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Stage One: The Opening

Stage Two: Putting it all together

Stage Three: The review [selected]

The Review

Product: iSight & iChat AV (BETA)

Company: Apple Computers Inc. (www.apple.com)

Rating: (out of 5) 4

Pros: Overall good quality and good products. Provides new ways to communicate. Well designed.

Cons: System requirements may edge out many Mac fans. Sound quality could be better (GM version of iChat AV may fix this).

Once we started to use iSight, we were amazed at how clear we could see our colleagues and that we could hear them too. However, we were also frustrated that overlapping audio and ambient noise was more of an issue than expected. This ambient noise problem was even noted in a New York Post article that appeared Sunday, June 29th. Audio problems seemed to be a bigger issue than video if that makes any sense.

Although, even this slight problem did not alter the experience of teleconferencing by much. Although, we love this product, we hope to see the audio problem resolved in future versions of iChat AV BETA and the GM version due to be released later this year as a part of Panther.

The iSight product is possibly the best video camera designed for video conferencing we've seen yet. As you've seen in our pictures, the iSight device is well designed and easy to use. After plugging-in the camera, we just opened iChat and were ready to go.

The new iChat AV is a wonderful improvement and includes audio support (ability to talk to your friend over the internet) for those who don't have iSight. We were a little annoyed that the iChat AV software was not included with the camera, but because of the diminutive size of download, we were not overly angered.

One of our favorite features about iSight is the inclusion of more privacy features such as the fact that by quickly turning what seems to be the lens cover of the camera, you end up bloking the view of the lens and turning off the camera.

One thing we found very frustrating is the requirement of a 600 Mhz G3 or faster computer to use the iSight device. We soon realized that this barrier would affect many Apple owners who may have purchased their computers in the past two years. Although we are in the age of technology, two years does seem quite quick for a product to become obsolete.

Our finally say: Buy it! If you meet system requirements and have a broadband connection, iSight is definitely for you! If you don't have a broadband connection or don't meet system requirements, iChat AV with the audio feature may still quench your thirst for new technology.

Product's Website: www.apple.com/ichat

Product's Website: www.apple.com/isight

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