Review: Audiovox Homebase

Calendar, picture frame and note taker in one

November 2008 By Grant Clauser

multipage

Within the calendar you can also add icons to highlight key dates, such as birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and special events.

The unit’s video camera accommodates all the various sizes of the people in your family by swiveling up and down. Picture quality isn’t great--it looks like an inexpensive Web cam--nor is the audio quality stellar, but it’s sufficient for simply family memos.

If you’re in a real hurry or don’t want anyone to see what your hair looks like that morning, then you can use either the whiteboard (a dry-erase marker--included--fits in a slot on the side) to scribble your notes, or the post-it notes pad (also included) to remind someone to pick up bread or feed the dog.

To ensure it’s not wasting valuable electricity while the family is in bed, HomeBase has a built-in light sensor that will shut the unit down when the room is dark. If you’re a vampire, you can program custom on/off times through the menu.

First, let me state flat out that I’m a big fan of this product. I like how it brings some pretty cool technology into the least tech part of a house and does so as a way to make family communication easier. That said, I’d like to see a few things done differently. First off, Audiovox should improve the video and audio recording quality. Second, this would be awesome with a built-in Wi-Fi connection that retrieves news, weather and Internet radio. Third, I’d work on the menu a bit. It’s can be slow to respond, and sometimes it’s not terribly intuitive. Finally, I’d get rid of the white board and post-it notes and make the product all-screen. With a digital memo taker why bother giving people the option of resorting to something so old-fashioned as writing. Bluetooh synchronization with cell phones for pictures and calendar events would also be nice. A HOME or ESC button that returns you to your slideshow would be a welcome addition. Of course, all that would cause the price to soar above the $199 MSRP (more like $180 in most stores).

Overall, Audiovox has created something completely original with the Homebase. I think their biggest problem is where to sell it, Kitchen and Bath or Best Buy.

Audiovox Homebase
$199
7-inch LCD screen
Video camera
1 GB memory
Camera card and USB ports
Digital Calendar
Timer and clock
White board
Post-it notes

www.audiovox.com