Customer Reviews

Vialta Beamer Phone Video Station (BM80-2, Pair)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought this for my parents and in-laws as a Christmas gift (so, shelled out for three units). They live in Brazil (where the quality of phone lines is not all that great!) and we live in US. Since they are not computer savvy to use netmeeting (this thing actually uses the same protocol...) or a similar computer tool, I needed another way to let them keep up with their grand-daughter.

Let me start by stating that the instalation and operation of the Beamer is a no-brainer! That in itself is a God-send to people that are not technology-oriented (like grandparents might be...). It's also portable! So if the other party travels a lot (like retirees might do...), they can pack it up and take it with them - BUT ATTENTION, it will require an analog phone line to use.

Another good thing is that it doesn't require monthly fees of any sort. You only pay for your regular phone call (obviously, if it's a long distance or international you'll pay the appropriate rate); there is no extra-cost for adding video to it.

The quality of the image is acceptable even on international calls. Better than using netmeeting over dial-up connections, a little worse than using netmeeting over broadband connections. You can definitely tell who is the person you are talking to and see their facial expressions with accuracy. Attention: lighting is essential to obtain good results!

The units are sturdy and look beautiful. The LCD screen does have some pixels that seem brighter or darker than others (I would call them dead pixels) - and this is mentioned in the manual, but nothing that compromises the experience.

Finally, it is non-obstrusive. You can plug it to the phone and it will only come live if someone activates a beamer on the other side. Otherwise it is just a nice looking portrait-like thing over your desk.

I give it four stars for two reasons:

a) price wise it could be better. [it] is a lot of money for any appliance and to use this you need to buy at least two...

b) it would be wonderful if this thing could use the internet to place the calls (kind of like a netmeeting machine). This would eliminate long distance calls (although you would have to pay for an ISP). It might add to the size of the unit, but certainly would cut the costs on communication.

My parents-in-law lives in Beijing and we are in US. At first the beamer does not work - not able to establish a connection. Evetually the technical support of Beamer tried to use some other phone services and was able to find one that works. It is a 10-10 number from AT&T. Beamer did not work with calls made from my long distance carrier or phone cards.

It is a thrill to see relatives afar after long separation. I have the picture quality on the high on both sides and asked both sides to remain stable, this way the pictures are sharp and tolerably smooth.

I tried this phone with my parents who live in central China but no luck, even with 10-10 numbers. So definitely there is no guarantee that this setup will work for you.

I read a review of this product where the reviewer cautioned that his beamer was defective right out of the box, but I chalked that up to pre-production glitches. The first pair of beamers I ordered also had a unit defective right out of the box- it was as if the horizontal hold on one display was turned all the way up. When the replacement pair arrived, one of those units went dark and stayed dead within 15 minutes of being plugged in.

It seemed pretty easy to setup, just plug in the power and attach the phone cord in much the same way you would connect an answering machine. But I really can't recommend the product because of quality problems.

I bought the "2 fer the price of 1" units. 1 for me, 1 for my folks in New England so they can see my daughter via the video phone. Seems like a good deal, right? The 2 pairs arrived to me in the Midwest. I kept one and shipped the other to New England. My folks and I set up our units only to discover their unit is defective and does not power up when plugged in. Great! Terrific! Now my folks have to repack and ship the defective unit to me. I then have to re-repack it and send it with my working unit back to Amazon. By the time we factor in all of the extra postage required for the returns and the forwarding this dual deal is hardly worth it. We are going to try again and I've ordered a replacement pair. I guess I'm a sucker. Is it too much to expect this product to work? Buyer beware. And patient.

I received the Beamer as a Valentine's Day present from my boyfriend, who has been working in Europe for the last year and it does a great job of bridging the distance between us. The thing I liked most about the Beamer is that it's incredibly easy to use, it costs the same as a regular phone call, and the resolution was alot better then I had expected. We tried using web cams before and that was just a hassle to set-up. It's one of the best presents I've ever received and it's definately worth the money.

I bought two units of the beamer and sent one to my family. Turn out one unit is defective - something wrong with the camera. If I send it back to Vialta for repair, they charge me close to $100 + shipping. I think this is a ridiculous amount, as it is almost enough to get a new one.

Simply doesn't work. Tried on number phone line connections. Definitely not video - at best can use for a snapshot of the person on the other end.

My daughter lives 3000 miles away, and when she gave birth to my first grandchild earlier this year it saddened me that I wouldn't be able to see my granddaughter as often as I would like to. Now with Beamer, I get to see her eating her Cheerios, waving hello and even saw her dressed in her new, adorable Christmas outfit.

I'm not real comfortable with electronics stuff, so I was really happy that Beamer was very easy to set up and use. All I do is pick up the phone and call my daughter, so there was really nothing new to learn. I also like the fact that I didn't have to buy a new phone, or pay anything extra for my phone calls.

While the Beamer video is definitely not DVD or TV picture quality, I still get to see my granddaughter smile anytime I want to, and she gets to see me. Since she's still too young to be talking, it makes me feel a whole lot better that I can see her on the phone and start a relationship with her from so far away. Beamer isn't quite the Jetsons cartoons, which my kids watched while they were growing up, but it sure has changed my life.

I gave Beamer 5 stars because it does what it promised. It was easy to set up and use, the picture is good (not great), and most importantly, it helps me stay connected to the rest of my family.

I was excited when I ordered this product because it said "8-15 Frames per second," however after using it, this turns out to be a complete lie. I'm lucky to get one frame per 3-4 seconds. Nevertheless, it's still nice, particularly since it works directly out-of-the-box.

My daughter and son in law bought the Vialta, and then I bought one. My son in laws family lives in England and for a very short time, they all worked. The quality was poor and the connection would cut out. Now, nothing works, none of the the products communicate, and they went out at the same time. Very very serious loss of money and a way to communicate. I do not recommend this product to anyone who is interested in on line communication.
They the web video came, set a skype internet account, and you will find this a better way to stay in touch.