ACN IRIS 3000 VIDEOPHONE REVIEW

This review is for the ACN IRIS 3000 Videophone. This phone is a voice over IP (VOIP) phone that promises unlimited calls to the US, Canada, & Puerto Rico and unlimited videophone calls between other ACN videophones, all for the monthly cost of about $40 after taxes & fees.

It is necessary to have a broadband internet connection for this phone to operate. It is supposed to be easy to plug in and turn on, making it appealing for folks with limited technical skills. Also the promise of seeing the person you are talking to is exciting and this promises to be the next wave of technology.

I purchased the phone when I signed up as a representative for ACN, this review in no way reflects an opinion on the opportunity the company provides.

The phone had some high expectations to live up to. Installation was easy- just plug the phone into a high speed internet connection and turn the power on. It registered just fine and voice quality was good. Video quality with other phones took a little time to optimize and was good at best. The largest issue is that the video part only works with other ACN phones and to this date the only people I know who have one are ACN reps or their families.

A few other features of the phone are worth mentioning. You can connect another phone to it and use that for voice calls (cordless phone). You can also plug a USB drive or SD photo card and it will show photos on the 7" screen. I did have to return my original device because of a problem with the screen and it was replaced for free under warranty.

Over the past 6 months I have used the phone extensively in my home office. My complaints are as follows. As anyone who uses a corded phone can attest to, handset cords tend to get tangled after any considerable amount of use- this cord is permanently attached to the handset so is not easily replaceable nor can you use a swivel with it. The speakerphone works well as a speaker can. The larger issues are connectivity and the phone operation itself. Mine frequently drops calls and 'locks up' and must be power cycled, at a rate of at least once per day. Sometimes when you pick up the handset to make a call it takes 10-15 seconds to respond. I have put in several support requests and have made changes in my router to give the phone a static IP address and also open all ports recommended by ACN. I also have a 25/15 MBps FIOS connetion which is the fastest you can get. Not good for a device that promises to be easy to use.

Despite all my issues, so far ACN refuses to waive their early termination fee if I cancel before the 2 year committment is up. I intend to cancel service anyways because the phone is clearly not up to par with what I expect for phone service. My wife hit the nail on the head when she said it was more of a novelty. I am certain that video calls are the future of communication and hopefully ACN will get it right soon. I would not recommend this phone to anyone.

Delaware River Canoe Trip 2009

This was the 25th annual trip organized by my friend Jeff. Its on the upper Delaware starting at Skinners Falls and ending in Minisink, about 25 miles. We leave on Friday and stay at Jeffs place at Lake Wallenpaupack and then Saturday we do about 13 miles to our campsite along the river. This year we stretched it out another day to spend a full day at the campsite which was fun. We leave vehicles parked at strategic places so we don't have to carry all the gear the whole way. We caught a bunch of smallmouth bass with 2 keepers that we had for dinner. The campsite is not a commercial one and we've been lucky not to show up there while someone else is there- or should I say they've been lucky!

Thanks for Jeff for organizing another great trip this year and to Wilton for being the camp bitch.


Here is a link to the photos

Catching up

So this spring we moved our garden to a better spot in our yard and started a compost pile. We started a bunch of greens from seeds and when we finally got them in it started the rainy month of June which held them back but as you will see things are looking up. We got 3 more chickens for a total of 8 hens, the new ones should start laying in the next month or so.

We're keeping busy with our regular jobs and also trying to get the soap business going. No big plans for this summer other than some weekends up at the lake.

Springtime pics- the wisteria was awesome again

Garden pics

Today!

Our neighbors brew beer and have started some hops along the fence.

Dorinda in the News!

We had a story done in the local paper on Wash Tyme and Freedom Fuel! Check it out below:

PhillyBurbs.com: Clean and green

Phillies Game

Andy got to go to the Phillies v Braves game yesterday with a few friends courtesy of Frederick Mutual. The seats were awesome and we got to see the Phillies come from a 10-3 deficit to win the game! We were sitting a few seats away from our Governor Ed Rendell. The beer was cold and the peanuts were good.

Tour of biodiesel plant

My friend John and I drove out to Camp Hill PA today to tour Keystone Biofuels plant, check out the photos on our website http://www.freedomfuelnow.com/

It was pouring on the way out, on the way home the sun was coming out and we saw about 10 rainbows no kidding!

Winter Get-away

We left the chickens in the custody of our neighbors Mike & Amy and drove up to Jay NY 2 Fridays ago to spend a week at Blair & Marjorie's place. Blair, Marjorie, and an old friend Kurt that I used to work with were there for the first few days. We had fun taking walks with the dogs, hanging out and building fires. Kurt left on Monday and Blair & Marjorie left Tuesday morning. Andy went skiing at Whiteface on Wednesday and the rest of the time we spent reading, listening to the radio, and just relaxing. No TV!

Their house is very nice, at the end of a street with hiking trail right out the door. And only 10 minutes from the ski area.

Here are the photos:

More Chickens!

It appears that we will be adding 2-3 more chickens to our herd or flock or whatever you call a group of chickens. Stay tuned for more details and eggs!

Sustainabilty Conference

I (Andy) spoke at a Culinart corporate conference at Columbia University in Manhattan today about biodiesel. They provide food services for many colleges and corporate clients. This is the 2nd conference I spoke at for them. They bought 240 bars of soap from Wash Tyme this month and we're very excited to get the soap in peoples hands to try.

I was one of 4 members of a "distinguished panel"! Just spreading the word about this renewable and recycled fuel, people are just as interested about the soap. The President said that a company mandate as of February is all used fryer oil will be going to companies who make biodiesel! There were 2 sessions of at least 50 people each.

There was a fantastic Mediterranean-style lunch done by some of the company's top chefs. My friend & biodiesel partner John Morano went with me. I'll post up a few pics ASAP.

The Incredible Edible Egg!

So we're getting about 4-5 delicious fresh organic eggs per day! The birds are funny because in spite of having 2 nests they only lay in one.