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42 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 Thought it was great, but then... Jan 22, 2010
By K. Bright
"Rock Star"
UPDATE:
BELOW IS MY PRIOR REVIEW FROM WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT THIS PRODUCT. AT FIRST IT SEEMED GREAT BUT THEN I REALIZED A FATAL FLAW. THE CAMERA COMES WITH A USB DONGLE THAT YOU PLUG INTO YOUR COMPUTER TO GET THE VIDEO STREAM. THERE IS ALSO AN OPTION FOR REMOTE VIEWING WHERE YOU ARE VIEWING THE VIDEO FROM A COMPUTER OTHER THAN THE COMPUTER TO WHICH THE USB DONGLE IS ATTACHED. FOR EXAMPLE, I HAVE A DESKTOP COMPUTER UPSTAIRS AND PLUGGED THE USB DONGLE INTO THAT COMPUTER. THEN, NO MY LAPTOP I LOGGED INTO THE SOFTWARE THEY GIVE YOU (CALLED "SEEDONK") TO VIEW THE VIDEO DOWNSTAIRS. THAT'S WHERE THE ISSUE COMES FROM.
APPARENTLY, THE SEEDONK SOFTWARE (BELIEVE IT OR NOT) IS SET TO TIME OUT EVERY FIVE TO TEN MINUTES IN ORDER TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM LEAVING THEIR CAMERAS ON AND USING UP ALL OF THE BANDWIDTH OF THE SEEDONK SERVERS. THAT'S RIGHT; THE SOFTWARE WILL TERMINATE THE CONNECTION EVERY FIVE TO TEN MINUTES UNLESS YOU CLICK ON THE SCREEN TO STOP IT FROM TIMING OUT. SO IF YOU WANT A BABY MONITOR THAT WILL TURN ITSELF OFF EVER FIVE TO TEN MINUTES UNLESS YOU PUSH A BUTTON, HAVE AT IT. OTHERWISE, I WOULD RECOMMEND LOOKING ELSEWHERE.
I HAD GIVEN THIS PRODUCT A 5 OUT OF 5 RATING BUT I'VE REVISED IT TO A 1 OUT OF FIVE. I'D ACTUALLY LIKE TO GIVE IT 0 OUT 5 SINCE THE SOFTWARE TIMEOUT ISSUE RENDERS THE DEVICE COMPLETELY USELESS BUT 1 STAR IS THE LOWEST RATING I CAN GIVE.
BACKGROUND:
About a year ago my wife dragged me to Babies r Us to get a baby shower gift for some friends of ours who were having their first baby. On the registry I noticed some ridiculously overpriced "HD" video baby monitor for I think about $300.00. Several months later we visited those same friends and I got a chance to see this $300.00 "HD" video baby monitor in action. Needless to say, I was very unimpressed. The screen was about 2" across and the resolution was so awful you almost couldn't tell what you were looking at. It then occurred to me that you could probably use a wireless webcam to accomplish a much better result for a lot less money.
A couple months later, my wife and I got pregnant and I began looking for a wireless webcam to use as a baby monitor. During my search I realized two things: (1) wireless webcams are more expensive than I first thought; and (2) the process of configuring that arrangement is probably beyond my technical know-how. During my search I came across the Bambino Wireless Internet Baby Monitor. It appeared to be exactly what I was looking for and although it was a little more money that I wanted to spend, it still ended up a lot cheaper than a standard video monitor.
MY REVIEW:
I ordered this product on Monday and it arrived on Thursday. Apparently they ship from California and I'm on the east coast so that's pretty impressive. The box contains five things: (1) the camera itself; (2) a USB dongle (with a small antenna); (3) an A/C adapter; (4) a CD containing the software; and (5) the instructions.
I unpacked everything and read the instructions. The camera itself can run on 4 AAA batteries or with the included A/C adapter. I plugged the camera in, installed the software on my computer (which I downloaded from their website rather than using the included CD) and plugged the USB dongle into my laptop's USB drive. From there, I started the software and it found the webcam and wirelessly connected it to my laptop. It was all very easy. I will say however, that the software is designed for remote viewing (where you view the webcam over the internet from a computer not directly connected to the USB dongle), which I have not attempted to use yet. For my purposes, I plan on just attaching the USB dongle to my laptop whenever I need to use it.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed so far. It was easy to operate, easy to set up, and easy to use. Also the camera has some soft orange lights on the side that can be used, I suppose, as a nightlight. I thought that was a neat feature.
