Good Picture, Fast and Easy! Intel Does It Again!!
Written: Jun 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy Setup; Good Light Sensitivity; Quality Brand Name; Good Picture; Software
Cons: Price; Disk Trouble
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| Jedi617's Full Review: Intel PC Camera Pack |
Say "CHEESE!"
Okay, so why all the hype for webcams these days? It's pretty simple, really. With a few minutes work, a simple software install, a connection to the internet (which most everyone has nowadays), and a quick User ID creation you can be up and running with a live video conferencing connection just like the major corporations in the world right from your own home! Business uses, security uses, and best of all are personal uses!! Why pay 10-10-### phone services, or any other phone services for that matter, when you can connect to friends and family anywhere in the world over your internet connection, and not only talk to them but also see them!
A quick note about the Intel PC Camera Pack vs. the Intel PC Camera Pack Pro...
Okay, so you want the webcam for personal use, not professional use, then it's the Intel PC Camera Pack for you, right?? Not necessarily.
The "Pro" added to the Intel PC Camera Pack does not refer to the reasoning behind your desire for a webcam, the "Pro" indicates that the Intel PC Camera Pack Pro is configured slightly differently than the Intel PC Camera Pack. The major distinction is rather simple, the Intel PC Camera Pack Pro has an additional RCA-style connector built into the base of the webcam. This additional jack gives you additional functionality, and the functionality is something which many folks may want in today's home movie world.
By adding the additional RCA-jack to the Intel PC Camera Pack Pro, Intel has made it possible for you to connect your VCR, DVD, or camcorder directly into your webcam. By having the Intel PC Camera Pack Pro's additional RCA-style jack available to you, now you can either broadcast that amusing "Baby's 1st Birthday Party" live as the kids celebrate or you can record the party on your camcorder and transmit it to the absentee family members through your webcam when it is convenient for everybody. Imagine the possibilities which exist by being able to connect your camcorder, VCR or DVD to your webcam!!
So, why choose the Intel PC Camera Pack or Intel PC Camera Pack Pro?!?
First off, how do you beat Intel quality and reliability! Intel makes great products, with a tremendous tradition of the highest quality and manufacturing superiority. The Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro continues that tradition.
Not only is the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro well made, but the light sensitivity of the camera lens is also outstanding! Many webcams have issues when a room is not well lighted, the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro is not one of them. Obviously, the better lit any environment is will ultimately improve any picture, but the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro does rather well in limited lighting. In my experience, the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro actually showed better compensation for a lower lighting environment than it did for a overly brightly lit environment. The major benefit to the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro's light sensor being as high quality is that you do not need to light every light source in the room to maximum just to identify the image you are looking at. You can sit in a room with normal lighting conditions, and still produce a fine looking image through the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro.
The image quality from the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro is also outstanding. While webcams, at least home market personal-use video WWW cameras, are not going to bowl you over with the resolutions they can output, the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro still has a very good resolution capability comparative to the remainder of the webcam market. The images produced are clear, bright, and well focused. The webcam itself has the ability for you to spin the control knob and to fine tune the focus whenever necessary. Just as every other webcam, the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro comes on a small adjustable plastic base which can be mounted on your computer or moved about your workstation as necessary.
The Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro also has a button on top of the physical unit which allows you to take snapshots with the webcam. Have you always wanted a digital picture stored on your computer to send to people you chat with, or to insert onto greeting cards? Now you can have all the snapshots you could ever need just by standing in front of the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro and clicking the snapshot button. For convenience purposes, the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro also will allow you to take snapshots not only with the physical snapshot button, but also with a "Snapshot" button within the software package.
Intel has taken the time to package a strong software bundle with the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro as well. The software controls of the webcam allow you to change just about every setting you can think of, and probably more. You can adjust the light sensitivity settings to compensate for different lighting environments, in order to produce the best looking image possible. You can adjust the quality, clarity, and colors of the image through a complete set of image modification tools. These settings controls will be particularly interesting to folks who love photography, as Intel allows you to change settings the same as you would on an expensive professional 35mm camera (ie..f-stop, etc.). The Intel software package also allows you to select pre-defined settings to jump between settings for "Best Quality Image", "Best Frame Rate", or "Best Quality Frame Rate With High Quality Image".
