Polycom ships HDX 4000 / 8000 HD video conferencing systems

Remember that snazzy HD video conferencing system that Polycom introduced back in July? That very system is finally shipping alongside its beefed up sibling, the HDX 8000. Each of the "video collaboration solutions" enables users to see distanced colleagues in high-definition, and both flavors come with HDX Version 2.0 software that features Lost Packet Recovery (LPR) technology. Apparently, the 4000 series is geared towards executive desktops, offices and small meeting areas, while the 8000 lineup fits best in conference rooms, class rooms and large meeting areas. Nothing like blowing a little (if you consider $9,999 to $13,999 to be "little") of that extra revenue on jazzing up the office, right?

[David Clark @ Dec 11th 2007 9:36PM]

I really wish I had one of these so I could moon d*ckmaster360, as if anyone really was interested in his lame website.

[Blackstar @ Dec 11th 2007 10:23PM]

So... now we pay 20K so we can watch a bunch of suits slouching in chairs watching the latest lame Power Point presentation... in HD? O.o At least with tele-conferencing you can pretend to pay attention to the TSP reports while you keep working.

[Andrew @ Dec 11th 2007 11:33PM]

@Blackstar:
2 things:

I read "suits" as "sluts" when I first read your comment, and,

I'll get you a copy of that memo.

[Blackstar @ Dec 12th 2007 3:40AM]

@ Andrew

Do you have my stapler?

[Alex @ Dec 11th 2007 9:55PM]

This is an episode of The Office waiting to happen...I think.
They had a hard time enough transitioning to BlackBerry phones.

[legaleagll @ Dec 11th 2007 10:04PM]

Testing

[wesg @ Dec 11th 2007 10:35PM]

... and getting the writers to write

[john @ Dec 11th 2007 10:02PM]

Could it be any more expensive? I don't shop that cheap...

[john @ Dec 11th 2007 10:03PM]

Wow!

[Russ @ Dec 11th 2007 10:13PM]

We've got these things (older versions) in our area offices. Pretty cool I suppose; all the cameras are motorized and you can control one another's zoom / area of focus. The VP likes to scan for nappers during meetings and get nice closeups broadcasted to the entire company.

Bridging all the offices together still requires a call in # and it looks like the opening of The Brady Brunch. I wish I could have setup Skype with nice cams and pocketed the remaining 20k our company spent.

[Chip Anderson @ Dec 11th 2007 10:46PM]

Hopefully we'll have one of these soon enough. I can't wait to try it out. Guess these are to compete with the LifeSize models out.

[Galang @ Dec 12th 2007 2:20AM]

the military buys shit like this all the time.

[Cart3l @ Dec 12th 2007 3:18AM]

How Co-incidental! I went to a Demo for the HDX 9000 yesterday. Pretty Amazing stuff. These guys had a setup with 2 50" plasmas a conferenced with another office in Texas. No lag, perfect sound and picture, all on a 2Mb pipe. Their entire conference room solution puts even the 9000 to shame though.

[Aaron @ Dec 12th 2007 5:56AM]

Looks a lot like the Dell Optiplex SX260/SX270.

[Anthony Vello @ Dec 12th 2007 9:05AM]

We just purchased 8 of these systems, for all our affiliates, along with 8 sharp 52in LCD's, and another T1 for every building. Cash...burning a hole apparently.

The price is pretty reasonable when it means you don't have to take the trip to China as much.

[Fernando @ Dec 12th 2007 10:57AM]

They should have put about a dozen more ports on the back. Come on, doesn't everyone want their videoconferencing hardware to be able to double as a network hub, USB hub, and stream the HD video to 3,468 displays simultaneously? Right?Right?

[Nik @ Dec 12th 2007 11:23AM]

this machine is the bane of my existence.

[Mile @ Dec 12th 2007 1:07PM]

It better come with a years supply of makeup. HD really shows those blemishes.

[Andy Engelkemier @ Dec 12th 2007 2:17PM]

It's got tons of options and the quality is good, but the interface of the actual video screens is not attractive. It's just the video in a blue border. It's wasting space at the edge of the screen and between boxes and you can't put one video on top of another.

they should take note that people really like rounded corners and things that looks a bit softer when dealing with just some rectangles up on screen.

we took a look at a lesser quality Sony model and, although much less useable, the interface looked quite nice. The sony one was dumb though because you couldn't see the video when you were messing with settings or viewing packet loss. That's one really nice thing about the polycom. That and you can also control it completely from a remote computer via the internet.

You better run a dedicated line, or run a network bridge for these at larger locations with more bandwidth, for these bad boys though. It'll suck up All your bandwidth.

Also, if you are going over seas and don't pay for dedicated oversea bandwidth then don't even bother. We'll need to upgrade ours here to use these, and we probably will.

