Logitech Quickcam Pro for Notebooks for Business

...image displayed as yourself with Logitech video effects and you can add features like glasses, beards or big eye brows. I'm not really sure why this is a selling point, but I suppose this might appeal more to a younger generation.

---------------My experience ----------

Well the install was incredibly easy which is always a good starting point, the software is actually needed.

We have been making quite ...
...week and the image displayed is pretty good, certainly when you are just using in the house to show others the picture is perfect and people we have talked to have mentioned how clear our image issue.

A good webcam which can be bought from the internet for around £45 from play.com

-------------------Technical specifications and other details --------------

Compatible with Windows XP/Vista
XP needs ... more

So after the end of travels I'm staying in Australia for a while, and one of the first
things I needed to do was to make an expensive phone call home to friends and family. However my girlfriend suggested using Skype to me which is free if your friend also has a Skype account. One feature of this is that you can talk to each other over a web cam as well and after a quick browse around the electrical shops in Perth we settled on this model as it was Skype accredited.

----------------- Following the set up guide ----------------

So after we had bought the camera I decided to follow the set up instructions to the letter. The first instructions was to insert the CD with software from Logitech. Now normally I install software like this and remove most of the components when everything is set up as much of this is not needed. However this is one of the few exceptions where I haven't had to uninstall anything.

After installing you get a desktop shortcut for the software to use the camera, and you are now prompted to insert the device into the USB slot. Handily you are given a 3metre cable so you don't have to sit by the computer when you're using it. Upon starting the camera software you are given several options of things to do. I instantly found out that it also takes pictures and not just video. The camera is actually a 2-megapixel webcam, but an 8 megapixel camera. This is pretty standard for webcam's to be lower although I'm sure that the megapixel will also follow that of digital cameras and be around the 10megapixel figure soon.

--------------- First impressions ----------------

The camera is very small and sits handy on top of the laptop. This is held in place by a mechanism a bit like a bulldog clip. The camera is black in colour which of course blends in with many laptops very well. I presume that you will also be able to get this in silver but the store only had the black one in stock. The camera displays a little red light on the front when it is actually been used so usefully you know if it's on or not.

----------------------Its selling points ------------------

The camera is marketed on 5 separate selling points:

1) Carl Zeiss optics and autofocus ---To be honest what does this mean? I don't think I really don't know. However after doing a quick google search I found that this gentleman is big in the photography industry and his technology is used by companies like Samsung, Sony and of course Logitech. This technology helps give images a sharper fell and allows you to zoom extremely close to the object.
2) High quality video --- The webcam supports High quality video on Skype and is up to four times sharper and around 2 times smoother then previous models by the same company
3) High definition --- With its 8megapixel camera (which is the same as my current digital camera) you can take some great pictures. Obviously the higher this figure the higher the picture quality. This is the same for the video sensor as this is around the highest figure that you can currently get on the market.
4) Removal of dark images --- The software that you installed has a feature called rightlight2 which adjusts the image without you having to do anything to suit the surroundings.
5) Personalisation --- the software also allows you to customise the image displayed as yourself with Logitech video effects and you can add features like glasses, beards or big eye brows. I'm not really sure why this is a selling point, but I suppose this might appeal more to a younger generation.

---------------My experience ----------

Well the install was incredibly easy which is always a good starting point, the software is actually needed.

We have been making quite a few skype calls with the camera over the last week and the image displayed is pretty good, certainly when you are just using in the house to show others the picture is perfect and people we have talked to have mentioned how clear our image issue.

A good webcam which can be bought from the internet for around £45 from play.com

-------------------Technical specifications and other details --------------

Compatible with Windows XP/Vista
XP needs 256mb of memory while vista recommends 1gb
200mb of Hard drive space

Within the box you are given a stand for the webcam if you don't want it sitting on top of the laptop but personally I found the stand a bit rubbish and was prone to coming apart as its made from 3 pieces joined together. The camera works not only with Skype but also windows messenger, Yahoo and other instant messaging services

You also get 2 years warranty after signing up over the internet with the company.

Thanks for reading 

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