Phone-Accessories Reviews

- Very poor Image quality ..infact no image ..you need be very intutive to understand that it's your image.
- I wasted lot of time in installing the required drivers

Be smart don't go for this, even when it's given FREE !!!

I bought this camera primarily as an inexpensive security device for my apartment, and secondarily to take snapshots to send to various people. The camera is a complete disappointment.

1. Unless you have three or more high-wattage bulbs burning in the room, your picture quality will consist of lovely dim shadowy objects.

2. When you *do* succeed in making a snapshot, the image is either so tiny it does no good, or it is nearly as pixelized as an old Commomore 64c or Atari game. This is unsatisfactory for showing your Internet friends what you look like or showing your parents your new nose-ring.

3. The security function works...sort of. It takes pictures when it detects motion or on a set timed interval that you can vary (1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.), but working *with* the images after capture is frustrating. The program crashes randomly when trying to view the images within the program, and when viewed using Windows Explorer, for some reason the image quality suffers even more than usual. Occasionally, I would set the camera to watch the front door area overnight, and it would simply stop after about twenty minutes. No computer problems, no Windows problems. The program simply glitched...multiple times.

If you buy this camera, email me and I shall pray for your deliverance from its nasty impish ways.

Sláinte...

I was pleasantly surprised with quality of this camera. Picture quality is awesome. also display perfect skin tone. I've used quickcam, quickcamVC, logitechs,and Veo in the past. this one is the best one so far. I clicked on camera default button and picture turned all red and dark. but I went to advanced setting; set "AWB Speed" to "medium" and "Light Source" to "Overall". It's now back to normal. (give it 10 seconds to auto balance to work if you are using it with yahoo messenger)
I couldn't believe the reviews I was reading from amazon and circuit city that this camera is so bad. So I checked manufacturer website if they make different model. but this was only model they are making.
If you haven't returned your camera. give it another shot by downloading new software(4/17/03) or change the settings to the above. I'm switching all my existing web cams with this model.

I ended up returning this item because after many, many calls to tech support and numerous calls to my phone company, it was finally determined that my win modem wasn't compatible with this product...bummer!

I bought an HC3000 a few years ago, and I've never been online without it since then. there are a few kinks to it, but they most often stem from your telephone and internet provider or settings.

It always perfectly rings twice (and only twice...LOUDLY!) when someone is calling while online. It slows my connection for about 5 seconds during the ringing, but it's nothing to gripe about, you can only expect so much from a phone line at once. If you choose to answer it and talk for more than a few seconds you will lose your internet connection, but it does its job perfectly when it comes to not missing a call.

The only drawback (lost a star for this) is the lack of Call-Waiting-ID support it's supposed to have. I could never get it to show with the external box I bought, and the phone I have connected has CWCID as well. I'll be upgrading to the 4000 model with the built-in display box and see if that works with my setup.

compared to not having one of these, having to choose betweeen either disabling call waiting and giving every caller "the busy signal" or getting kicked offline when anyone calls, this is an essential accessory for any dial-up user.

BTW: The only difference between the 2000 and 3000 model is the added optional Call-Waiting Caller-ID feature of the 3K, and the color of the unit. both of them were sold at the same time, but the 3K was a bit more expensive than the 2K.

We've used the HotCall box for several years now & wouldn't be without it! Granted there are a few improvements that could be made (the ringer is LOUD with no volume control & only the phone connected to the box can answer, so if you're in another room R-U-N), but overall this product has served us well. Only occasionally am I knocked offline even after hanging up from an answered call within the 10 seconds allotted. I think that problem stems more from the telemarketer on the other line NOT disconnecting right away rather than from the HotCall box not reestablishing my web connection. We are constantly telling people about the box after getting a busy signal while they've been on the web. It's certainly worth the money we paid for it & cost us a lot less than a 2nd 'internet dedicated' phone line would run a month!

