Given both technological improvements and the rising cost of travel, videoconferencing like that offered by LifeSize Communications has finally become both affordable and usable. When it emerged eight years ago, videoconferencing's poor quality and high prices kept it from fulfilling vendors' claims that it would mean 'the end of business travel.' Now, however, new codecs allow high-definition video transmissions over limited broadband, and prices have dropped from the hundreds of thousands to four figures. LifeSize recently released two Express versions that provide quality videoconferencing for the price. The cheaper of the two versions has a fixed camera, called Focus, while for another thousand dollars, users can get a camera that pans, tilts, and zooms. Both use a low-profile appliance so portable that it fits in a briefcase. Testing of the pan/tilt/zoom system yielded fairly impressive results. Although the video wasn't as sharp as HD television, it was far sharper than the reviewers' previous videoconferencing experiences. Perhaps the most significant difference between LifeSize Express and more expensive systems is its lower call capacity. Multiparty calls require connection to LifeSize MP or Room units. Under typical WAN conditions, delays were, at worst, slightly noticeable, even with latency added in. Blurry pictures can be modified by adding extra bandwidth, while packet loss and lost connectivity cause more serious problems. Setup, however, was a breeze, and with some attention to quality-of-service settings, LifeSize Express 'can be a valuable communications tool.'