Advantages: Good low light performance, cheap
Disadvantages: No built in microphone

...I don't know what it is about the lighting in my office but pretty much every WebCam I have looked at struggles to see me. That is probably a Good Thing but it does mean that to use a WebCam I usually end up with enough lamps pointing at me to begin an interrogation session. A couple of years ago I decided to try yet another and so ended up with a Creative Labs WebCam 5. Creative Labs' WebCam 5 promised improved low light performance but given its low price point, I wasn't expecting too much. As it turns out I was pleasantly surprised. Installation Due to the low price the WebCam 5 is a fairly minimalist affair. The box contains the camera with a captive USB lead and the software CD. Being a USB device, the drivers and software need to be installed first before plugging in the WebCam. The main program on the CD is the Creative... Read review

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Advantages: Have plenty of USB ports at any time
Disadvantages: Can be a bit of a pain when it comes to the power supply.

...the transformer. On the top and directly over the USB sockets are LED's that tell me when any of the USB sockets are in use and another LED that tells me if it is connected to the transformer. How easy is it to use? I found it very easy to set up and use, first I plugged the connector lead into a spare USB socket on the back of my PC, then I plugged the other end into the USB hub. The next step was to plug the transformer into the mains and the corresponding pin into the socket on the USB hub. What can it be used for? I have used this for plugging in scanners, printers, mass-storage devices (including a PSP), web cam, a mouse, high-resolution cameras and USB hard drives. The list does not end there, also you can add flash card readers, Blue tooth adapters, pen drives, basically anything that has a USB connection can be plugged... Read review

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Advantages: Great quality picture and video
Disadvantages: Quite pricey compared to other webcams

... The Creative Live! Cam Video IM Pro has a very sleek and stylish design and looks a great addition to any laptop or desktop computer. The Creative Live! Cam Video IM Pro has a very functional base which allows it to pivot forwards and backwards as well as rotate a full 360º. The base is also designed with a stand, which with a simple twist turns into a clip which can be attached to the top of any laptop of flat screen monitor. Alternatively you could simple sit the stand flat on a work surface if you are using a desktop computer. Ease of use and installation This product benefits from being plug and play software which means that all you have to do is plug it into a USB 2.0 connection and your off and ready to play. Like I mentioned before there is additional free software which comes on a CD which you simply have to insert... Read review

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Advantages: Great looking,smart cam with lots of extras!
Disadvantages: Pic quality could be better for 6.6 mp.

...but without sound unfortunately. You can watch this on your television via the video out port if you have the right leads (mine came supplied with it.) The webcam works well and is easy to set up although the picture is extremely dark when using at night, you need extra light so people can see you, the standard ceiling light just isn't enough at all. It does however work without power so this is a bonus. The functions on the camera are extremely simple to master, all done by a wheel dial for choosing between cams, and a directional keypad for tweaking the individual settings. The LCD is clear and displays any functions whilst you are navigating. My camera came with the driver disc needed to set up the webcam,USB cable for downloading your pictures onto your PC, camera case and with photo editing software but this will depend on where you buy... Read review

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Advantages: picture quality
Disadvantages: delay

...If you're a frequent user of a web cam, then this is the kind of camera you should be thinking of getting. The camera has a whole lot of features, looks great, has excellent build-quality and the pictures it produces are nothing short of excellent. O.k, lets go in to some detail. The camera is jet black and sits on a clear stand. You can swivel the camera up and down by up to 270°. You can even move it slightly left to right. When the camera is plugged in via USB or when its capturing an image a funky blew LED light comes on around the left side of the camera. This one of the main things I really loved about this camera. It looked fantastic. The web cam comes with two built in microphones giving you brilliant background noise cancellation. You are able to turn the noise reduction off and you can also add effects to your voice... Read review

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Advantages: True widescreen 16:9, iMovie compatible, DV/Firewire, large lens and 12*optical zoom
Disadvantages: Larger than usual DV cam to accommodate the 43mm lens