[Blackstar @ Dec 12th 2007 2:26PM]

Ooook. Lets do some math:

Sharp 52" LCD TV - $2,499.99 x 8 = $19,999.92
HDX 8000 - $13,999 x 8 = $111,999.92
Total = $131,999.84

Round trip flight and week long hotel stay in Beijing = $1,300 on
Travelocity.

You could fly back and forth to China staying a week at a time and still
get 101.5 flights for the same price! How often do you have to go?!?!
O.o You should move the whole company there. I think it would be
cheaper.

[monstroy @ Dec 13th 2007 5:58PM]

Why would you need 8 systems and 8 plasmas? I think you'd only need one tv and one system on each side for a conference, they use ptz cameras not webcams.

I think you're missing the point, these systems are targeted to companies with several branch offices that perform meetings between them, and besides, what would you prefer, and +8 hour long flight with its accompanying jet lag or a quick trip to the office to push a button and start your meeting?

[Tom @ Dec 12th 2007 7:19PM]

we just got one of these in our offices....pretty sweet, but our cross-atlantic conferences are nowhere near HD quality. sigh....

[Danny Lewis @ Dec 13th 2007 5:06PM]

I work at an extended campus of a state university and we're getting new polycoms to replace our aging Vtel units (they boot Windows 98!!!) by fall of 2008. I can't wait! Although, I don't know if these will be the units we'll get. If so, man it'll be expensive: 14,000 * 5 ITV classrooms * 4 campuses (+ 14,000 * 2 additional rooms on the largest campus) = $308,000!

[theceo @ Dec 24th 2007 12:33AM]

Here is everything you need to know about video conferencing for business. These are my proven methods now available for the first time in print. I do this for free because I want too share these secrets so you can help the usa economy by running a good business and you can't run a good business if you are watching tv instead.

Chap. 1. Just like sub-prime mortgage scams made a few people rich selling products that must people couldn't afford or didn't need, a few companies are getting rich selling video as hollow, unproven promises of productivity.

Chap 2. Ever use even the latest greatest video systems? They don't work. Ever. Firewalls, networks, packet loss, cables, settings, bugs], hang-ups, resets, freezes, it goes on and on and on and on and on. Way Worse than xbox. Think of it like using windows 3.1.

Chap 3. Basically - most of what you need can be had with web-ex, mega-meeting, sight-speed, they all have low cost enterprise video solutions right now that cost hundreds, not hundreds of thousands. THese products are designed from ground up for business communications. Try one of these first for 1 year, then decide if it is worth 300 or 400K more to see your bosses nasty face or hairy legs in HD, performing like he's on a really bad episode of American idol. Don't be foolish and jump into video without knowing the total cost of ownership - it is extreme and I've seen it all come and go. Anywhere there is video, it has eventually proven a worthless distraction. Businesses just don't need to lay down all that hard earned cash - if you have money to lose, buy a few speaker phones, put the rest in a CD at your local bank and give the interest to employees at end of year. Really. It will be way more effective at improving productivity.

Chap 4. Or on the other hand, sure - swallow the little yellow pill and then go spend 500K+ and roll out a big video campaign, redo all your networks for HD video (Oh - didn't they mention you need all new networks and it might not play with your new voip network? Cisco hearts HD video). Yep buy all this equipment and TV screens and fancy crap and announce Mission Accomplished. Then, take a big quarterly restructuring charge, sit back and wonder why it gathers dust. At that point, when you are depressed about wasting a few hundred thousand dollars, you will need to hire some eye-candy for the boss when he wants to have a video conference (go rent some models by the hour at the local talent agency). You win two ways - your boss is happy about his beautiful workers, and the real employees are happily making money for the company and feeding their families.

Chap 5. Here is great secret, I'll save you a few million dollars and I will tell you why after all your hard work, your fancy video toys gather dust. I will tell you for free even though I could charge thousands. It is like free money from me to you. Here it is:
Theorem. Regular subordinate employees hate video. Really, really, really hate it.
Corollary. Even when it does manage to work they still hate it.
Execs buy this for the same reason why people buy exercise equipment and then sell it at a garage sale a year or two later - buying something with the intention of improving results feels good but doesn’t really count the same as actually achieving results. Video conferencing will do the same for your business as that plastic abs roller did for you and your sex life and its yours for only 5000 easy payments of $99.99. The reason all those 747s fill up between LAX/SFO and India/China? Smart people work with smart people to get real results. They are too busy making real money to sit around and watch themselves on TV.

Chap 6. If you read the preceding chapters and you think you can only stay competitive with a 500K video solution just so you can look important on TV, you are obviously very much smarter than 99% of all businesses who don't waste valuable money on this stuff. So, you are allowed to skip ahead to Chap13.

Class dismissed.