Customer Reviews

Eikon Digital Privacy Manager - USB fingerprint reader

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have tried the Microsoft, APC, Dell, and Omnipass fingerprint readers.

While the hardware is mediocre, the software is garbage.

Vista support is rare, Vista x64 support is ubelievably rare, and Windows 2008 support is non-existant.

Microsoft's own fingerprint reader wont properly support Windows Server 2008 or 64 bit.

On the other handm the Eikon /Upek solution is fantastic.

The hardware is made from aluminum instead of plastic and has a nice sturdy feel. However its the software that makes this solution stand out as "best of breed"

Not only does it support 64 bit and Vista and Windows 2008 Server, but it supports 2 factor and 3 factor authentication as well.

When you run the software, your first impression is WOW. The user experience is fantastic. It installs perfectly, its very intuitive and is very visually appealing.

It looks and feels like they really spent a lot of time on polishing the sofware.

If you are looking for a fingerprint solution, this is it.

Im so happy with my purchase that I just threw out my Microsoft and APC readers and I deleted my Omnipass software(that I had to pay extra for)

My new christmas wish is to get this reader built-in to a keyboard for my office PC.

Bottom line: I give it 12 out of 10. I bonus point for broad OS support and 1 bonus point for "exceeding expectations"

It works great from the start. It keeps tab of the pages I go to and ask to save the password. From thereon when I go to these pages I just scan my finger and I'm logged in.

It would be great if it could have a portable version that could be used wherever you go...You have to install the software to your PC. You can tote it around with your laptop. I've seen some laptops that comes with it integrated.

Now I can create better cryptic passwords and not worry about forgetting them.

Finally!!! A bulletproof fingerprint reader for the Mac!!!

I've always envied my PC friends when it comes to biometric options... until I got my Eikon.

Now, whenever the authentication screen on the Mac pops up, I get Eikon's fingerprint auth screen instead and I can just swipe my finger and go on my merry way. Their programmers also adopted the Mac minimalist ethic and implemented the Protector Suite consistent with the Mac "it just works!" experience.

They've been also very proactive and have continued updating their Mac software solution. v1.2 just came out June 25, (FYI, v1.0 came out Feb 2008), and UPEK continues to improve Protector Suite. In the latest iteration, they now even display the icon and the name of the app requesting authentication. Nice!

Upek is also very responsive. I was pleasantly surprised when they contacted me when I sent some suggestions thru their support webform.

Now if only they'd come up with an Expresscard solution so I can have the fingerprint reader onboard just tucked away in the little used Expresscard slot on my MBP and just pop the fingerprint sensor whenever I need it...

First off I alrady had several of these fingerprint readers for my small business. The first ones I bought there is no problem since the upgrade to the full software suite was free (as it should be). I recently bought another and that WILL BE MY LAST EVER! Everyone must now buy pay for the full software suite which costs about half the price of the fngerprint reader. So do the math. This is misleading and BAD business. The worthless basic software that comes with it only works for 3 websites. Who only manages 3 passwords????? The company changed policy and it is NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE THAT YOU WILL NEED EXPENSIVE PROTECTOR SUITE SOFTWARE. I will never buy anything from Eikon who is owned by Authentec. AVOID this product

If you are looking to purchase a finger print reader, this is a great product. It is well built and heavier then it appears. The photos might make you think it's made of cheap plastic but that couldn't be further from the truth. I've used other readers that just take a snapshot of your finger print. The Eikon does not, instead it scans the lines in your finger print and creates a mathematical file so your finger print is never stored. Rather then placing your finger on the device, you slide your finger across the scanner. A few times the scan didn't read, perhaps I swiped my finger to quickly or something but 99% of the time it works pefectly.

I use the product for simplifying my login needs for programs and websites. You can scan all your fingers and you can assign a specific program or website to load to an individual finger (IE: scanning my middle finger opens up Quicken). It only loads the program though so if the program is password protected, you will still have to scan your password finger to login. Nice feature but could be better had they allowed the program to open and execute the login all in one swipe. Besides programs and websites, you can store credit card info and you can of course use the reader to login to windows. Multiple users can create thier own database so this would be nice for people who share a computer or for a business where users have separate logins/passwords.

