatible with HDCP devices"). HDCP is important, as some devices will just refuse to serve their content to the TV without it. One of these devices is the AppleTV. Anyway, at just $35, this is a steal and a must-have gadget in a modern living room.
Rating: 10/10