PROS:
- Easy to set up and use.
- Relatively inexpensive (at $130.00) although that's supposed to be an introductory price. The full price is supposed to be $170.00, which isn't such a good deal in my opinion.
- Attractive design.
- Operates on AAA's or A/C adaptor.
- The microphone is very sensitive and pickups sound well.
- Built-in night vision.
CONS:
- Video resolution is pretty lousy.
- The "full price" is a bit too high since most stand-alone video baby monitors are about that price or even less.
- There is some mention the box about a "premium service," which is apparently included for 1 year. After that, it's $29.95 per year. I'm not sure what you get but I do remember seeing something about better resolution and the ability to post the webcam feed on facebook and view on an Iphone with an app. Personally, I think this stuff should be included in the price, especially if you're paying $170.00.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 NOT a good baby MONITOR Aug 08, 2010
By Andrew Percey
We bought this to be a baby monitor, which is clearly how it's marketed. However, it appears to be a typical IP cam re-purposed and re-marketed as a baby monitor. In doing so it gets some things right, but not the most important things. It's kind of like an iPhone being great for everything except making calls.
So what are the problems from a baby monitor point of view?
1) You can only hear audio from the PC into which the USB dongle is attached
If you view the webcam via the seedonk website on another PC or via your iPhone/Android, you will NOT be able to hear audio. As a baby monitor, audio is the most important thing to alert you to trouble.
2) The video stream times out
After a certain amount of time, the video will time out. Other reviewers have commented on this in detail. Again, to be useful as a *monitor*, a time-out makes no sense.
3) There is no way to attach the webcam to a crib or a wall
It is only designed to sit on a flat surface. If you happen to have a tall dresser right next to the crib, then you're in luck. If not, then you'll need to jury-rig some kind of strap for the crib or build something to attach it to a wall.
4) There are still far too many bugs (some persistent, some occasional) for this to be reliable
Sometimes the webcam goes "offline" for mysterious reasons. If I try to change whether the audio is on or off. If I try to change the resolution. It just seems rather flaky. That's not what you went when using a device to let you know what's going on with your baby.
I think this is a promising product (hence the 2 stars), but there's a lot more work to be done before it can really be considered to be a quality, reliable, easy-to-use baby *monitor*. If you just want to use it to check in from time to time, it's probably fine. But it should NOT be used as a primary baby monitor -- i.e., a device that would immediately and reliably alert you to what's going on with your baby.
Maybe Seedonk would say they define "monitor" differently (as in "occasionally check in", not "constantly be alerted to trouble"), but I think a lot of parents would be misled by their marketing like we were. To me, a baby "monitor" should provide real-time peace of mind, not just address occasional curiosity to see what's up.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Great Cutting Edge Product!!! Jan 30, 2010
By Bambino Brian
My wife and I are expecting our first child in April...a little girl. We were out registering for baby shower gifts at Babies-R-Us when we came to the baby monitor aisle. After hours and hours of looking at breast pumps, humidifiers, bottles, furniture, strollers, etc. I thought to myself, "HOW MUCH MORE STUFF DO WE NEED? AHHHHHHH". I looked at my iPhone to see how long we had been shopping...and it came to me. Why do I need a baby monitor, I have an iPhone...there has got to be an app for that! The thought of preventing another piece of electronics from entering the house was awesome (we have a gadget filled home). I pulled up the app store and found all of these apps that would call "a number of my choice once my iPhone detected sound" in the nursery (which was stupid because my phone would have to call itself and then it would wake up the baby - duh?). I couldn't find what I was looking for and thought that I had just invented the coolest thing since sliced bread. When I got home and did a little more research, I stumbled across Imogen Studio's Bambino Wireless Internet Baby Monitor which works hand in hand with Seedonk. I saw that Seedonk was in Beta testing mode and was a little leary at first. I sent both Imogen Studios and Seedonk a few emails asking a few questions...and after prompt and courteous responses, decided to give the Bambino a shot. The box arrived and it was SOOOOO simple to set up. Download the software, turn on the camera, plug in the USB stick, and poof...we were staring at our soon to be nursery on our living room computer (which is our TV). One extra step to download the free Seedonk app and we were staring at our soon to be nursery on our iPhones! Also, not only do my wife and I have access to view our soon to be daughter on our computer and iPhones, but our family and friends can also sneak a peek on their iPhones and facebook as well. This product is awesome!! I am a happy customer!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Terrible Software, Frustrating Beyond Belief Feb 27, 2011
By Solipsis
While the camera seems to work okay, the software for the Bambino is unbelievably buggy and unreliable. If you intend to use it with your iPhone, forget it; it works 25% of the time, and even then, you get five seconds of live feed before the stream freezes and the app crashes. The USB dongle randomly stops working every few days. Spend a little more money and get something reliable.
UPDATE: If you already own the Bambino, you could hypothetically use the camera with alternate software, such as the one offered at[...]
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Happy with this Innovative Monitor Apr 15, 2010
By H. Yau
We've had this monitor for a few months now and it has been performing well. We actually bought this product as a way to share our adoption experience with our family when we went to meet our daughter in China. It was really fun for us as well as for the grandparents to be able to "meet" and see her in those first few days for us as a family. Since we had to travel to a few different cities and stay at different hotels, it was really convenient to be able to just plug the usb dongle into my laptop and uses the laptop's internet connection to share out the video with our folks. Here were a couple of reason that closed the deal for us initially for our trip: (instead of just using the built-in notebook webcam)
1. Convenience - it's wireless and can operate on 4 AA batteries, which made it much more convenient to place than the laptop.
2. Availability - we could leave the computer/software running for the grandparents to log in at anytime. (mainly during the night to watch her sleep)
Now we've been home and used it more as a traditional monitor. I feel like I have a good perspective of what it does well and what it doesn't.
The Good
- Internet capable and remote access: this is really the biggest reason for buying this device. The bundled Seedonk software provides good video quality and audio sensitivity. It's really nice to be able to access the monitor over 3G on my iPhone, and the Facebook app is fun and makes it really easy for our close friends and family to view the camera. (though in actuality, we found that we didn't use the Facebook app that much after the initial phase)
- Easy to install and use. I've researched other similar products where it was quite a pain to get remote-access working, so I was definitely happy with how easy the setup and user experience was.
- Battery option. It made it very convenient for temporary placement. It had pretty decent battery life, we had it running for about 4-5 hours on 4AA batteries. (Note that there are no batteries included and it's not rechargeable, we bought a few packs of batteries in China because of this.)
The Bad
- The image quality and resolution could be better. A caveat here is this depends on what you compare it with. It's great if you compare it with a baby monitor's image quality (which is what we figured), but poor if you compare it with standard webcams.
- Video only on the iPhone. (though on their support forum, they say that a new release with audio is schedule for the end of April)
- I need to leave my PC running for remote viewing. (This set up was convenient when we were traveling, but at home it's a bit of a hassle)
- Potential interference w/ wifi. We do not have this issue in our home, but I have seen it happen once when we were traveling. If you search most of the popular video monitors on Amazon that run on 2.4GHz frequency you will see this complaint, so I think it has to do with devices that use this frequency. (People have suggested various workarounds that may or may not work for them) I think whether or not you will be affected has a lot to do with how much 2.4GHz wireless interference you have in your home. If there are a lot, you may have problems.
My conclusion is that this product will not replace a traditional monitor, so if you are looking to this to replace the features of a traditional video baby monitor, you better look somewhere else. (or you will be sorely disappointed) We use it in conjunction with a traditional audio monitor (Philips Avent Basic Baby Monitor w/ DECT Technology) and it works for us. Personally, being able to see my daughter from my iPhone from where ever I am is the main reason I continue to use this product and overall I can say I am quite happy with it. (The grandparents are also happy with it)
See all 19 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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