Customer Reviews

Vuzix Iwear Visual and Audio Big Screen Display Glasses for Ipods 215t00011

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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I actually own BOTH of these items so I can give you a point-by-point comparison.

1) Price

Today, 2/14/08 on Amazon Vuzix = $104, Myvu Solo Plus = $182

2) Comfort

Myvu Solo is lighter and slimmer. Vuzix is a little heavier and bulkier.

3) Picture

Myvu Solo and Vuzix have equal resolution, but the Vuzix picture is blown up larger so its a little fuzzier. Also the Myvu lets you adjust the brightness and contrast. So there's no doubt that although the Vuzix picture seems larger, the Myvu picture is better.

HOWEVER - the Vuzix lets you individually focus your separate eyes, while the Myvu has no focus controls at all. Focusing on the Myvu is limited to moving the glasses up and down your nose. Not at all good for people who wear glasses.


Neither one of these gives you an immersive "in your face" experience. Instead you feel like you're about ten feet away from a flat screen living room TV. With the Vuzix picture looking a little larger than the MyVu. But Myvu picture is definitely brighter and sharper.

3) Sound

Sound is about equal but the Myvu uses in your ear silicone buds while the Vuzix uses pads similar to Ipod stock pads. If your viewer is to be used among different people, you'd probably prefer the Vuzix. Also Vuzix gives you the option to use your own headphones - a big plus.

4) Battery life

The MyVu Solo has a mini USB port to recharge its "pendant" style lithium battery. The battery lasts about 4-1/2 hours.

The Vuzix has no battery at all! It runs directly off your Ipod's battery. I've found it more than sufficient to watch a full length movie before my Ipod gets drained, but different Ipods may get more or less time.

5) Convenience

The Vuzix couldn't be simpler just plug it into your Ipod and control everything from your Ipod. No proprietary cables, nothing to charge. Foolproof to use. And its semi rigid but bendable earpads are easy to adjust. It does not come with any carrying case or pouch.

The MyVu Solo, however requires a USB-to-Mini USB charging cable, and another detachable proprietary Ipod cable that plugs into the battery pendant. Its earbuds are on loose dangling wires and uses those easy-to-lose but expensive and difficult to replace silicone buds. All these wires can easily get tangled in a mess when trying to stuff the MyVu solo into its included cloth pouch.

The Myvu Pendant has controls on it for brightness and contrast. Novice users will easily confuse these for volume or rewind controls. Also the pendant has a confusing sequence of flashing colored lights to indicate charging status and signal status. You need a playbook just to interpret the lights.

6) Reliability

This one was the killer for me. MyVu is useless without its proprietary Ipod cable that plugs into the battery pendant via a flexible mini plug. The wires within that flexible miniplug shorted out in less than two weeks! This was probably due to the stress and bending incurred by stuffing the Myvu into its cloth pouch and then removing it from the pouch daily. Myvu did replace the proprietary cable gratis, but the turnaround time was more than three weeks. In the interim I bought the Vuzix and I will never look back. The Vuzix is so much easier to use, you can focus it as necessary and most importantly, it just works 100% of the time. Nothing to charge up except the Ipod itself. No controls to mess up. And signficantly cheaper than the Myvu even if the picture is a little fuzzier. Its a no-brainer. Between these two competing products, get the Vuzix until something better than both comes along.

I recently purchased the Vuzix iPod230 to use while exercising and watching movies while sitting by the pool. While not as slim and light as the Myvu model the Vuzix iPod has individual eye adjustments that make for a much clearer picture if your eyes are not perfectly matched (as is the case for most of us). The Dyscern deal of $115 makes the Vuzix a great value - since the comparable Myvu is $199. Not sure either is worth the nearly $200 list price - but $115 is just what the doctor ordered.

Got quite a lot attention when I brought it to the office with my ipod video, people had different opinion about this device.

-The design was compact and not bulky at all, but I feel silly wearing it infront of people I don't know. But a few of my friends said they would wear it.
-The Picture quality was sacrificed a bit, it was not as clear as watching the movie on the ipod
-I got a little dizzy after watching for an hour, I really would not recommend using the iwear while in motion if you easily get car sick.

I recently purchased the VIDEO, IP230 I-POD EYEWEAR 44" SCR (215T00011) to use while traveling. It is worth the price $118 but not for $199. The only issues are that your iPod battery dies out before you finish watching a movie that is longer than an hour and the picture is not as clear on your iPod.

Purchased and compared vs MY.VU. Is half the cost and I liked the adjustable lenses. Earbuds were poor compared to my.vu, in fact, I removed them and used regular earbuds, which noise-cancel. Viewing screen is bigger but not as sharp as my.vu. Screen dims on one side if jack is bumped during play.

Is overall a good buy, would buy them again.

One of the issues I had in watching movies on the ipod was reflection from bright sun, the washout from the sun when sitting outside, especially in dark scenes, and distractions from activity around me when watching in public areas. The eyewear solved two these problems. It also created a bigger picture to view the movie. I experienced no discomfort in using them (no headache or neck pain etc). They are comfortable and enjoyable: I love them. I found even in bed or in the dark I preferred wearing them because they did offer a larger picture even if not as sharp and let me experience the movie more totally. Plus an added bonus was less interruptions when watching a movie in public from people. They are not totally perfected yet. They still have a ways to go to enhance the viewing experience in sharpness and balance between eyes but neither of these created a problem for me but I will be watching for a more perfected unit. Allowing lense adjustment is very important and eliminates the need of wearing eyeglasses with them. Also not having separate batteries for the eyewear is a plus as far as I'm concerned. I did find the rubber shade-boot bought separately helped a lot in blocking out stray light and distractions going on around me while traveling or sitting in public areas thus solving my third issue. For the current time it is a great solution to watching movies on the ipod and I use mine all the time.