I threw these headphones away and bought the Bose noise-cancelling headphones.

After straining to hear my DVD player on my third plane trip, I finally got fed up with them. They where not "noise-cancelling" and sounded thin, tinny, and weak.

I wish I hadn't wasted money on these but am very happy with the much better-quality (and more expensive) Bose.

These headphones have weak, tinny sound and so-so noise cancellation. You can probably do better.

I've used these headphones for several years (several airplane trips per month) and have been satisfied with them. I've tried the Bose headphones and perhaps half a dozen others, and the Bose have been my favorite for overall comfort and sound quality. These Sony headphones do a reasonable job of cancelling low frequency sound and do a great job of making movies and audio on airplanes enjoyable vs. hard to hear. In addition, they fold into a compact package -- a plus for folks like me who try to minimize what we carry on travel. They do present a noticable high frequency hiss when you turn on noise cancelling, but after a few minutes I don't notice it. I'm hoping Sony or someone else comes up with a similar mechanical design but with better noise cancelling electronics.

This was by far the worst headset I have ever used. The battery would constantly die, and would take 6-8 hours to charge. I could figure I would have use of the headset every two days.

This unit was easy to connect to our two line phone and configure for compatibility with the phone.

But, its sound quality was poor. People I was speaking with complained of lots of static during the call.

Another problem with this product is that its performance is sensitive to the location of the headset with respect to the base unit. When I was 20 feet from the base unit, a motion of 4 or 5 inches meant the difference between a *VERY* static connection and a clear connection.

Overall, we did not like this product and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Considering similar products from Plantronics are many times the price, this is a great deal if you want a starter headset. I admit I was ready to toss mine after having problems with the microphone cutting out during conversations, but I finally figured out I had to turn up the microphone volume using the tiny control on the left side of the unit. It's been working consistently since. The factory must set this control to 0, resulting in bad "out-of-box" experiences for many people.

Easy to switch from computer to phone connection sound by picking up the phone handset and placing it on the pad. Also very handy for a cubicle environment when you want to listen to online media without bothering your neighbor. I got the microphone to work with the PC by not following the color codings on the cable (I plugged the blue cable connector into the orange microphone input on the PC instead of the line in).

So, a couple of gotchas that you might not encounter if you read the manual first (can't find it anymore) but the real value here is the price. Good starter system for a cubicle worker.

Sleek design, nice colors, practical mute button and in-line volume control as well as two jacks. But I plugged this thing into my laptop and even with all volume controls maxed out, I could hear someone humming in the room. Where is all that powerful sound they were braggin' about ? Maybe that's just me. The other flagrant thing is that the rigid behind-the-head thing is way too wide for me eventhough I have a big head. Hence the headset will slide to rest on the back of your neck with the microphone poiting to the ceiling. Gets on my nerves.

This headset has really good sound on the mic and also on the headset. But it's very uncomfortable to use. It's always slipping because the headset is not adjustable. I returned mine for a .90 Plantronics model.

I got this headset for Chrsitmas, and I have not been dissapointed.
I use this headset for gaming, because I play counter-strike. I must say that the behind-the-head design is very comfy, even though
I have a smaller head. I have had this headset for over three months, adn I must say that they are not damaged at all. Just try to avoid crushing the headset! In my experiance, the microphone works very well, and the sound is great. This product is a great bang for your buck!
I give this product 4 stars because of one flaw.. If you bump the mute control where the volume is, it is likely that the volume will change drastically by getting caught on your chair. This has happened many times in my experiance, but overall I highly recommend this headset, and I think that it is well worth the price.

Oops! One would expect by looking at the photo of this phone that it would rest in the charger when not in use. Wrong! According to Panasonic the charger is only for charging a completely dead phone. If you rest them in their chargers instead of letting the battery completely discharge, the battery will die a very early death.

