The Padcaster Parrot Teleprompter Kit, Portable Teleprompter for iPhone

The reviews for this product do not do it justice. It has one problem that can be resolve, and it has to do with the remote with an Android phone, which I will explain below. But to focus first on the teleprompter itself, this teleprompter is one of the best anywhere for someone needing to use a phone. It is incredibly well designed. Sensible in every respect. The quality of workmanship is excellent, but if you are rough with your equipment, it will break. That is true for anything. ANYTHING. But if you are not rough with things, this teleprompter is amazingly well designed and very great for any use where a phone is used as the text platform. I have used a lot of teleprompters, and I have other high end teleprompters, and this is my goto teleprompter. It is great in a mobile setting, and great in a studio. Now, let me tell you the problem, and this is the reason for many of the bad reviews. The app for the Android phone does not work. It is simply broken. It can be fixed apparently with an add-on hack that you can do to your phone if you are into risky things like that. I am not. But basically, the remote that comes with this teleprompter can be thrown away if you are using an Android phone. The app for the iPhone works fine. No problem. You can use the included remote with an iPhone without any difficulty. But if you are using an Android phone, you need a different solution. And here it is.... If you are using an Android phone, what you need is a different teleprompter remote and app. So you need to purchase that separately. My preference is the Neewer teleprompter remote, which costs about $35. It is called the "NEEWER RT113 Remote Control for NEEWER Teleprompter App ONLY". So you need to use the Neewer teleprompter app with this remote. But this app and remote work flawlessly with the Parrot teleprompter. Again, if you are using an iPhone, you can use the remote that comes with the Parrot Teleprompter. You only need a different remote if you have an Android phone. Is the Parrot Teleprompter worth the trouble if you have to purchase a different remote for $35? In my opinion, it is worth it. Everyone has to make up their own mind about this. But that combination, the Parrot Teleprompter plus the Neewer remote and app, really is a great solution to those who want teleprompting with an Android phone. And if you use an iPhone, you can avoid purchasing the third party remote and use the remote that comes with the Parrot Teleprompter. Full disclosure, I emailed the company long ago and told them that I would write a great review for their teleprompter if they fixed the app for the Android phone. I was bribing them hoping they would fix the app. To my knowledge, that has not yet happened, and I am not holding my breath about it. They know there is a problem. But I see these bad reviews, and I worry that this teleprompter may stop being produced, which would mean that I could not purchase them any longer. I have purchased 7 of them so far. So I am writing this review with the hope that the product remains in production and for sale.

Single best piece of equipment for creating your own podcast videos hands down. The price point compared to similar items made the Parrot Teleprompter seem too good to be true. It it doesn't matter how low the price is if the product doesn't work, right? But this one does! I read the reviews and took a chance and ordered it. Two days later I was unboxing it and marveling at quality build and the number of adapters included to fit just about any lens. Note: The 77mm adapter comes attached to the back cover that protects the unit when not in use. It looks like it's one solid piece but it does screw off... just not easily. The 77mm adapter is the one I needed and was I frustrated by not finding one among all of the individually packaged adapters. I even searched online to purchase one separately. I finally noticed there was one image on the website that showed the back cover separated from the ring. I tried separating the ring from the back and it didn't budge at first. It REALLY looks like it's one solid piece. The size and shape make it difficult to get a good grip on the two pieces to provide the torque necessary to unscrew them but perseverance paid off after several attempts. Setup was easy and soon I was ready to experiment. I bought the remote control and I think it is essential to having a good experience with the teleprompter. I will review the remote separately but let me note here that the remote could use more explicit setup instructions too. I actually thought it was defective and ordered a replacement. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime because the replacement was on it's way before I even boxed up the return. I moved to getting my script loaded into the app. That wasn't as easy as it seemed either. Another issue that would disappear with more explicit instructions. Unless you want to type in your script using the tiny keypad on your phone, which seems gruelling and time consuming, you'll want to type it up on your computer and then transfer it to your app via Dropbox or File Explorer. It's super cool that Parrot has automated the process with Dropbox for us. Follow the steps inside the setup menu and in less than a minute you'll establish a direct connection between your Parrot app and a special folder on Dropbox where you can save all of your scripts. All that was easy. The missing bit of information in the instructions is that your script needs to be saved in a *.txt format. Mine was saved as a Word document and it showed up as a million different symbols in the teleprompter. I called Parrot and spoke to Darrell (I believe) and he, very kindly, set me straight. Once I had all that figured out I setup my first experiment. Without the remote it was difficult. Speaking in a normal voice with a normal pace, which is what one would want to do in a video podcast, we naturally speed up and slow down depending on the content. No matter where I set the speed it was either too fast or too slow depending on the flow of the script. The remote really is essential for a polished performance. Having said that, the app works perfectly. The teleprompter is easy to read and incredibly helpful. The phone clamp is a little loose so you have to make sure your phone is seated properly but that is no problem. I imagine it would be impossible to make a universal fit, fit perfectly. Yesterday my replacement remote arrived. At first I thought it was another dud and called Parrot for help. By the way, they are awesome. Friendly, helpful and very professional. It turned out that the power button isn't meant to remain lit and the connect button on the back must be depressed by the tip of something much smaller than a fingertip or fingernail- but not sharp. Darrell suggested the end of a paper clip but I was reluctant to use that. I was afraid the thin plastic cover over the button would puncture. I used a closed ball point pen and that worked. Including this step in the instructions would make this issue a non issue. Making the button easier to use would be even better. Once I had it paired with my phone I reset my experiment. Fantastic! With the remote in hand I could start, stop, pause, speed up and slow down the script as much as needed to generate the perfectly timed script. Knowing I was in complete control of the speed helped me relax and focus on the content which made for a much more natural delivery. I gave the Parrot Teleprompter five stars despite the initial difficulties because the issues are with the instructions NOT the product. I would encourage the company to revise the included instructions and include a few FAQs and tips for the initial setup. Aside from that the five stars are definitely well deserved. I just don't think a better option for the price is available.

Used this for productions I do for my company and it allowed me to show scripts for interviews on the lens for the talent to not have to memorize it. Due to the size, it is unobtrusive but is a bit small for talent who are aging or have eye issues, but it is very cool as it's size makes it not possible to see the talent reading left to right. If your talent is younger or your somewhat close to them during production... this thing is great and the software for your phone (which you need to make this work) is free to download and is packed with features. I bought the additional remote and it is great too! I have recently upgraded to full size production teleprompter but this I will keep for smaller shoots.

Lorsque je l'ai acheté c'était super, même si ouvrir le clapet et y glisser le téléphone en même temps est compliqué tout seul (car le clapet est très serré). Mais au bout de quelques mois, le prompteur a commencé à pencher, ça doit être le matériau: plastique: pas très solide...Dommage...

This little device works much better than expected. To be honest, I thought I was getting Version 2, with its better phone support, but it's not a deal-breaker. I love the fact that it's so compact; it sits very easily into a relatively small camera bag alongside a DSLR and shotgun microphone, making for a sweet little grab-bag for videos.

Mit der richtigen Optik klappt es super man muss allerdings etwas ran zoomen

Excellent product. It is compact and user friendly.