I bought this camera to install on my father's TV so we could easily do video chats. This is what the product promises, and it is the one thing it is designed to do. Sadly it does not deliver on the promise. It took me hours over several days to install it. (I have a lot of experience with electronics, so this isn't just me.) Many descriptions in the manual do not match what you see on the screen. Setting up an account and activating the device took multiple attempts (and turning the thing off and on several times). To call it from an iPhone or iPad, I needed a separate app from a different company ($11 with video option), which was also complicated to set up. Still, I persevered. The first call actually worked, and it seemed I had mastered the beast. But then the camera went into some sort of sleep and calls did not go through. Nothing happened on the TV end. I had to unplug the device and plug it back in (it has no on-off switch) to wake it and make it available for receiving or making calls.
This was my experience using the simplest setup, which involves directly connecting the Biscotti to the TV with the HDMI cable (which was missing in the box I received). The more complicated setup, which the company recommends in the manual, involves putting the Biscotti between the cable signal and the TV, so that you can receive calls while watching TV. Unsurprisingly, this did not work at all: the TV received neither the cable signal nor incoming calls on the Biscotti. It simply displayed a blank screen saying "No Signal."
There was also "no signal" from Biscotti customer service, which is really a disservice. When you call the phone number that they provide in the manual, a recording tells you to go to their website and send them email. I did this three times and received no response (this was two days ago). I also left them voice mail; same result. Zero stars would have been more appropriate, but alas Amazon does not offer that option.
Update: After some back and forth, I was sent another device by the company. It worked more or less as advertised on the first test call, which involved calling the TV from an iPhone with the requisite app. The second call was already more complicated: the caller's image appeared on the TV, but not the other way around. The third call introduced a new wrinkle: now the caller's image appeared sideways, and the only way to fix it was to ask him to turn his iPhone 90 degrees (or lie down while talking). Then, after about a week of being plugged in, unaccountably the Biscotti device blocked the TV signal coming from the cable box. (It is installed between cable and TV.) Nothing would fix it except unplugging the whole thing. It's now in the trash, where it belongs.
| Brand | Biscotti |
|---|---|
| Item model number | BIS100 |
| Hardware Platform | tablet, PC |
| Item Weight | 1.25 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 5.88 x 0.94 x 0.75 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 5.88 x 0.94 x 0.75 inches |
| Manufacturer | Biscotti |
| ASIN | B009O8HJN0 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | February 16, 2012 |
