Eyemodule Digital Camera Springboard Module for Handspring Visor

Other products by Block Products

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.8 x 2.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004TDN7
• Item model number: PVIH0005
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 13, 2000

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
Talk about instant gratification: attach the eyemodule to your Handspring Visor and you've got yourself a cool little digital camera. The eyemodule will capture photos in two sizes, in color or black and white, plus it can sync up with your Mac or PC, letting you download your little masterpieces for posterity.

Getting started with the eyemodule is as simple as sliding it into your Springboard expansion slot and turning it on--that's it. In order to start synching your images with your PC, though, you must install the eyemodule software from the accompanying CD-ROM. Mac users will also have to download a patch from the eyemodule Web site, but it's a speedy process that won't take more than a couple of minutes.

Once the software is installed, you're good to go. The eyemodule will hold up to 25 color images at 320 x 240 pixels, in 5 MB of free space on your Visor (and we even found that we could hold a few more than that). It will also hold up to 125 320 x 240 black and white images, or 500 small ones (at 160 x 120 pixels). The pictures are really on the tiny side, especially the ultratiny black and white ones, but we liked the way the size and color makes them kind of kitschy and cool. Image quality is not outstanding and is certainly not close to what you would get from even a semiprofessional digital camera, but it's definitely good enough to entertain friends and capture odd moments.

In color shots, the lighting leans toward the dramatic, with dark shadows and bright colors. Since there's no flash, you'll need to make extra sure that you're balancing the light. The viewfinder on the Visor screen will show you what you're shooting in black and white, and if you don't like the shot when you're done, you can simply erase it from the handheld and try again. The interface on the Visor is incredibly simple and intuitive--it consists of a capture mode, list mode (of collected shots), display mode, and a preferences screen, where you can change the resolution and capture settings.

Overall, don't expect to take award-winning photographs. The eyemodule is great, though, as a fun toy for the Visor. --Ara Jane Olufson

Pros:

• Stores quite a few pictures
• Coolness factor is high
• Ultraportable
• Intuitive interface

Cons:

• Images tend to be grainy

Product Description
The eyemodule digital camera expands the usefulness of the Visor, turning it into an image capture device for business or pleasure. The eyemodule digital camera captures images in color or black and white using a low-power CMOS imaging array. Once inserted into the Visor, the eyemodule adds only 15 mm to the length and adds no thickness and practically no weight to the Visor. Install the included software on your Windows or Macintosh computer to automatically save images as JPEGs then e-mail and print your images.A Visor Deluxe, Platinum, or Prism with 6 MB free memory can hold more than 625 small black and white images (at 160x120 pixels), over 156 large black images (320x240 pixels) or over 32 color images (320x240 pixels, color images are gray scale when viewed on the visor).

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Quick Snaps.., June 11, 2000

By	Mahesh Madhav (Stanford, CA) - See all my reviews

The maximum resolution on this piece is 320x240 w/color, which is adequate for small web photos. The main qualm I have with this camera is that you cannot zoom at all. So for close up shots, you have to literally move close up. Not the ideal situation if you subject is far away. What the eyemodule has over other cameras is its size. You can carry it in your shirt pocket, and whip it out when you want to snap a picture. I like to carry a pair of AA batteries in the eyemodule pouch, since this sucker drains batteries pretty quickly. Email me if you want to see some real photographs using this thing (as opposed to the fluff on the eyemodule website)

84 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Think of it as a digital "Polaroid" with free film!, July 9, 2000

By	Bruce Boyes (SLC, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

320x240 is about the quality of the instant Polaroid cameras - not great, but more than adequate for quick snaps. The eyemodule is so small you can take it with you everywhere and take some photos you would otherwise miss. My 2-1/2 year old daughter loves it because she can see the pictures right away on the Visor screen. I print them out 6 or 8 to an 8.5x11 page and they look fine at that size. It's really a fun challenge to try to create a good photograph with that few pixels. I'm planning to create an online gallery of images soon. The time-lapse feature is a lot of fun - set it up and the camera will capture images at intervals you have set. Snapped into the Visor, it doesn't look like a camera, so you can take candid shots and no one even knows you are taking photos. Color images are about 190 KBytes each, so you will want the 8 MB version of the Visor. I can imagine real estate agents, insurance adjusters, salespeople, househunters, and anyone with kids will enjoy this cool little camera. My other digital camera is a Kodak DC260 with 1536x1024 resolution. The eyemodule is clearly no competition for it, but they both have a place and a purpose. The eyemodule is a fraction of the price, much smaller in size, and can grab a shot within a second of turning it on. Think of the eyemodule as a very small, more flexible digital alternative to Polaroids and you won't be disappointed. At over $1 a shot for Polaroids, the eyemodule will quickly pay for itself too.

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun toy, but..., July 10, 2000

By	"ianjf" (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I received my eyemodule last week and was really impressed with its small size and weight. I took a load of test pictures in Seattle over the weekend, but was not able to review them because the PC software that came with the unit would not install on my PC. I kept on getting "Conduit not found" errors part way through the install process.

I was finally able to get through to eyemodule technical support this evening and the support person had me uninstall all the Palm Desktop software from my PC and soft reset the Visor. After I reinstalled everything, the conduit worked and I was able to view my pictures on my PC.

My, what a disappointment! Even photos taken a few feet away were dark and indistinct unless the subject was in bright sun. Now I know the camera's limitations I can use it effectively: get as close as you can to subjects in bright light - then you'll get photos just about good enough to e-mail.

The eyemodule is great for candid photogbraphy - no one thinks you're taking a snapshot, just fiddling with a handheld. If only the quality were better.