Very poor functionally. Panasonic says that you cannot change the type of battery that is used. Their suggestion is to buy new phones that have different batteries. Crazy!
Costco just started carrying these phones. There will be millions of expensive headaches!
PS When our phones went dead Panasonic's batteries were on back order.

The rechargable battery in this handset WILL develop a memory and become unusable during the warrenty period. Panasonic claims the battery in this handset is an "Accessory" and not covered under the warrenty. And, they say "sorry" but they can not help. Interestly, they do cover some batteries in other handsets.

My suggestion is NOT so buy products from a company where the usage of the product causes a problem they do not cover. If you are willing to replace the battery yourself every 3 - 6 months of use, it is probably a good handset.

Personally, I will not buy another Panasonic product.

A nice system overall, but not nearly perfect. We purchased a set of these to replace our burnt out Siemens Gigaset 2402 system. While we were happy to have something that worked (the Siemens system had died a slow death over about a year and ultimately became unusable after a little over two years of use) the features and design of this system leave much to be desired. Numerous minor inconveniences and awkwardnesses make these phones less than they could be--nothing major, and perhaps only noticeable when compared with the excellently designed Siemens phones (really nothing more than the difference between Japanese and German design).

Two features stand out in comparison with our retired Siemens phones, one negative and one positive. On the positive side, these phones support detection of voice messages on an existing message system, so that it is easy to see from any handset whether there are unplayed messages on either line. On the negative side, the system does not support handset naming. We imagined this would be a minor inconvenience when we bought the phones, but it has proved to be a major drawback: there's simply no way to get the entire family to learn what number goes with what phone. When we had the Siemens system, which supports handset naming, the we had a working intercom system (not to mention convenient transfers of calls); now we're back to shouting.

The headset is lightweight and sits in the ear nicely. The volume is also reasonable BUT (here's the big BUT!) I'm rather annoyed that people can hardly hear me at the other end! Don't waste your money on this - perhaps one of those with mic booms coming right to your mouth is still the better ones to go with.

At first I was pleased with this headset. The sound quality was better than my previous one and it had the advantage of two options for fitting it to your ear. But it gave me problems from the start. The 2 gel adaptors provided are easily lost and it was not comfortable to wear. The mic silencer would often get turned on unintentionally. Finally it just stopped working entirely. I'd like to get my money back for a flawed product.

This hands free is very good, i used it for a lot of time and work very well, the sound is very crear, at both ends, I use it with my cell phone and whit my wireless phone at home.

I plugged it into the Macintosh. I selected it in the Control Panel. It worked the very first time. I have not loaded any software.

Been using this on Win2K machine for over a year. Does pretty good job for voice recognition in Dragon, and it's not the most expensive USB headset. Recognition with this is definitely better than analog (non-USB) headset going thru a soundcard. Only drag is that the Plantronics software is not up to snuff -- fairs poorly in comparison to the headset (which is of pretty good quality). I initially had trouble getting the software to recognize the headset at all, and Plantronics support was unhelpful -- as mentioned elsewhere their knee-jerk response is that "it must be your fault, go away." Have overcome their software problems by ignoring their configuation software and just setting up in target application (e.g., in Dragon).

So sorry to hear all the bad reviews from PC users. On a Mac (as usual) you simply plug it in and it's available for whatever software you're using. The DSP-300 ($...) has 2 earpieces which is obviously much better for music, but if you're using this for video conferencing or speech programs this is a great deal for $...

The Coby CV190 barely cancels out any noise at all. I checked it in front of my refrigerator, dish washer and took it on a long flight and watched a movie with it. I got it for cheap, but I will return it.

The package (pouch, 2-pin plug, battery) is a nice touch, but what good is it if it does not work.

Just a note that the CV-190 is not an "active noise cancelling" headphone. There are no electronics to reduce ambient noise, just the physical mass of the headphones themselves.