I rate this product a 4 star for one reason only... the software. Don't misunderstand, the software is great and has nice features. Once you create your database of programs/website logins, you can actually use the bookmarks in the software to login simplifying life a little more. Rather then loading your browser, going to a website, changing to the login screen and then scanning your finger, you just scan your finger and choose the website from your bookmarks and the program does everything else for you. The reason for my 4 star rating, the software is limited to only 3 website logins and you are forced to purchase a software license for $20 if you wish to have unlimited websites logins. Shameful tactics IMO. When you buy hardware, you assume you are going to get a full version of the software. It is worth the additional cost if you are like me and have 40 some odd websites you log into but I just hate being blind-sided. Sell two versions for Pete's sake... a dumbed down version and one for $20 extra that comes with the full software already. Sorry for the length of this review but the more you know before purchase, the better.

the product works the way the company says it should

if you are on windows 7 please save and forward you amazon invoice to get the latest software free of charge

Several months ago I got a new laptop through work with a fingerprint reader on it and I became instantly sold on the technology. I thought it would be a simple thing to go get a couple of fingerprint readers for my home computers that my family could use to easily switch accounts. I went online and purchased a Microsoft reader with almost no prior research and was rewarded with a product that did not work at all for what I needed.

At this point, let me describe how I am using this:

1) My PCs all attach to a Windows domain - so I obviously need something that will log into a domain and the MS product doesn't even log into local accounts if the system is joined to a domain.

2) My kids all share a single computer and they log into it locally since I'm using the parental controls in Vista. So, I also need a product that will log into local accounts.

3) I don't run under an administrator account, so I wanted something that would also work with Vista's UAC.

After being disappointed with the Microsoft product, I did some research and found the DigitalPersona products. It is hard to describe how hard it is to get real answers for how their products work so I made the jump and bought one to evaluate it. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a very painful experience and I found out that it is possible to get burned by some of the Amazon merchants:(. Let me just point out here that I did talk to a tech support guy at DigitalPersona (through e-mail) and he actually recommended that I take the fingerprint reader back and get the Microsoft product unless I was willing to buy at least 10 licenses - at which point they would answer my questions.

At this point I was just about ready to give up when I stumbled across this Upek Eikon fingerprint reader. I ordered it, feeling somewhat skeptical, but was very pleasantly surprised.

I have really had no problems with this product, and found that:

1) It works for everyone in the family, right down to my 7 year old daughter with really small fingers. (I did limit their enrollment to their index and middle fingers on both hands because they had problems getting a good read on the remaining fingers - adults don't seem to have that problem.)

2) It works equally well with active directory accounts as with local accounts.

3) It works very well with user switching - I just swipe my finger when another user is logged in and it switches to my account.

4) It works great with UAC (User Access Control) in Vista. It makes the technology almost bearable.

5) The software is very easy to use and to understand.

I feel like I've rambled on long enough but I'm not sure this product description really does it justice. It is half the price of the comparable DigitalPersona products (that don't work) - and it really works perfectly!

The only area I won't comment on is the password manager stuff since I really haven't set that up. At some point I will, but I mostly was looking for a good way to log into Windows.

I highly recommend this product.

I am paranoid about passsword security, partly because I am a programmer and I know too well how easy it is to defeat any secure system simply because people are too lazy to use strong passwords. Whenever possible I tried to use long tedious passwords, which meant a lot of copying and pasting to and from an encrypted file, which was simply too much a pain. I was told about KeePass, which is basically an encrypted passwords vault and password generator with very rudimentary browser integration, and it has some mirror/remote features that outweigh the rudimentary controls. I was happy wit KeePass until I learned that Windows 7 allows the use of fingerprint scanners to log in, and that this particular fingerprint scanner came with a password vault and generator that more or less mimics the way KeePass works.

I should have bought this at least six months ago. Installing it was simple and did not give me any 64-bit driver drama. The packaging doesn't explain very well that it has a license to the full version of the passwords vault (Protector Suite 2009) but it only meant an extra minute looking around. The only real hassle is having to register the dozens of credentials that I use.