The frame rate which the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro delivers is reasonably smooth. When you chat live with the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro you will not be disappointed. Motions are captured and displayed with a high level of smoothness, presenting motion clearly for the most part. Obviously, fast activities do not display as well, appearing choppy and stuttered. Fast motion on just about any webcam will deliver the same result, an image which is reminiscent of old black and white silent films due to the images seeming to jump from one position to another as opposed to smoothly moving. Video over the internet is also reasonably smooth with the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro. Again, choppiness and stuttered motions are the most common weaknesses displayed by webcams. It must also be accepted that your internet connection speed and your internet connection quality, coupled with overall internet and website congestion, will affect webcam frame rates more directly than anything else.
The software bundle with the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro also allows you to modify the purpose of your webcam. By utilizing the software package, you can either use your webcam as a strict webcam, as a snapshot camera, as a timed video capture or snapshot camera, or as a motion sensitive video capture or snapshot camera. The practical uses of the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro are tremendous. You now can have a low cost security system right at your workstation, any motion within the range of the webcam and it can capture either a video or snapshot instantaneously. You also can utilize the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro for images to track over a time period, setting the webcam to video capture or snapshot on even time intervals. With a little WWW knowledge and webspace, you could even have these video captures uploaded to a website so that you can review them from anywhere in the world!
I would state that a final bonus advantage to the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro is the ease of it's setup. While the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro does come available with different connection styles, I used the USB connection. Not only is USB faster across the wire, which helps to improve picture and frame rate on the webcam, but it also makes the setup of the webcam even more easy! Connecting the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro only took 10 to 15 minutes total. That included opening the box, and reading the Owner's/Setup Instructions.
Okay, what's the downside?!?
I had two downsides to the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro, the first I found to be rather minimal and the other I found to be more of an annoyance than a serious problem.
The first downside I see to the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro is the price. The Intel PC Camera Pack Pro, which is the model with the additional RCA jack I discussed earlier, is priced at a premium from other webcams. This pricing premium for the "Pro" version is unfortunate, as it adds nearly fifty percent to the expense of the webcam. This is a serious premium. If you intend to explore the many possibilities of connecting your camcorder, VCR, or DVD to the webcam then the additional RCA jack is probably worth the added expense. If you probably will never utilize the added jack, then it is well worth skipping the "Pro" version in deference to the standard Intel PC Camera Pack. The Intel PC Camera Pack, not the "Pro" version, is priced the same as a large percentage of other webcams.
The other downside I found with the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro was a trouble I experienced with the physical software CD-ROM. In one instance, the software CD which was packaged with the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro did not work on one of my systems. Any attempt to access the CD resulted in the computer being unable to recognize the CD, responding that there was no CD placed within the CD-ROM drive. The CD did, however, function in another CD-ROM drive. One reasonably quick phone call to Intel and the issue was resolved, they shipped me a new software CD. (Bonus points to their customer service!!) At the very worst, I would consider this an annoyance more than anything else. I would not consider this a major drawback to the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro, as it was quite potentially a fluke problematic software CD.
The Bottom Line...
I've tried several webcams, and been disappointed with most all of them. It's discouraging when you become excited about a new technology and then when you use it you discover it is difficult to set-up and even more disappointing once you finally make it work! The Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro was a completely different experience.
The Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro is designed with Intel's traditional outstanding quality. This webcam was so easy to setup that we were watching videos of ourselves within 15 minutes of starting. The software controls allowed us to adjust every image setting we wanted, and even more settings than we had considered. The image was clear, bright, and expertly focused. The webcam worked with normal lighting perfectly, and also demonstrated that it was quite capable of performing with lower light conditions as well. Motion was captured by the webcam reasonably smoothly, delivering very solid frame rates. Upon learning of all the additional capabilities the Intel PC Camera Pack/Pro delivered, our minds flooded with all new ideas for use of the webcam. Finally we have a way to find out who ate the last Milano cookie!! :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Jedi617
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Member: Kenneth Clark
Location: Mansfield, MA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 15 members
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