... After reading lots of reviews (one of which has been copied here and not removed despite a complaint from me!) I decided that I would go for the Logitech QuickCam Pro 3000, which I bought for just under £70 from Amazon.
~~~ Technical Specification ~~~
For all those techies out there here ... Read review
...I would go for the Logitech QuickCam Pro 3000, which I bought for just under £70 from Amazon.
~~~ Technical Specification ~~~
For all those techies out there here is the spec for you.
Sensor : high resolution 640x480 (VGA) CCD
Lens : manual focus
Microphone : built in
Video capture : up to 640 x 480 pixels
Still image capture up to 640 x 480 pixels
Number of colours : thousands ... ...second
~~~ The Camera ~~~
The camera is very sleek looking in silver and grey. It has a built in microphone and a button on top to press for still shots. Of course said stills show you with your arm in the air pressing the button! The area around the lens swivels to allow you to focus and if you want privacy it has "sunglasses" which you flip down to cover the lens. The camera swivels fully on the base and if you are ... more
Foolish though it may sound I recently decided the time had come for me to show my face with a web cam. After reading lots of reviews (one of which has been copied here and not removed despite a complaint from me!) I decided that I would go for the Logitech QuickCam Pro 3000, which I bought for just under £70 from Amazon.
~~~ Technical Specification ~~~ For all those techies out there here is the spec for you.
Sensor : high resolution 640x480 (VGA) CCD Lens : manual focus Microphone : built in Video capture : up to 640 x 480 pixels Still image capture up to 640 x 480 pixels Number of colours : thousands of millions Video capture rate : 30 frames per second
~~~ The Camera ~~~ The camera is very sleek looking in silver and grey. It has a built in microphone and a button on top to press for still shots. Of course said stills show you with your arm in the air pressing the button! The area around the lens swivels to allow you to focus and if you want privacy it has "sunglasses" which you flip down to cover the lens. The camera swivels fully on the base and if you are using a flat screen monitor or laptop there is a special clip you can attach to secure it firmly. It does look very nice perched up there on top of my monitor. It also comes with a 2 year guarantee instead of just the normal year.
~~~ Installation ~~~ Installation is simple with this camera as it is a USB device. You simply plug it into your USB port and then install the software to run it. Unlike other reviewers I had no problems installing the software, the installation went without a hitch. The only real drawback is that the USB cable is very heavy and tends to give you a limited position to swivel the camera to. This can make it hard to point it in the right direction.
~~~ Software ~~~ This camera comes with an impressive software bundle. To be honest I've only played with the software a little so I won't give you an in depth opinion on each piece. I will give you a list though.
QuickCam image capturing software with fully integrated video email, Web album creator and Web cam software MGI PhotoSuite III SE image editing software (fully functional version) MGI VideoWave III SE video editing software (fully functional version) SpotLife Internet Personal Broadcasting Digital Radar II video monitoring software Microsoft NetMeeting Reality Fusion GameCam SE and screen saver software Cresta Cards Video greeting software (light version)
~~~ NetMeeting ~~~ One of the reasons that I wanted this model was that it came with NetMeeting. I use NetMeeting a lot at work without a camera and I was aware that this is really handy software for chatting, sharing files and generally having meetings. I also know that my cousins, and a number of friends have this and I could use it to video call them. I like this method of communication as I think you get a lot more from a face to face conversation than just a simple phone call, also its cheaper to call them online than offline. Although Dave finds it a little strange that I start doing my make up when I'm going to "call" my friends. That’s what I use my camera for most often and I've found it excellent for this purpose as the image quality is smooth and clear. When I first got the camera though I was itching to use it so I went onto NetMeeting to see who was out there – I soon found out there were a LOT of naked people out there. Since then I stick to private calls with my friends and family.
~~~ Video Capture ~~~ I wasn't particularly interested in video capture but I have found it useful for video capture on the motion sensor function. I have my camera pointing at the back door and set to motion sensor constantly. If anyone ever breaks in (and doesn't steal the PC!) I'll have a handy video shot of them for the police. Provided they walk past the back door at some point. In the meantime I find lots of shots on there of my cats wandering around and sometimes hubby in his underwear!
~~~ Live Webcasts ~~~ The software and the camera do give me the option to have a live webcast. I don't think me sitting in front of the PC would really be very exciting for anyone though. Also the sight of Dave running around in his boxers might bring the police running round! I would have liked to have this facility on my wedding day though as then my Internet friends would have been able to see me before I went off to church. Maybe if I ever have children I'll webcast their antics, I know someone who did this and used to watch whilst she was at work and her friend looked after the baby. She said it made leaving him easier knowing that she could just tune in at any time.
~~~ The Bottom Line ~~~ I've had this camera about 4 months now and I'm still really pleased with my purchase. The software allows me to do all I want and much more. The image quality is excellent and I have yet to encounter any problems. Oh and now I know where to go when I want to see naked people, there are loads of them out there waiting to chat!
Advantages: Great picture quality and supplied software Disadvantages: So-so technical support via email, intermittent working mic
...fired off an email to Logitech after wading through the very comprehensive FAQs and support assistant at their site. No joy. They came back and made some suggestions and said if that didn't work, I could call a number in the USA. Not much fun when you are in the UK.
So apart from my gripe with the mic, this is a great camera. I'm sure that I probably only get this problem because I have so much hardware in my system, it takes a 6ft freezer to cool ... ...I'm sure Logitech are great at customer support and as soon as I get another moment to tspend more time getting it to work I will do so, but now I have the NTL 512K broadband connection (see another of my reviews about that here) then the connection we get to relatives in the States (with their DSL connection) it makes for an entertaining evening or two. I guess I have to recommend the cam since it is great and the inbuilt mic did even work once ...
Guyonahi 01.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Logitech Quickcam Pro
Advantages: good picture, great sound Disadvantages: none
I just read another review on this and thought I would add mine as I love this product.
I have had other, more expensive cameras that didn't work half as well as this one does.Once you get your focus set it stays and is nice and clear.
When I went shopping for my latest cam I checked out many different ones and this one had the most features and a lesser price.In the states it was on sale for $49.95 with a $20.00 rebate so you sure can't beat that.
... ...Pop in the cd and about 10 minutes later you are ready to go.
I can take pictures of myself or anyone else that is sitting in front of the computer which comes in handy to e-mail relatives with a computer but no cam. You can also send it direct from the program to the e-mail address you select. You can save it to your desktop in tranferring it via a program such as icq that doesn't have cam capabilities.
You can use it on netmeeting which comes ...
Rosie6349 17.12.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Logitech Quickcam Pro
Advantages: Easy to install, good picture quality Disadvantages: None
...reccomend the following camera.
LOGITECH 3000 USB
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Logitech is famous in the Web Cam Market for providing cheap cams if not always great cams. However this is a marked improvement over the Quick Cam Express.
Good picture quality is obviously a requirement on their drawing boards today as the resolution, grain and texture of its video and still photo pictures has much improved.
Reasonable Price
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You can buy ... ...you are looking for. The Express at half of this price is worth steering clear of. At £60, it really does offer superior performance and is the minimum quality you should buy.
Easy and Quick to install.
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Installation is a synch. You need a vacant USB port to plug the camera into. Auto detecting machines will then offer to install the drivers and the relevant software from CD.
About 5 minutes.
Easy to position and use ...
andycharger 17.12.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Logitech Quickcam Pro
Advantages: Image & Sound Quality; Software included Disadvantages: Price
Logitech QuickCam Pro ===================== For 100 Euro, you've got yourself this complete and high-quality webcam. - Resolution: 640x480 This is the ideal resolution for a webcam. Still, if your connection to the Internet is a bit slower, you can switch to 320*240. Comparing to the other Logitech webcams, the “Web” has also 640*480 but with less software. The “Express” has only 320*240 and even less software. I would certainly ... ...the most important features. Logitech also gives you for free
a) Unlimited web camming
b) 10mb for storage of recorded videos or digital pictures
c) 60 minutes of live streaming video
at www.sportlife.com during a 30-day trial membership.
The camera is also very easy to install and to use. I never ever had problems during installation. To use the camera, I have till now never used the instruction manual. I would sincerely recommend this camera! ...
Bastien 28.04.2001 (18.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Logitech Quickcam Pro
Advantages: Build quality, Good picture, Built in Mic, Can be used with a camera tripod. Disadvantages: Picture quality suffers in low light.
This came to me as a prize from a well known UK internet magazine. However I feel I would have still bought this web cam had I needed to purchase it.
***Build quality and features***
The cam is well made and has stood up to much abuse. Atheistic wise its silver and dark grey features, coupled with its bulbous eye make it look like a proper web cam. One nice feature is the camera will fit on either the enclosed two stands for desktop and laptop ... ...with an old tripod to get some extra flexibility on where I positioned the cam. The cable that attaches the cam to a USB port can be a bit inflexible at times making it hard on occasion to position the cam exactly. There is a focus ring on the front and a button on top to take an instant picture and a built in mircophone.
***Installation***
Installation was easy enough. Make sure you install the software first then after it has rebooted plug the ...
PJHilder 03.09.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Logitech Quickcam Pro
Picture quality
Video capture rate
Colour sensitivity
Ease of Installation
Value For Money
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- - - - -Whats in the box- - - - -
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The webcam
An instillation CD
Instruction manual
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