I took the plunge a few weeks ago and purchased a new 12" PowerBook with all the goodies. My Airport Express is due to ship today (at least that's what the web site has to say) and my iPod Mini is due to ship on 07/29 (again, according to the web site). Can't wait for either as my apartment is not conducive to "plugged in" internet surfing and my business trips will involve a lot less drudgery with the Mini.

However, I also purchased the iSight camera and I have to say, next to Tivo, it is probably the coolest thing ever. After a few initial problems, due to my inability to set up my .Mac account properly, my GF and I had a teleconference on the web last night (she's using AOL IM), given that we're 350 miles apart, this was fantastic. It worked like a charm.

Thaks to some of the postings on this particular forum, I've been using OneSuite for my long distance. Very cheap. Now I don't have to pay anything at all.

The Apple engineers deserve a salute.

It's amazing isn't it! The iPod mini is great although I would have to say the regular iPod is a lot better....for more reasons then one but i'll keep them to myself and not bore everyone -- congradulations on splurging and going with the Mac -- you will not be dissapointed one bit!

Glad you enjoy your iSight. One of my favorite gadgets too. And I am definitely looking forward to the updated iChat when Tiger ships.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/ichat.html

I'm looking forward to the release of Tiger as well. My whole family is going to iChat and we acn have family conferences online.

Question: iPod or iPod Mini?

Answer: Yes.

I think they both fill a spot. I have both, and I've loved my non-mini iPod, and I use it *all the time* in my car now, but for travelling and especially when I go running, I really like the mini due to the smaller size.

If you look at the size difference it gives me a little of chuckle to see the size difference isn't that amazing...only something like a half an inch or even a quater inch (i'm too lazy to check right now, lol) -- the ONLY thing I can say negative about the big ol' iPod is the fact that the back casing picks up fingerprints easily.

I decided to go with the Mini for a couple of reasons:

1) Storage space was inconsequential to me. A 4GB device would still have more than enough music on it for me and would allow me to change things up every once in a while. I don't need to have my entire collection with me at all times.

2) Size/weight were an issue. We all now how many things you have to pack into a briefcase/carry on and the lighter or smaller, the better.

3) Looks much cooler than the regular iPod. I like the aluminum cover better than the plastic and chrome look. I also like how the buttons were a part of the scroll wheel.

4) Battery life. All of the detail I had read on line prior to making the purchase indicated that the regular iPod had a maximum battery life of about 5.5 hours. Reports on the Mini seem to indicate a battery life of 8-9 hours. I'd rather have the extra battery capacity so I don't have to carry a charger or one of those Belkin battery thingy's.

Bottom line, I bought a Mini because it suited my needs better.

I have been thinking of getting an iSight for my new 12" PowerBook, and one for home as well. Anyone try doing a videoconference with iChat overseas, if so how was it? I think it would be so cool to see my wife and kids, and them see me on the other side of the planet when I'm away on business!

When you say videoconference do you mean with different people in different locations?

Or, do you just mean a typical iChat chat where you are in one location and your wife and kids are together at the same computer on the other end?

Precisely what you said. Is it a reasonable expectation yet, using the typical broadband connections we find in hotels in Asia? Of course my home has a very stable broadband connection.

I was online last night attempting to talk to my GF via the iSight. She uses a PC with a Logitech webcam (which includes a mic - or so it says on the box anyway) that I purchased for her. Therefore, we have to connect using AOL IM v. 5.5. Both she and I have broadband connections.

We were having some technical issues and I was wondering if anybody here could help me out.

1) Her video on my side was not clear at all. Initially it would focus properly and I could see her very clearly however, once she started to move (she likes to wave her hands when she talks) the picture degenerated very quickly and was very grainy with large pixels.

2) She could hear my audio coming through her speakers (there was an echo - probably because the camera/mic was too close to the speaker) but I could not hear her through the Powerbook speakers. I know the mic on her side was picking up her voice because her voice was echoing on her side as well. I tried to adjust the settings on the Powerbook but according to the manual, I had everything correct.

3) My video on her side was relatively clear until I moved my head or something. Then it got grainy before it settled down again.

We ended up having our conversation via cellphone while watching the picture on the screen. This is not why I purchased this system. Any technical advice? BTW, would a RAM upgrade on her side help? I found out last night she only has 64MB (and she's running Windows XP!). I know she should upgrade anyway, and she will, but the question is, would the RAM upgrade affect the video quality?

My cousin just bought iSight and I'm going to test out my system with him to see if it makes a difference.

Any thoughts?

The iSight seems to give a higher quality picture than most other webcams, and, perhaps more imortantly, the iSight is autofocus, whereas most others are manual or fixed focus. These alone may account for the difference in picture, though there may be other network related issues I suppose.

I'm a transcontinental commuter where I find myself far far away from home almost on a monthly basis. I have a 1.25 gHz Alu Powerbook 15" and my wife a 12" 867 Mhz Alubook. We "see" each other every night via iChatAV on a full screen and on wireless connections both at home and here. I'm here in Brazil and she's in Los Angeles.

My wife is also almost 7 months pregnant so it's been great to communicate face-to-face. But the most precious moments are when she points the camera to her belly where I can actually see the baby kicking. This is truly priceless. It's also been great for showing her all the stuff my parents bought for our baby.

Another first: A friend of mine in LA watched an entire soccer game (Eurocup) over iChat here in Brazil since it wasn't being broadcasted in the US. I pointed the camera to my TV and he saw his team playing live.

For those who are wondering whether the iSight is still a good investment, waste no time. Go ahead and buy one. You won't regret it.

Timfucius in Brazil

I have semi-regular video chats using my iSight camera with a friend in Tokyo. Except for a very slight delay, it works great! Several of my friends and also my daughter have the iSight camera. No comlaints from them so far.

A couple things to check: make sure your bandwidth speeds match. She may not have any control over this, but you can set yours to match hers under the iChatAV ConnectionDoctor under the Audio/Video Menubar.

Also, please give an exact number (upload/download) for what you mean by "Broadband". To some people who only recently left modem-land, this means anything above 56K

A RAM upgrade should DEFINITELY help. I don't know how she manages to do much of anything with only 64MB.

I've had no problems doing AV chats from random hotel rooms on a 12" Powerbook w/ 640MB RAM and an 867Mhz CPU. The other side is usually my girlfriend on our 1.1Mbit SDSL connection or work or a client w/ a T1 or better.

There are a whole bunch of other potential problems, like the upload speed on her broadband connection, rate-limiting/traffic shaping her provider does on the connection and whole bunch of other stuff(Don't get me started on the crappy service/connectivity most ISPs provide these days. Short version: If you want to do anything other than just suck down web pages, you need business-grade DSL or something similar.) you may not have control over.

To wrap up, stick some more RAM in her box(don't hold back, drop at least another 128MB, pref. 512MB in it. It's cheap enough) and see what happens.
Let me know if you're still having problems.