Setup: Install applications off the CD, reboot, plug in the device, then register your fingerprints. Registering the fingerprints takes less than one minute per finger.

The good:

It allows you to use very long passwords, basically as long as the login form can take, since all you need to login is a finger swipe. Even if the device malfunctions, you have a password that can be used to access the passwords vault manually. This means that if your machine is not set to remember passwords, and somebody manages to access your machine, they will not be able to access your websites and secured applications since they will need either your fingerprints or your master password. It is much easier to remember one long password than a few dozen.

It also allows you to log into Windows, which is nice but it is not as impressive as the ability to deal with all of those online credentials. Setup for this feature was pretty much automatic.

The not so good:

The settings menus for the Protector Suite could help from a usability review. Nothing major here, for example I couldn't figure out how to move the location of the data files, which makes it harder to make it play nice with dropbox or other online folder sync services.

Swipes are not instantaneous, but the one second delay for the swipe and the login operation are a lot less of a hassle than having to remember which account and password goes with which challenge. After about a day I stopped minding the delay.

A mounting bracket would be nice, but it is nothing I can't fix with a strip of velcro.

Overall I am extremely pleased. This is the last time that I order a laptop without a built-in fingerprint scanner and I will probably buy a couple more Eikon fingerprint units for my wife's Windows laptop and my son's iMac.

Update: 10/7/2010 The shift to using the fingerprint scanner for everything was pretty much painless and very natural. Now I instinctively reach for the scanner whenever a password is requested. The Protector Suite flashes a red outline in pages that have a login box and are already registered, so it becomes a reflex to see the red outline and immediately reach for the scanner. It also works with Windows networking credential challenges in Windows 7, I have been able to use it to authenticate IIS and Remote Desktop access challenges.

There are exactly two things I can't use with this scanner:

1. A specific online bank that uses a weird, non conventional sequence to log you into an account. This is not a flaw in the Protector Suite or the scanner, it is simply a really weird website.

2. One or two websites with really weird AJAX overlays for the login, the software can't tell that the page has triggered the login box.

Except for these two, it works pretty close to perfectly. And yes, I still notice the delay, but the delay is shorter than the time needed to remember which password to use and to type it.

I'm 40 y/o and have no problems with this finger print scanner myself personally.

But I bought this unit after moving my computer into a common area with the hopes my (70 something) mom could use it. The theory was that when I need the computer, I just walk up and swipe my finger. When my mom needs it, she does the same.

Ah yes, but plans don't always work out the way you expect.

I enrolled my mom's prints, and have spent hours demonstrating how to scan her finger - no soap. While the device seems OK with my mom's prints whilst enrolling her, when it comes time to actually use the damn thing it's failure about 19 out of 20 times. I've re-enrolled her. No help. I tried it again. No go.

Then I tried the same deal with her boyfriend. We enrolled him with ease, but for whatever reason, it doesn't like his prints. I re-enrolled his prints twice more - fail fail!

OK so here I am with a purchase that I made to make my life easier, but it's been a real headache. Not only does this product not work with my mom and her boyfriend, but the software makes it 5 times harder to log in traditionally.

To log in my mom must click "other credentials", then "switch user", then "switch user" again (because twice is twice as much fun???!!!), then click on her user-name, and then enter her password. Before, all she had to do is click switch user, chose her user-name and enter password (what we were trying to avoid with this "solution").

So in summery from my experience, this finger print scanner is good only if you are under 70 and perhaps somewhat tech savvy. If not, wait until this sort of thing gets to prime time quality.

It's easy as pie to set up on Windows 7 x64. Just plug it in and it will get the software from Windows Update automatically. Then open the start menu and type "fingerprint" and choose "Use your fingerprint with Windows". You can set up multiple fingers and any of them work. After you've added however many fingers you want, press OK and then you can swipe to log in or unlock the computer. Took me like 1 minute total, and there's no extra system tray icon or other software to worry about needing to reinstall after you reformat.

After setting up, it always logs in on one swipe, even if I swipe really fast.

The hardware is nice, too. The swipe track is completely smooth, the device has a nice non-slip backing so it won't move around on your desk and it's compact and unobtrusive.