Look Ma! I'm Orange! Ouch! That claw hurts!
Written: May 14 '02 (Updated May 14 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap
Cons: Terrible drivers, poor software, bad image quality
The Bottom Line: The Claw, or was that the Flaw? Where did they put my drivers? Why do I look so orange?
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| CreamChief's Full Review: Irez Ice Web Cam |
After browsing through the whole driver CD, I thought perhaps I had missed a second CD in the box. Uh, no, there is just one. The only sort of readme file on the CD warns against installing software meant for their other products since they put it all on the same CD. This warning is not for the safety of your computer - it is because you did not pay for the other software when you bought this camera.
On top of that, the software for the various products are in oddly named directories that apparently match the various iREZ products. By process of elimination I sort of figured out which one was for this camera, but I am still a bit confused if the other iREZ USB software on the CD is supposed to work with this webcam. It did not work on W2K, anyway, when I tried that.
The Software and Drivers
Okay, so where is the $250 worth of "free" included software then? Oh well, it does not really matter. None of it is particularly interesting - just the standard fare, iVisit, a graphics program, etc.
The most bizarre part of the whole software/driver situation is that there is a stand-alone exe that is used to view the output from the camera. It is also the only way that I could find anywhere to change camera settings like exposure and saturation.
One would think that the device driver for the webcam would provide those settings, wouldn't one? Well, they are not there. That makes this camera almost useless in programs like NetMeeting unless you are content with having the same camera settings all of the time.
"Oh, but I will just run the little iREZ software tool to change the settings while I am running NetMeeting," you think. Ha! How could you forget that only one program can access the camera at the same time? That means, shut down NetMeeting, run the iREZ viewer, change the settings, and start up NetMeeting again.
The driver installation is a manual deal. Once the USB device is detected, browse for the driver. Don't forget to pick the right one!
There is no setup program on the CD - neither for the driver nor for any of the included software. This is not a product for the computer novice. If your parents cannot set the clock on the VCR, then there is no chance in the world they will get this thing running.
Image Quality
Uh, image quality? That was a bad title for this section. It implies that there actually is image quality. Besides the several missing pixels in the video, the color is washed out, tinted horribly orange. The resolution is grainy - yes, even grainier than one expects for a 320x240 picture. Even playing with the exposure settings, I could not get a satisfying image. Also, I really do not think it lives up to the 30 fps claim.
Camera Quality
The claw is a nifty idea poorly executed. I could not figure out how or where I could possible attach the thing. The gap is too wide to clip onto most objects, the angle is wrong, and it is too flimsy.
Overall
I have tried this thing on both W2K and WinXP with the same results.
Uh, simply, stay away from this camera. There are many other choices for 30 bucks. You would do better to randomly pick one of those.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
CreamChief
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Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 57
Trusted by: 13 members
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