...for the Canon cameras mentioned loud mechanism noise while taping which you can hear on the recording. This put me off and as I was happy with my previous Panasonic DV cam I decided to go for this. *****FEATURES***** ----------------------------- * true widesceen 16:9 recording * 3CCD Camera System with Leica Dicomar Lens * 4.0 Megapixel Still Picture Recording with Optical Image Stabiliser + flash * Manual Focus Ring * huge 43mm lens * 12 times optical zoom * DV/Firewire connection * mini DV recording * iMovie compatible *****WHAT'S IN THE BOX?***** -------------------------------------------- Camera, battery, remote control, remote mic, strap, tape cleaner, USB cable, SW for PC (no need for Mac). - No DV tape - No SD card - No Firewire cable I got a free case thrown in with mine too. *****ADVANTAGES... Read review

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Advantages: Small, High Capacity, Quick Transfer Rate
Disadvantages: None As Yet

...I bought this pen drive when I came across a website that I found on google by accident. They were selling it in their sale for £14.99. So I though that I would give it a try. It cam in the post, and I opened the bag that it came in, and I was shocked by the size of the pen. It was the smallest pen that I had ever seen. I was worried at first because it is so small that it would be easy to lose it, and I thought that I would very quickly. Although there is a hole at the end where you can put a clip through so you can attach it to something, i.e. around you neck, on a key ring, etc. It has a lid to keep the USB connection clean and so that it can not be broken. Once it has been taken off, you can plug it straight into the USB port on you computer. It works at its best via the USB 2.0 port. This allows high speeds of data transfer... Read review

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Advantages: Cheep and easy to use (Win95 & 98 users)
Disadvantages: Poor compatibility and after sales help

...I originally bought this product thinking that pace was a good make, but I discoved later that it's a different Pace to the ones that sell set top boxies. When I first tried the cam it worked perfectly, and it was real easy to conect since it was USB, however for some reason the camera locks up, nearly every times it's used meaning you have to restart the computer just to get it working again, (something you shouldn't even have to do with USB) I assumed it was something to do with the newness of USB technology and hoped that when I upgraded to Win2000 the probles would all just go away. They didn't. The camera isn't even compatible with Win2000 at all and with Pace(Com) going out of bussiness I doubt this camera will ever be compatable. I new company has taken over but they charge you to download new drivers (that still arn't compatible... Read review

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Advantages: Affordable, easy to use,
Disadvantages: Needs to have SD memory card for regular use

...I went on a mission to find a reasonable privced digital camera and found the Vivitar ViviCam 5388. On first glance I thought that it would not be very good, how wrong I was. This is a small lightweight camera only weighing 116g. It is easy to use and has quite a lot of features. It has two exposure modes programme and auto. It has white balance presets for flourescent, cloudy , tungsten, light and daylight. It takes and stores your photos as JPEG images. It has an intergrated memory of 16MB, which although small can be increased by adding a SD memory card. It has built in flash and built in red eye reduction. Also it has a self timer mode. The screen is a 2.4" colourscreen with LCD display and TFT matrix. Additional items included with the camera are 1x USB lead, 1x DC Power input lead, 1x Composite video output. Also included... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, small, robust, it does work
Disadvantages: Tacky looking, outdated

...was there for starters! Moving on there was a little soft material pouch (grey and black in colour) for the camera to be kept in and that had a belt loop on it and a little hanging loop which you could attach one of the two accompanying straps to. The straps themselves were black cord with a little clip on the end. One was a wrist strap and the other a neck strap. There was also a stand and tripod adaptor (self explanatory really), a USB cable (to connect camera to PC), a CD-ROM (with drivers etc), a year's guarantee card, and a 31 page manual. Yup, 31 pages all in English, covering all aspects of the camera's use. My first impression was as it had been in the catalogue. The Cool-iCam looked like a toy. It was small and plastic (silver coloured at that, with black trim). Tacky did spring to mind, but I