CV-190
DIGITAL NOISE CANCELING STEREO HEADPHONES with SWIVEL EAR CUPS

Professional Digital Quality Sound
Powerful Neodymium Drivers for Super Bass Sound
Noise Reduction Level: 12 dB at 300 Hz
Extra Padded Earcups and Adjustable Headband
Single-sided Cord with Gold-plated 3.5mm Stereo Plug
Dual-Plug Adapter for airplane
Blister Packaging

Yes, you could spurge on the Philips HN100
ASIN: B0000UUXB6 (requires one AAA battery) (made in Red China)
or the even more expensive (and LESS padded) Sennheiser HDC451
ASIN: B00005TSKJ (requires two AA batteries) (made in Germany);
nevertheless, you could instead order one or two Coby CV190 and
still have money left over that you would not have when buying
either the HN100 or the HDC451.
Admittedly, the Coby HAS to have been made in a sweatshop to be
available at such a low retail cost... Fuggedabout a UNION shop.

I rated the Coby only 4 stars rather than the possible 5 because
the Philips (model HDC451, ASIN: B0000UUXB6) is better-built and
is affordable (4x the cost, though). To the Philips I would give
five stars (never mind that the country of origin, China, has a
track record of abysmal "human rights").

The Sennheiser box (cardboard outside the blister packaging) has
a claim or boast that their HDC451 has modular or replaceable
parts; nevertheless, since theirs costs OVER 100 smackers, and
since their DESIGN (no plush, deep, cushioned earpads, just foam)
sucks (except for the electronic circuitry, which surpasses ALL
other brands w/o exception), there is no point in initially se-
lecting the HDC451 over either the HN100 or the reviewed CV190.
By the way, I went to the Sennheiser website, and they haven't a
second Active Noise Cancelling headphone to offer those who want
their electronics but with a really thick doughnut ear cushion.

Hope this info helps; vote your feedback, please.

Unfortunately, I disregarded the pervious reviewer and purchased this product anyway. It is very noisy (heavy hissing)--totally unacceptable. I'm highly disappointed in Koss.

Granted the product is very cheap, but I decided to try it out. It is pretty noisy, about like a old cassette tape with no dolby. If you listen to rock and pop, you probably won't notice it that much. The 3 eq bands do what they should and help warm up the the smaller ear buds and phones.

I disagree with two of the people who have nothing good to say about this equalizer, and understand that they may be expecting it to match the performance of extremely high quality audio equipment -- which won't need it anyway.

This equalizer is extremely useful if you are trying to listen to -- say -- tapes of old time radio, shortwave broadcasts, or noisy AM signals. You can reduce harshness, improve bass response, and reduce noise effects.

However, it does have some limitations, related to its low price. At $20 retail price, such a helpful and flexible gadget will not have perfect audio performance, and it doesn't. There is a SLIGHT hiss audible at all times, apparently intrinsic in the audio chip used for the headphone amp. The hiss is introduced after the volume control; it's there all the time. Depending on the input voltage of the device to which it's connected, the hiss can be as loud as -30 dB, or as soft as -50 dB or lower; and it is predominantly a very bright hissing. So extremely efficient, bright headphones may exaggerate it. I hope Koss improves this device in a future model; but for low fidelity source material, and with phones that are not extremely bright, the hiss introduced by this device is MUCH, much lower than the hiss intrinsic in a tape, radio broadcast, or old recording and will quickly be ignored. If, however, you are hooking this to a CD player to listen with excellent phones to wideband digital recordings, you'll notice the hiss -- and be annoyed, depending on your sensibilities.

I am glad I purchased one. My intended use was to listen to cassettes of old time radio shows. Many of the commercial tapes are not well corrected and sound extremely harsh and thin; this equalizer fixes that quite nicely. The bands are well chosen to have an aural effect where poor recordings have flaws.

For background: I am a retired audio engineer with three decades in broadcasting and recording, and an enthusiast of OTR and recordings of old classic performances of music from the fifties back to the twenties, many of which NEED help that this equalizer can provide.