Hubby and I had been researching webcams - well ok then, it was mainly hubby, as he's the technical one - and we'd more or less decided that Logitech was the make for us. It appeared that they did reasonably priced cameras with good pictures and sound and the fact that they had models which had built in microphones seemed like a great idea as it would mean less clutter on our desk. Almost as if by telepathy a fellow Ciaoer posted a review on the Logitech QuickCam Communicate. I read Bluebutton's review and it definitely tipped the balance for us, we were going to buy a Logitech QuickCam Communicate, but alas this was not to be….Logitech no longer marketed this model of webcam. The Logitech® QuickCam® Communicate™ STX. - Product Number 961410-0914 seemed to be the replacement for Bluebutton's webcam and was the one we decided to buy.
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On 19th September 2005 we bought this Logitech webcam from PC World at the reasonably competitive price of £27.59 and rushed home to set up our new toy
and 'play' with it. The installation process was really easy - if I say it's easy, believe me, it's easy, I'm such a technophobe!! I put the installation disc into our PC and followed all the prompts, attached the camera on top of the computer screen, using the supplied flatpanel clip and the webcam was up and running before I could say cheese. We had fun with the webcam, took some pictures, made some short videos with voice messages, we even attached some to emails and sent them to friends. We were really enjoying our new toy! The next step was to have a video conversation with someone…my sister was nominated and agreed that she'd make herself available to have a video chat with me on MSN……Disaster struck!….the pictures were great….I could see her…she could see me….I could hear her, but……all she could hear was static noise!!!
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With hindsight, this was not the best time for us to buy this camera, as we had plans to have some building work carried out on the house, which of course left us short of 'playing' time with our new toy. However we (I use the term 'we' very loosely, as I have already stated, I'm a complete technophobe) did over the next month or so attempt to chat to friends with our new webcam and tweak computer settings etc etc. Hubby contacted Logitech's customer support team, who attempted to give assistance, but still the only sound our friends got to hear was a high pitched static noise, which they told us (very politely) was very uncomfortable on the ears. The suggestion was made by a member of Logitech's team that perhaps we had a faulty webcam and we were supplied with a refund code to take to PC World along with the 'suspect' webcam.
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It was 16th November before we could get to PC World to exchange our webcam and we decided that we'd try another brand, to check if perhaps it was our two month old PC which was causing the problem. We came home with another make of webcam with a separate microphone, this was in the interests of elimination, in case the inbuilt microphone of the Logitech webcam was too close to a magnetic field. Hubby set this webcam up as I was feeling seriously out of my depth by now and we attempted to make contact with some friends…..the scenario was becoming very familiar….Good pictures both sides….good sound our side…..static noise deafening our friends!!! We headed back to PC World, as agreed with them, to exchange this webcam for our original choice - the Logitech® QuickCam® Communicate™ STX. Hubby took our PC back to the factory settings and then installed our new webcam, we tried another conversation, this was becoming extremely embarrassing, we were fast running out of friends who were willing to have their ears assaulted by the static noise, but we were convinced that this would 'cure' our problem….did it?.....Did it heck!! A last ditch effort, we thought, one more talk with the technical support folks at Logitech before we just give up. Hubby spoke to someone on the phone who instantly identified the problem….the installation CD supplied would not work on our PC as it was too new and there was a possible software conflict. He gave us a www address to download updated installation software for our webcam……and guess what……it worked just fine….set up and running in about five minutes.
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The following information is supplied by Logitech:
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS:
• Sensor: High quality VGA • Video Capture: Up to 640 x 480 pixels • Still Image Capture: 1.3 mexapixels (interpolated) • Video File Type: AVI • Still Image File Types: BMP, JPEG • Frame Rate: Up to 30 frames per second (with recommended system) • Field of View: 42 degrees horizontal • Optics: Fixed focus • USB 2.0 and 1.1 compliant • Cable length: 6 ft. USB cable
• Live video calls with free trial of Logitech VideoCall for broadband • Live video integrated with MSN® Messenger • Live video on AIM®/AOL® Instant Messenger™ • Works with Yahoo!® Messenger • Works with Windows® Messenger (XP only) • Includes Logitech QuickCam software for capturing stills and videos • Web camming software
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Since we've had our Logitech up and running we've enjoyed video chatting with friends and think that we did, in fact, make a good choice of webcam. We've had one two hour chat with a fellow ciaoer and spouse and during this enjoyable social exchange we were able to adjust the sound and lighting to our satisfaction. Mr and Mrs R assured us that they were getting good pictures and sound and that they could even understand our accents!!!
The quality of 'still' photographs is very good - the picture on my Ciao page was taken with our Logitech QuickCam.
The struggle we had to get the webcam up and running has been worthwhile as it really is a great product and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Information about a possible software conflict is now starting to appear on Logitech's website and there is a link to installation software, but there are no upgrades to the CD which is supplied with the webcam.
If this review helps even one person have an easier installation process than we had, I'll feel well rewarded for penning this saga.
A snippet of brief descriptive information in The Mail on Sunday (03/12/2005) - A webcam is an easy to usevideo camera that connects directly to your PC and, via the internet, beams live moving images to other computers with compatible software.
One benefit we have had in this lengthy installation process is that we bought our original webcam for £27.59 and by the time we finally completed the purchase process the price was £29.99 with a BOGOF (buy one get one free) offer. This price has since gone up to £39.99.
As we had no need of a second webcam, I sold it on Ebay.
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Contact information: www.logitech.co.uk
United Kingdom Logi (U.K.) LTD Units 9/10, Shaftsbury Court 18 Chalvey Park UK - Berkshire, SL1 2ER, Slough +44 (0)1753-870 900 Trade Sales Enquires +44 (0)207-3090127 Product Information +44 (0)207-3090126 Technical Help
N.B. Hubby has just informed me that a work colleague told him that his teenage son and friends were all aware of this conflict and knew to download the installation software from Logitech's website. I don't really know how to react to that ......I think a smile!!!
Pauline 2005
Pictures of Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX
Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX - on adjustable clip (attaches to most pc screens and notebooks
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Well Done on getting a Diamond for this review.....they are very rare nowdays !!!!........Roy....
ultrafrosty 13.09.2006 14:14
Very informative review on what seems to be a great product! I can see why this earned you a diamond! Not sure how the whole diamond thing works... any advice? D.
jesi 12.07.2006 00:51
this too was rated vh in December! ~ ~ .................................................................................................... ~ ♥ ~ jes ~ ♥♥
Dec 6th, 2005
exceptional by (25%):
very helpful by (74%):
helpful by (1%):
