Pros: Fast frame rates, affordable, fine picture, good audio, no charges or fees, easy set up.
Cons: No video input, no volume control on the speaker-phone.
The Bottom Line: If you live away from family and friends or significant other, you will really use this videophone. Even the company I work wants one for the conference room.
mallman's Full Review: D-link DVC-2000 i2eye Video Conference
This is the 4th videophone I've owned since 1991 but the only one that used broadband instead of dial-up phone lines. You should know that I live in Guam USA and my family lives in Connecticut and I have always wanted to be able to see their children grow up and vice versa. Because Guam is almost half way around the world from the east coast (just 3 hours from Japan) getting home on a regular basis isn't practical. So now you know that my situation was a real test of the abilities of the dlink dvc-2000. Needless to say the dial-up videophones that came before the dvc-2000 were virtually useless and never worked. As far as the setup of the dlink is concerned, it was quite fast. The videophones on screen prompts and the comprehensive instruction manual made setup easy. Both parties must have either DSL, cable or any other high speed internet connection. The frames per second sending and receiving of video was 25 fps from Guam to Connecticut which was great. There was no delay at all. The voice and lip movement were the same. The audio quality was very good with the handset but there was a little echo when using the speaker-phone. The speaker-phones microphone was sensitive enough. There is a switch on the handset that doesn't seem to do anything. It isn't mentioned in the instruction book. There are two unmarked buttons on the phone itself that don't seem to do anything and are also not mentioned in the book. The screen quality was bright and adjustable 4 or 5 ways including brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. The screen and lens are both tilt-able and the lens rotates to focus. The phone is mostly black plastic but it does not cheapen the appearance. It would look fine in your best room. Another benefit is that there are no monthly fees or charges when you call someone who has one of these videophones. My brother and sister already have broadband so every time we talk on the dlink dvc-2000 we save long distance charges. Of course there are privacy buttons if you want to just talk and you don't want the caller to see you. There are RCA type audio and video outputs but no inputs except for a telephone line so that you can use it like a regular telephone too. I haven't tried it but I don't think hooking up the video output to your 26 inch TV would look very good. The image would be too degraded. But on the 5 inch videophone screen it looks just fine. When someone calls you from another videophone their name is displayed on your screen while the phone rings. You can store up to 50 names in the electronic directory and dial the one you want by simply pressing a single button. Connection is immediate (as soon as the other party picks up the handset or pushes their speaker-phone button). Other companies such as Motorola also make videophones but they are twice the price plus you have to pay Motorola a monthly fee. Not so with the dlink. It comes with a one year warranty and support telephone numbers. They even have a number you can call with your videophone to see if yours is working right. In summary I am very pleased with the dlink dvc-2000 and I will be buying more of them for family and friends. I only wish it had a video input so that I could hook up one of my security cameras to it and be able to show different things like the kids playing in the backyard etc. without having to move the entire phone and the attached cable and power cords. Also a volume control for the speaker-phone would be nice. Small complaints when compared to being able to "see" my family this Thanksgiving and Christmas without having to spend many days traveling thousands of miles. Thanks dlink for a fine product. Even my brother who is a software developer in the telecommunications industry was quite impressed. Two thumbs up.
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