Webcams?

Posted by: Rico on 08 August 2004

Ullo ullo - I have decided to get one of those webcam thingys. What do I look for?

I don't need hi-tech "follow me" head tracking... I do need PC USB, low-ish costs, and preferably some decent product life re support and drivers, so no "kamakuza" product, please. I just want it for videoconferencing.

I note they mostly have res of 640x480, and are talking about 30fps video... yet this is normally at 320x480.

Looking at Genius VideoCAM Web, Logitech Quickcam Express, or Quickcam Messenger. Any others I should consider? Do the cameras with built-in mic (such as the Quickcam Messenger) sound OK, or are they a waste of space and I should use a separate mic?

Tell me all I need to know, folks! Thanks in advance.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Posted on: 08 August 2004 by MarkEJ

Rico;
This is probably not very useful as you (IIRC) don't have a Sony laptop, but FireWire seems to perform considerably better in this context than USB 2.0. The specs for each standard may look comparable, but FireWire is optimised for streaming, and USB 2.0 is still "bursty". Otherwise, Logitech are usually a good bet as in most of their areas of ecpertise they often make not only their own range, but also much of the competition!

Best;

Mark

Posted on: 08 August 2004 by Rico

Mark

it does seem Logitech are the ones, the QuickCam Messenger seems to fit my budget and req's. They seem to be well immersed in the emerging video IM market too, with ties in to M$ and AOL etc.

My main desktop PC does have Firewire, yet none of the webcams in my pricerange use this connection. My laptop alas is a 3 year old Dell Latitude L400, USB only.

Seems I'm going to have to resort to an AOL AIM account in order to videoconf with a mate in UK who's also gone all left handed

I see a mac looming in my future....

Thanks for the swift response!

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Posted on: 08 August 2004 by Rico

Alright then, having trawled through the support pages for the QuickCam Messenger, looks like the only issues are related to not getting the built-in mic working - which doesn't seem insurmountable.

Anyone have experience with the Logitech QuickCam Messenger?

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Posted on: 12 August 2004 by Rico

Ok, so the QC Messenger arrived, installed with no problems (downloaded the latest software). Video ok, audio ok (excellent, or at least surpassed my expectations).

So now I'm running the gauntlet of AIM in order to communicate with a mac user in the UK. AIM is so lame compared to ICQ (at least for text IM)... does anyone here use Trillian? I now have ICQ, AIM, and MSN logins (largely begrudgingly)...

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio